In Jorge Velasquez’s classroom at Bow Lake Elementary, inclusion means more than simply sharing space. It means every student learns together, supports one another, and belongs.
Jorge is a teacher case manager who supports students who receive special education services across classrooms at Bow Lake. Before becoming a teacher, he spent three years working as a paraeducator at the school. That experience shaped how he approaches his work today.
“I’ve been in the classrooms, worked alongside the teachers and built relationships with them,” Jorge says. “That experience really helps when we’re working together to support students.”
Today, his role focuses on helping students who receive special education services access learning alongside their general education peers while collaborating closely with other teachers, paraeducators and staff.
What Inclusion Looks Like
In an inclusive classroom, students who receive special education services learn alongside their peers to the greatest extent appropriate, with the support and services they need to participate fully in the learning.
Inclusion is not just about where a student sits. It’s about creating learning environments where students are connected to their peers, supported in meaningful ways, and able to make progress.
Jorge says the feeling of the room is just as important as the structure.
“All the adults in the room, regardless of whether they’re special education staff or not, support all students,” he explains. “You can feel the culture that everyone is here together, and everyone not only belongs in the room, but this is the place for them.”
This shared responsibility creates a classroom where students are known deeply by name, strength and need.
Seeing Students’ Strengths
One of the most important lessons Jorge has learned is to look beyond traditional definitions of success.
“One of the biggest things for me has been expanding my understanding of what success looks like,” he says. “Sometimes students show you what success is for them, and you have to be flexible to recognize it.”
He remembers one student whose learning took off through a daily drawing activity focused on a favorite sea animal. What began as drawing soon became an opportunity to label parts of the animal and write its name.
Over time, the student began completing the work independently.
“It was amazing to watch,” Jorge says. “The student really guided that learning process.”
For Jorge, moments like that are reminders that students bring their own strengths, interests, and ways of learning into the classroom. When educators pay attention to those strengths, new opportunities can open.
Learning From Each Other
Inclusive classrooms allow students to learn not only from teachers but from each other.
Jorge says students often benefit from seeing how their classmates approach assignments and classroom routines. At the same time, general education peers also learn from classmates who receive special education services, gaining a deeper understanding of different strengths, perspectives and ways of learning.
Students quickly build connections and friendships.
“Students with disabilities are feeling like part of the classroom,” Jorge says. “They have their peers. They have their friends.”
He’s also seen how inclusive classrooms reduce stigma around receiving extra support. Instead of seeing support as something separate, students begin to understand it as part of how people learn and grow.
“There’s no negative connotation around special education,” he says. When students are pulled out of class for additional one-on-one support, “Students will say, ‘I want to go to Mr. Jorge’s class,’ because they see it as a place where they learn and grow.”
Preparing Students for Life Beyond School
Inclusive classrooms also prepare students for life beyond school.
“Inclusion in school mirrors the real world,” he says. “People with disabilities are part of every community and every workplace.”
By learning together, students build empathy, understanding, and collaboration skills that will help them throughout their lives. They also learn that everyone has something to contribute.
“We’re helping students build the skills they’ll need in the future,” Velasquez says. “And we’re showing them that everyone belongs.”
About Inclusion in Highline Public Schools
Inclusion is a strategic priority area in Highline Public Schools. We believe every student belongs—and learns—together with their peers. Our work focuses on ensuring students of all abilities and learning needs can participate meaningfully in general education classrooms, with the supports they need to succeed.
Highline is expanding this work across the district. Through a cohort model, schools strengthen collaboration, build staff skills, and apply what they learn. This helps create classrooms where students are connected to peers, supported in meaningful ways, and able to grow academically, socially, and emotionally.
In 2024-25, 89% of Highline students who receive special education services spent 40% or more of their school day in a general education setting.