Lighthouse School, Inc.
May 4, 2020
To our Special Education Partners,
We hope that you all continue to be well. In anticipation of moving forward and gearing up for the next school year, we wanted to highlight our Student Referral Process, which we have been continuing remotely. Last week, we sent out a letter outlining our plan for referrals moving forward and you can find a copy of that letter here. As always, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us through the contacts found at the bottom section of this update.
Dear Parents & Guardians,
We continue to hope this weekly update finds you all in good health. Please know that we have been thinking about all our Lighthouse families and miss the day to day hustle and bustle of the building. This new way of life may have separated us physically but the bonds of our relationships have kept our Lighthouse family together.
As we continue with our remote learning platform we would like to recognize and thank you for all you have done to help your student access and participate in live lessons. This has not been an easy process. Please continue to access support via reaching out in Google Classrooms, communicating with your Family Therapist or through tech requests.
We are also very excited to offer expanded contact with staff in classrooms during the day. We are providing opportunities daily for your student to access their classroom staff to help with any subject area assistance they may need to be more successful in Block 2: 10:00AM to 11:00AM and Block 5: 1:30PM to 2:30PM. We hope that all students will take advantage of these opportunities.
As we reflect on the past 7 weeks it has been our combined commitment to Continuity of Care that has brought us so far from where we were. Together we hope to go even further. As challenging as it may be, we are asking for your help in encouraging your student to participate daily to the best of their abilities in our remote learning experience. We are very confident that with increased participation comes increased success.
Finally, we hope for the continued safety of your family. As we each do our part in respecting vigilant social distancing practices and continued hand washing, we inch our way closer to returning to school.
Warm Regards,
Peter Lang, M.Ed., Principal
Spotlight Allied Services Department
We recognize that many students struggle processing the world and their experiences. The services delivered by our Allied Team (Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists and Psychometricians) represent a critical component of our collective efforts to enhance their well-being. These services are never more important than during these difficult and confusing times.
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Our team has developed a wide variety of engaging and unique treatment activities designed especially for remote learning. These activities are individualized for the unique needs of each student and focus on topics such as enhancing motor skills, sensory processing, pragmatics, and speech and language skills. As a team we are using our understanding of our students’ strengths and limitations to help them engage and adapt to our new learning platforms and virtual therapeutic opportunities.
Within their remote occupational therapy lessons, students work on typing, writing, Activities of Daily Living, and self-regulation. During each lesson, students use RAE (Regulation of Activity and Experience), Lighthouse School’s tool that helps to identify their self-regulation themes and needs. During these challenging times, our students are experiencing feelings ranging from excitement and happiness to frustration, boredom, sadness, and fear. We use RAE to help them recognize how these feelings impact their level of alertness and energy. We also encourage them to think about sensory and self-regulation strategies they can use at home. These strategies may include accessing a quiet space, getting outside for a walk, asking for deep pressure from an adult, using a tactile item or fidget toy, or completing a deep breathing or yoga routine.
During Speech lessons, students work on perspective-taking and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others. Our Speech-Language Pathologists teach students to interpret and react to “expected” and “unexpected” situations, including the “unexpected” nature of a school closure which is certain to cause significant anxiety for many of us. Our Speech team also continues to focus on social language, now with a particular focus on the virtual world.
If you have questions or concerns about how to best assist your child within your home, please speak to us during our next lesson with your child. Thank you for your support.
Tech Tip: Lock your PC or Mac!
It's likely these days that you're spending more time on your computer -- and probably with a little less privacy than you might have had at your work place! To prevent a child, roommate, spouse, pet, or whoever else from accidentally accessing (or worse, losing) the work you've toiled over, just hit the Windows key + the L key to lock your screen before you leave your computer!
If you’re using a Mac that’s running Mac OS Catalina, go to the Apple menu and choose Lock Screen, or press Command+Control+Q. This will lock your Mac and return you to the Login screen.
For older versions of the Mac OS, press Control+Shift+Power button (or Control+Shift+Eject if your Mac has an optical drive).
The New Hampshire Department of Youth and Families and The New Hampshire Department of Education have provided some valuable links to resources, as well as information regarding the importance of self-care during this time. Please click the links below for more information on ways to take care of ourselves and each other:
"We all have a collective responsibility to make sure kids are healthy, safe, and thriving – especially during challenging times. Parents and other caregivers are their children’s most important protectors and may need extra support during the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you to check in with caregivers and children you interact with to ask how they’re doing and what they need. Lending an ear and helping families access available supports can go a long way to keeping families well".
For more information, please check out the Covid-19 Emergency Resource List.
"When things are changing fast, it is important to notice when you or someone you care about is feeling 'blah.' By practicing healthy habits, we can keep our minds and bodies healthy while helping those around us do the same". Please click here for more tips to help yourself and others stay well.
May Bioeducational Theme of the Month: Strengths
A new month means a new theme and the Bioeducational Theme for the month of May is Strengths. Strengths are tasks or actions one does well; these may include abilities, talents, interpersonal skills, or capabilities. During the month of May, we will have many opportunities to explore and highlight the unique strengths that each of us brings to our team, which includes our students, families, Lighthouse School staff, and School Districts. During this time of remote learning, you might even develop new strengths or become aware of strengths you previously didn’t recognize you had. Throughout the month of May, we can all celebrate our own strengths, as well as the strengths of others in our lives, and the strength of our team as a whole. We can ask ourselves: How can you help others with your talents and strengths? How will our students and children’s strengths help them with their future goals? Working together, we will all stay strong and help each other stay strong as well.
For more about our Bioeducational Themes, please visit our website!
"You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice". -Bob Marley
"Nobody is good at everything, but everybody is good at something. Find and focus on your strengths." -- Eleanor Roosevelt
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team". -Phil Jackson
To our LEA's
Thank you for your continued partnership as we work to support our students and their families. We are here for you and if you need anything, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Dorothy Pepin Director of Program Administration Pepind@lighthouseschool.org
Jennifer KaminAssociate Director of Program Administration Kaminj@lighthouseschool.org
Amy Bassett Supervisor for Team MeetingsBassetta@lighthouseschool.org
Sandra Muldowney
Supervisor for Enrollment Services
Muldowneys@lighthouseschool.org
To our Families
Our therapists are available to offer clinical support to families and students 24 hours a day.
If you are in need of assistance, please call our support line, starting with Line 1.
Line #1: (978) 821-1351
If you are not able to connect with a therapist or do not get a response within 10 minutes, please try Line 2.
Line #2: (978) 821-0316
Resources
Assistance for students and families, including meals, is available throughout the week and varies by school district. Please visit your public school district's website for the most current information.
Click the icon for up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 from the Mass General Hospital website