Welcome to the El Monte Union High School District’s Special Education Department

El Monte Union High School District serves approximately 1000 students with special needs across five comprehensive high schools, one continuation high school, one alternative education center, and one special school for young adults with disabilities, ages 18 to 22. All sites and school staff strive to provide effective and solid supports and services to our students with special needs.

Special Education is based upon a couple of fundamental tenets. The first tenet is that every child in California has the right to a free appropriate public education or FAPE. Second is the idea that students should be given instruction in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), which is to say that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible.

California Education Code Section 56031 defines Special Education as “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individuals with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met without modification of the regular instructional program, and related services at no cost to the parent, which may be needed to assist such individuals to benefit from specially designed instruction.”

The El Monte Union High School District Special Education Department is committed to treating all students with respect and dignity, with the goal that all students receive the services they require to succeed in the least restrictive educational setting. 

We believe that...

Every child is special and unique.
Every child has a gift.
Every child has the potential to learn and to love learning.
Every child can learn when the instruction is appropriate.
Learning is a life-long process.
Individuals and communities have responsibilities to each other.
The uniqueness of individuals enriches the community.

Please contact our office should you have any questions about our department.

Leonard Martinez
Special Education Director
El Monte Union High School District
leonard.martinez@emuhsd.org
626-444-9005 x9930