Wadzanai Bepe will collaborate with educators and parents to develop an individualized education program (IEP) to meet each student’s unique educational needs.
Debbie Michel
August 28, 2024Stepping into the new role of special education coordinator and instructional coach effective Sept. 1, 2024, is Wadzanai Bepe, PhD. Bepe has been an instructional coach and teacher for the City of Mishawaka school district for the past 13 years. While there she was responsible for collaborating with teachers, parents and therapists to define educational strategies for students with disabilities.
Prior to her time in Mishawaka, Indiana, Bepe was an elementary school teacher in Zimbabwe, where she hails from, as well as in South Bend, Indiana. Bepe has a PhD in psychology from Northcentral University and a Master of Science in special education from Indiana University South Bend.
In her position at the Lake Union, Bepe will collaborate with educators and parents to develop an individualized education program (IEP) to meet each student’s unique educational needs. There can be multiple reasons a student needs an IEP, including physical or mental health conditions, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.
“Dr. Bepe brings a wealth of experience in assessing and improving the learning experience and outcomes for our exceptional learners,” said Lake Union Director of Education Ruth Horton, EdD. “We are excited that her passion for helping students with specialized educational needs will help learners achieve their academic goals and milestones. No child should struggle because of an inflexible curriculum or classroom. It’s important—not just to us, but to God—that every child in our 76 Lake Union schools reaches their maximum potential.”
Bepe says that as an educator there is no greater satisfaction than helping a student grow and reach their potential. “Helping students succeed begins with the recognition that every child is unique, not just in terms of personality, but in terms of strengths and learning support need,” she said. “Success doesn't look the same for every student. As a teacher, being able to differentiate for each student's individual needs is important, particularly for children with diverse support needs.”
The number of students in special education in the U.S. has doubled over the last 40 years, which has meant schools are responsible for providing special services to this growing segment.
In 1976–77, the first year the U.S. Department of Education collected this data following the 1975 passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, students in special education made up 8% of the overall student population.
For the 2022-23 school year, the number of students needing special education services nationwide ranged from 12 to 21 percent.
Numbers are unavailable for students in Lake Union schools needing an individualized education, but parents are increasingly requesting this service. No longer is there a stigma for a child with a learning disability or on the autism spectrum. Experts say educators have become better at identifying when students need special services and parents have become less resistant to seeking them out for their children.
“Providing special education services has been viewed as a challenge in our system,” says Horton, “but with the availability of more and more avenues to provide increased support for students with exceptionalities, coupled with the fraying of stigma once attached to exceptional learners, there’s now a noted positive association with seeking out, receiving and benefiting from such assistance. We’re delighted that the Lake Union Education department is now able to offer this support.”
For more information on how you can enroll your child in a Lake Union Adventist school, here’s a useful link for finding a school near you: https://adventisteducation.org/schools.
