ISM believes that every child has the right to an equitable, free, and appropriate education, including the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme and Middle Years Programme. All ISM students have the opportunity to receive inclusive educational resources, differentiated instruction, guidance, and accommodations to support their achievement of their highest potential. ISM offers students the opportunity to achieve academic success as they progress through the IB continuum at ISM.

ISM recognizes that students have diverse educational needs and learning styles that necessitate varied teaching approaches and learning experiences. ISM believes that all students can “become conscientious, compassionate, and responsible citizens of the world.” Students utilize the IB Learner Profile attributes to achieve their academic and personal potential in all areas. 

ISM believes in holistically meeting the special educational needs of students from kindergarten to grade eight across the PYP and MYP. It believes that inclusion is an ongoing process that aims to increase access to and engagement in learning by identifying and removing barriers for all students. This can only be successfully achieved in a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, support, and problem-solving. All staff members work collaboratively to incorporate differentiation strategies that cater to students' diverse learning styles and needs.

SELPA Change

From its opening in 2001 through the 2020-2021 school year, ISM operated as "a school of the district for special education purposes." This means that we provided services essentially the same as those offered by any Monterey Peninsula Unified School District school, based on the district's philosophies and standards. We also relied on the professional expertise of the MPUSD special education leadership and staff to guide and provide services to students.

Charter schools may become their own local education agency (LEA) for special education rather than operating as a school of their authorizing district. This allows them the same level of autonomy for special education as they have for their general education programs. As independent LEAs, charters may join any SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area) that accepts charter schools.  

We applied for membership in the El Dorado Charter SELPA, the state's largest and most experienced charter SELPA. Thus, starting with the 2021-2022 school year, we operated as our own local educational agency (LEA) for special education. This means we hire and contract individual service providers, refining our special education services to align with our International Baccalaureate framework and our underlying commitments to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), inquiry-based teaching and learning, and project-based learning. At the same time, we rely on the professional expertise of the El Dorado Charter SELPA leadership and staff to guide us.

We saw this move to become our own Local Education Agency (LEA) and join a Charter Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) as an exciting opportunity to better integrate our special education program with our International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and philosophy, and, most importantly, to better connect special education students within the special school community that makes ISM so successful. 

In December 2024, the ISM Board of Trustees approved transitioning to a new Charter SELPA, the Sonoma County Charter SELPA, effective July 2025. This move is in response to requests from our Special Education team and staff members for additional local support, including training, school connections, and accessible resources. As other charter schools in our area are members of the Sonoma County Charter SELPA, we look forward to combining our training efforts and developing additional collaboration opportunities locally.

Information for Parents of ISM Students

The International School of Monterey (ISM), a charter school authorized by the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (District), operates as an independent Local Education Agency (LEA) for special education purposes. Accordingly, students eligible for special education who are enrolled in ISM receive special education services in accordance with their individualized education programs (IEPs) and in the same manner as any other student enrolled in the District. The District, as the local education agency for special education purposes, offers a full continuum of special education instruction and related services to ensure that all special education students receive a free appropriate public education. Not every service on the continuum of options is offered at the ISM school site. Accordingly, an ISM student requiring special education services may receive such services at other sites as contracted by ISM.

Special education placements and related services available on-site at ISM may include general education inclusion, a resource specialist program, speech and language therapy, and other designated instructional services. In accordance with IDEA, ISM offers the full continuum of services and placement options.

ISM shall not discriminate against any student with disabilities in the ISM admissions and enrollment process.

If you have any questions about this topic, please call the Director of Special Education Services at 831-583-2165.