Mrs. Judy Bajko

LEARNING DISABILITIES
RESOURCE PROGRAM
Elementary Building

Voice Mail: (847) 255-0050 x288
Email: jbajko@olwschool.org

I am Mrs. Judy Bajko, from the Learning Resource Program. My educational background is in elementary education, and learning disabilities and behavior disorders. I have been teaching at Our Lady of the Wayside School for the past 25 years. Prior to that, I taught in the Chicago Public School system until I took a leave to stay at home with my 3 children during their preschool years. When I re-entered the school system, I worked as an L.D. aide in District 25, while I went back to school to obtain a Master’s degree in Special Education. Included in my background are testing and evaluation, training and experience, which I use in connection with, but not in place of, classroom observation and teacher recommendation.

The learning disabilities resource program has been established to aid those students who, for any variety of reasons – social, emotional, psychological, or physiological- are having difficulty attending and/or learning within the regular classroom. Possibly a more accurate label would be "learning differences." Children with learning disabilities/differences usually have at least average intelligence, and in some cases, above average intelligence, but also possess some impairment in their ability to understand, attend, remember, retrieve, or express information in the usual manner. These children have a unique set of learning difficulties that will always be present in their lives. Fortunately, they can learn to cope with these differences and compensate for them.

The learning disabilities program at OLW is a resource program and is not a full-time, self-contained classroom. I try to work closely with the child’s classroom teacher to aid him/her within the regular classroom curriculum. This can be achieved through modifications in the setting, material, or personal presentation.

Referrals for assistance can come from the child’s current teacher, or at the beginning of the year, a recommendation from the former teacher, or at the request of the parents. Since our referrals are made on a less formal basis than is possible within the public system, assistance, when necessary, can often be made available more quickly.

Children with learning difficulties and attention problems can and do become easily frustrated. I feel strongly that our main objective is to aid them, in whatever way possible, to realize that they can learn, they are respected, and they need not feel poorly about themselves and their abilities—sometimes things take a little longer or have to be approached a little differently, but that’s O.K.

My office is Room 222 in the elementary building. My email address is jbajko@olwschool.org. My voicemail extension is 288. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, advice, or to just say, “Hi”.