At Clackamas ESD, inclusion isn’t just a philosophy. It’s something you can see in action every day across our preschool classrooms. In classrooms led by Amy Paterson Sandie and Kassy Ell, early intervention and early childhood special education specialists in our PEER preschool program, inclusion means welcoming and supporting children with a wide range of abilities, including those with more complex needs.
PEER — which stands for positive engagement, empathy, and relationship-building — brings together children with identified disabilities or delays and their typically developing peers to learn, play and grow side by side. Many of the children in our PEER program have been turned away from other preschools or have never spent time away from their parents because of their complex learning needs. In Amy and Kassy’s PEER classrooms, every child is welcomed, and every child’s strengths are celebrated.
Recently, on the playground, Amy watched a child with complex physical and developmental disabilities role-play an ice cream shop with a typically developing peer.
“Seeing those kinds of interactions is what makes my job really worth it,” Amy shares. “It makes my heart very happy.”
The milestones continue in her classroom, where a boy who once watched circle time from a distance is now joining the group to sing, dance and read.
“That was huge,” Amy says. “These steps may look small from the outside, but they are everything to the children and families we serve.”
In Kassy’s class, one young boy had been asked to leave several preschools before joining the PEER program. At first, he struggled to engage. But by focusing on his strengths, including a deep love for building, Kassy and her team adapted the classroom environment, offering materials like clay and blocks. Over time, his passion for construction became a bridge to connect with other children. Today, the young boy is using words, self-regulating and actively seeking out friendships.
“His journey proves that by focusing on a child’s strengths, we can help them become a full participating member of our classroom family,” Kassy reflects.
Both Amy and Kassy bring deep experience and personal passion to their roles. Amy’s journey into EI/ECSE began when her own twins received “life-changing” early intervention services through Clackamas ESD years ago. Seeing the power of early intervention inspired her to go back to school to switch careers from social work to early childhood special education.
“The speech and physical therapists at Clackamas ESD who worked with my children helped them thrive — and helped me thrive as a mother,” Amy shares. “When I decided to go back to school, my heart told me to study early childhood special education.”
Kassy, who grew up in Boring, Oregon, comes from a long line of community-minded family members and has worked in educational settings ranging from therapeutic preschools to general education classrooms.
Before her current role as a PEER preschool class teacher, she supported children with histories of trauma as an educational assistant in a therapeutic preschool classroom at Clackamas ESD. Kassy also played a key role in launching the Gladstone Teaching Preschool, an inclusive program at the Gladstone Center for Children and Families, where she served as the lead teacher. This innovative program is a collaboration between the Portland Children’s Museum/Opal School, Clackamas ESD, and the Gladstone School District.
Both Amy and Kassy embody the dedication, creativity and heart it takes to make inclusive classrooms thrive.
“Different isn’t bad,” Amy says. “Different isn’t scary. It’s just another way to learn, and in this classroom, we get to celebrate that every day.”
Kassy agrees, acknowledging that the work can be demanding and exhausting, but deeply rewarding.
“I am incredibly proud of our teaching staff,” Kassy shared. “We give so much of ourselves to these children and to each other. We have learned so much, and the results we are seeing are profound.”
