NEWARK, N.J. – When District officials were planning the Third Annual Special Education Conference, they found many of the presenters in their own backyard of the Newark Public Schools district.

The result was that District staff led 19 of the day’s sessions, nearly a third of the day’s total of 63 sessions.

“You all are doing great work in the classroom. Sometimes it’s in siloes. Today, we’re breaking the siloes,” said Director of Special Education Marilyn Mitchell to the audience of more than 700 District special education teachers, child study team members, teacher and personal aides, and other professionals who packed the auditorium at Newark Vocational High School. Also in attendance were Newark Board of Education members and Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) members.

“Today was specially designed for you, the educators of students with disabilities,” said Carolyn Granato, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services. “You’re not just teachers. You are the nurturers of minds. You are the cultivators of resilience. You are the builders of confidence in each and every one of our children.”

With the theme of Innovate, Adapt, Inspire: Achieving Excellence In Special Education, the day-long conference aimed to give staff what they needed to achieve excellence in working with the District’s special education population.

However, the quest for educational excellence is not without significant challenges. Nearly 7,000 students with exceptionalities attend schools in the District, Mitchell said. Meanwhile, the two student populations that are increasing the most are those with autism and preschool students with disabilities.

To meet the increasing demands, a new class for preschool students with disabilities is planned for Grover Cleveland Elementary School. At the same time, Harriet Tubman Elementary School will be the District’s next school to have an autism program. Additional classrooms for autism are also planned for Thirteenth Avenue School, George Washington Carver School, Luis Munoz Marin School, South 17^th Street School, and the Branch Brook School.

Mitchell noted that as programs expand, so will the staffing and required resources.

“We’re going to need additional teachers,” she said.

Before the audience broke out for their sessions, they heard from LeDerick Horne, an advocate for people with disabilities who was back by popular demand after appearing at last year’s conference. He spoke about the importance of self-care in serving special needs students and suggested a variety of ways to maintain wellness.

“This is a calling,” Horne said. “You can’t do this work and be constantly in a deficit state. You have to be strong. You have to make sure that you’re resilient.”

Superintendent León noted that, years ago, special education conferences were held for principals only. When District officials were reimagining the conference three years ago, he wanted it to have a wider audience of District professionals.

“Not that it isn’t important for principals to be here,” Superintendent León said. “But we definitely needed to target all of you, who are essential to the critical work you are providing our students.”

There were many student contributions to the conference. Newark Vocational High School Culinary Arts students prepared breakfast and lunch, Newark Vocational High School Hospitality and Tourism students prepared the lunch setting and décor, and Newark Vocational High School Graphic Arts students created and printed the catalog and other materials. John F. Kennedy School and New Jersey Regional Day School students served as student ambassadors.