March News
Upcoming Trainings
We completed the first round of our training series for special educators last week, What I Need to Know as a Special Educator! Some have asked what prompted this training. Well, this is the first time that all certificated special educators have come together for the same PD, in something like 10 years --that's reason enough! Please be sure that session #2 is on your calendars, the two options are:
Tuesday April 2nd at 3:15pm or
Thursday April 4th at 4:30pm
Announcing the 2nd annual Inclusive Practices Institute!!!
Much planning remains TBD (perhaps you have an idea for a great presentation? We love when our own experts in-district share with each other!). Some things we know so far are the date, Tuesday August 6th, and the keynote speakers:
Shelley Moore (yes, again!) and Mirko Chardin
Why have just one world class speaker, when you can have two?!
Recent Family Events!
Friday 3/8 was the annual TAP Variety Show
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing team recently hosted their first ever DHH Family Night!
Appreciation for Education Support Professionals!
Educational Support Professionals Week is March 11-15, thank you classified employees! Our classified team at SSS include office staff, paraeducators, health techs, behavior techs, and ECEAP preschool teachers!
Also, we missed Heart Health Month last month, but our nursing group didn't! Below is some info from them!
Coreboards in Action
Meg Dolde recently led her staff through using Coreboards to communicate about breakfast in an activity they called “Breakfast with Coreboards”. They brought breakfast items in for the staff and they used the coreboard to make requests and communicate about their food items. It was well received and staff were highly engaged in the activity.
This picture is of an unrelated Coreboard on the playground at Dick Scobee, but it's a cool one! This core board allows all students, including those that are non-speaking, to communicate their wants and needs with one another and with the adults that supervise on the playground.
Springtime Reminders
ESY Referrals --now is a great time to refer!
ESY is expected to run from July 9 - 26 this Summer, 4 days a week, Tuesdays to Fridays.
ESY info in our department manual, including the 2024 referral form
IEPs and Evals for early Fall...
Our practice is not to convene IEPs and evaluations in the first weeks of a new school year --so we do those in the Spring instead. Please plan to complete all paperwork this year for any students with IEPs due through September 30th, or Evaluations due through October 31st.
IEPs Progress Reporting...
Remember that IEP goal progress reports are due along with every report card!
Elem T2 ends 3/15; Secondary Q3 ends 4/5