About

Who We Are:

The Malibu Special Education Foundation was formed in 2000 by parents who were willing to find creative ways to fund much needed programs and support the administrators, staff and teachers working in special education.

What We Do:

• We support Continuing Education for teachers, administration and staff in all areas who work hands-on with special education students.
• Hand in Hand, affiliated with the Malibu Jewish Center, is a program which provides children with special needs with an opportunity to socialize, learn new skills, and have fun by partnering up with their typical “buddies” from Malibu High School.  Through music therapy, hands-on activities, field trips and community service our students, as well as their typical peers,  have made incredible strides in their emotional and social development.
• We provide monthly support group, affectionately called “Whine and Wine”  for the parents of children with special needs, who struggle with figuring out the special education system, finding developmentally appropriate support for their child, coming to grips with how to function at home and at school with a child with a disability.  Our meetings are held in a home environment where all problem areas can be addressed in a very relaxing atmosphere and away from the often clinical settings many of us have otherwise  had to endure.  We have had great success keeping new parents’ feet on the ground while we hold their hands through their very difficult journey.

 

 

Programs We Fund:

• Laptops, iPads, assisted technology and computers for the teachers and students in the SMMUSD

• Seminars and conferences for Educators in various fields of Special Education across the US and California
• The Hand in Hand program, created by 2011 Dolphin Award winner Cantor Marcelo Gindlin from the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue (MJCS). Typical teens interact weekly with their disabled peers. Click here for more info

 

• Occupational Therapy classroom at local elementary school
• Speaker Programs for the community in the area of Inclusion, IEP training, and all aspects of Special Education
• 30 iPad covers with styluses
• Weekly Yoga classes for Special Education students

• 15 fit ball chairs for physical therapy
• UC Play funds for movement/ music program
• Transportation for 5th grade interactive field trip to Brandon’s Village in Calabasas
• Bonuses for Special Education aides and stipends for MHS psychology interns
• “Best Buddies Program,” a weekly lunch program for disabled students to hang out with typical peers
• Miracle Child Theater Program, a weekly theater class with a Santa Monica-based acting coach
• Equipment for Independent Life Skills classroom
• New equipment for Preschool classroom
• Program for Learning Resource Center reading room
• Bonuses for all Classroom Aides in Special Education
• Bonuses for all Psych Aides
• Bonuses for all Special Education Teachers
• Bonuses for all District Service Providers