Beginning July 1, 2023, Ms. Beth Ladd will take over as Executive Director of Student Services. “Urbana Schools has a long history of quality, meaningful services and support for students receiving special education services” Ladd said. “While there have been many challenges to this in the past several years, my goal is to ensure we are rebuilding and revisiting successful past practices while adjusting to our current needs.”
Over the last 25 years, Ladd’s professional career has included serving in many different roles across three different school districts. She began her career as an elementary special education teacher and transitioned to supporting students in alternative programs. Ladd also served as a special education department chair for a high school in Indianapolis and was a special education administrator/assistant director of student services across both Urbana and Champaign. She has also served as a building principal at the elementary level and is the current principal at Urbana Early Childhood School. “Equitable and impactful services for students in special education have been a priority for me in each role and I am excited to return to this as my primary focus” Ladd said.
As Ladd begins her transition into her new role, here are several areas she and her team have identified as priorities for the student services department:
- Ensuring our communication with families and staff is meaningful, timely and ongoing
- Retention of high quality staff through honoring and valuing their efforts and work
- Ongoing professional development around instructional practices and service delivery
- Data driven protocols for staffing and placement decisions
- Increased accountability at all levels
“I am looking forward to working with all stakeholders over the next several years to improve outcomes for our students receiving special education services and to create a collaborative, supportive environment for the staff,” Ladd said.