Lighthouse School, Inc.

October 28, 2022 

"Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love." 

--Miguel Angel Ruiz 

Wellman Avenue Facility Entrance
Mill Road Facility Entrance

"Sometimes we're tested, not to show our weakness, but to discover our strength."

--Unknown 

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MCAS Testing 

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) November Retests will be taking place for our students in grades 11 and up beginning November 9th through November 18th.  Students will test in ELA and/or Mathematics.  Lighthouse School is committed to making state-mandated testing as successful as possible for all our participating students.  There are several things we do to help prepare the students for these required tests and to create a positive test-taking experience.  We provide them with opportunities to become familiar with different test formats, terminology, and test-taking strategies for multiple-choice and open-response questions.  In addition, students should be encouraged to participate in all testing opportunities offered at school. 

Encourage your child to carefully listen to or read all directions, ask questions if anything is unclear or confusing, and try to maintain a positive attitude.  It is important to validate any feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration, and stress experienced by students participating in any of these assessments.

Notification letters will be sent home to parents informing them of when their child will be tested.  Finally, test results are provided by the state and are mailed home.  If you have any questions, please reach out to your Family Therapist or contact Lighthouse School. 

Literacy Scarecrows

Literacy is one of the most difficult content areas for so many of our students and for varying reasons. It is something we constantly take on to balance in challenging them academically to better develop their reading while meeting them where they are academically and emotionally with a task that can be so overwhelming. Traditionally,  Literacy is homeroom based in the elementary and middle school clusters while we complete assessments for reading groups. We typically begin the year with Guided Reading through high-interest books to help gain momentum and motivation with reading. 

This year we wanted to take the month and not just use it for Literacy, albeit very important, but we wanted the students to get more out of it through bioeducation. We wanted all students across all clusters to get that bioeducational experience. We integrated Literacy across all homerooms in the school with a Guided Reading approach but had a fun character scarecrow competition at the end of September. While the standards addressed during reading, discussion and activities held importance, it was the process behind each of these scarecrows and the organic moments that came from it that helped set up a strong foundation in the homeroom families of collaboration, resolved conflict, and fun. Homerooms worked together to select a character from the book and discuss some of their qualities and how they would want to depict that character for the activity. They worked together to gather materials, plan and execute, share ideas, work through differences of opinion and ultimately create a finished product together. It was all capped off with a Scarecrow Stroll where students went and looked at the different scarecrows on display at the front of the building to see their hard work on display as well as the scarecrows from the other homerooms in the school as well. 

Anti-Bullying Week in Review
(10/11-10/14)

Lighthouse School recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the passing of the Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Statute with our annual Bullying Prevention Week. We hold the safety of our students as our highest priority, and consider it our duty to uphold the bullying statute as an important part of that mission.

The students were excited to participate in a number of fun activities, events, and contests throughout the week that highlighted Lighthouse’s commitment to confronting bullying in all of its forms. In addition, therapeutic groups took place in all of the homerooms throughout the week to help students talk about this important issue with staff and with each other.

The activities culminated with the events that have become an annual highlight, the Anti Bullying rallies.  Students were provided with an opportunity to share their experiences of being bullied, or in some cases, of bullying other students in their past.  It was truly inspirational to hear students share such heartfelt and emotional stories from their past with the other students in their cluster. 

The bravery of the students that chose to speak, and the respect with which the audience listened to their stories, were often profoundly moving and powerful.  We were all so proud of our students; the ones that were able to share their stories as well as the students that were able to lend their support to their peers. 

From the beginning, Lighthouse School has celebrated the passing of the Massachusetts Bullying Statute as representing everything that our mission stands for and that we aim to instill in our students.  The values of kindness and respect for others, as well as the importance of resolving conflicts, are cornerstones of the Lighthouse School treatment philosophy.   

As a parent, you have entrusted us with the care and welfare of your child.  We understand both the weight and the privilege of that responsibility and will work every day to ensure that your child is provided with an educational experience that strives to be excellent.  Just as importantly, we are committed to providing an environment where you can trust that your child is safe, respected, and loved.  Lighthouse’s support for the Anti-Bullying Act and Bullying Prevention week is yet another aspect of our commitment to maintaining a culture of safety for everyone.

If you have any questions regarding the MASS Healthy Smiles program, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Family Therapist or the Supervisor for Medical Services.

Healthy Smiles

Healthy Smiles is a program that was started in an effort to provide some basic and important dental services to children who do not see a dentist on a regular basis or do not have access to a dentist.  The program provides many different services, including cleaning the surfaces of teeth, applying fluoride to strengthen teeth, providing good oral hygiene training, and dentist office referrals if needed.  The program supports not just school systems, but daycare and child program centers as well.  This is all done in an effort to improve oral health and hygiene.  It has been shown that good oral health is important in learning and also with general well-being. 

We at Lighthouse School are proud to work with MASS Healthy Smiles and their experienced dental service providers to allow our students the access needed to these important dental services.  Everything happens onsite at the school.  The Healthy Smiles staff bring all of the equipment needed to perform the dental services and it allows for a more familiar, relaxed setting for our students.

Halloween Safety


Just a reminder that Halloween is Monday, October 31st.  For those of you whose communities are celebrating this very sweet day, we wanted to share with you some tips and guidelines for safely enjoying this fun-filled and magical holiday:

Kids love the magic of Halloween, and teaching them about costume and traffic safety is a great way to ensure a fun-filled and happy evening.  We can’t wait to hear from all of the students how much fun they had and what their costumes were.

November

           November's Theme of the Month:    Strengths

The Bioeducational theme for the month of November is Strengths.  Strengths are actions or tasks that one does well and can include abilities, talents, interpersonal skills or capabilities.  Throughout the month, students will have opportunities to explore their strengths and how they can help others using their talents. They will be engaging in activities and discussions in group therapy as well as other lessons about what they can do, what others are skilled at, as well as how they feel about their skill sets. Through our relationships and interactions, we will help students find ways to use their strengths to help or encourage others, as well as find classmates with similar abilities. Throughout these experiences, students will have an opportunity to feel good about themselves, which will ultimately lead to improved self-esteem. 


Website Suggestions: 

Books on Self Esteem

What Are Your Strengths?

Character Strengths


Philosophy Amplification Project

An Introduction

The Philosophy Amplification Project has been designed to further intensify the very positive culture that exists at Lighthouse School.  The importance of culture is widely understood by the members of the Lighthouse School’s team, especially in terms of the powerful effect that culture has on the quality of treatment. Lighthouse team members all work very hard to contribute to culture in beneficial ways and the results of their collective efforts support a superlative quality of care that is provided to all enrolled students.

Simply stated, the Philosophy Amplification Project is based on the notion that learning about and ultimately accommodating culture is best accomplished by a variety of experiential modalities.  The selection of these modalities in the form of artistic expressions was made to foster a deeper cultural experience for students, staff, and guests.  This occurs by offering them access to cultural meaning in ways other than by simply hearing or reading about it.

The Philosophy Amplification Project, in its ongoing development, consists of two parts.  Part one is the student component – the four clusters have each developed their own unique ideas and designs to help students to experience culture with enhanced benefit.

Part two is the staff and guest component – various framed artwork has been associated with Lighthouse’s Fifty Cultural Principles” to accentuate and expand cultural meaning.  Since the interpretation of art is highly individualized, participants are encouraged to contemplate the cultural principles and experience their own unique reactions in response to the principles as well as their artistic associations.

No intent has been made to predetermine individual response – rather, the experience is intended to foster a deeper and more intense cultural experience among all participants of the organization.

Lighthouse is pleased to be able to offer the Philosophy Amplification Project as an opportunity for students, staff, and guests to participate more deeply in the organization’s cultural philosophy, and by doing so, offer students the most enriching therapeutic opportunities possible.  All of the costs associated with this project have been paid for by a generous donation made to Lighthouse School.

Resources

Family Support Line

As a reminder, 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

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