Special Education Department
November 2020
Progress Reports
SunWise Capital Autism Scholarship 2020
Autism Parent Modules
A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education
At each IEP meeting parents/guardians are given a document, A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education. Below is a link for a digital version, please review the document to understand your rights.
Parent & Family Involvement
Transition Services: Budgeting 101
This year students with transition services will have the opportunity to participate in lessons to benefit their daily life as well as life after high school. This November, students at the Lakewood and North Olmsted campuses had their first lesson on budgeting! During this time, they were introduced to the 50/30/20 budgeting tip. Students learned how to calculate percentages of an income and separate income based on their needs (50%), wants (30%), and savings (20%). It was great to see the reactions of how saving a little each month will make a huge difference in the future.
Academic and Intervention from Ms Parkinson
Hello, my name is Ms. Jill Parkinson, and I am the 10th-12th grade intervention specialist at AEA North Olmsted this year. I have been working at AEA as the high school IS, and in various other capacities such as American Sign Language teacher and high school intervention math teacher since 2015. I previously worked with students from a variety of schools through a day treatment program, and have provided home instruction at all grade levels.
Within the last month I have been able to work with students in intervention math (Algebra 2 Concepts) to crack the mystery of exponents. While repeated multiplication is a fairly easy concept, the idea of how to handle exponents can be tricky when there are specific rules for specific situations. I also work with several students who need more intensive assistance with concepts in Economics, and am trying to decode the bonding rules on the periodic table with our kids in Physical Science (gr9/10) and Chemistry (gr11). You can find me all over the building, but my home base is at the top of the stairs between the middle school and high school wings on the 2nd floor.
Vocabulary support is a priority for me in working with my students - it's important to know and be able to apply the correct terminology in subject areas (for testing, and for comprehension while reading/discussing), and also to be able to figure out word meanings from the component parts of a word when context clues won't cut it. So, no matter what subject we're in, I encourage students to review vocabulary through multiple methods. We make flash cards, play review games, and quiz each other. In English, we're going to be doing a study of Greek and Latin roots and affixes. In many cases, I've already seen improvement on student STARS reading scores that have made up for the "COVID dip" and brought them closer to grade level; great job, students!
Social distancing has taken a toll on many of my outside-of-school hobbies and activities. While community theater and my tutoring activities have paused, or gone virtual, and I miss evenings at Panera by the fireplace, I have caught up on my list of "books I must read" and am doing some other exciting things - just at a slower pace, and with extra precautions. One part of my life I would like to share is my journey to become a foster parent through Cuyahoga County. I began taking classes before the pandemic, and progress was temporarily halted, but now I am near the end of my certification process and am SO EXCITED! I am hopeful that I will soon be able to share my heart and home (and furbabies) with someone who needs me.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Throughout the year you will get to know all of the members of AEA's special education staff. We're a wacky group, and glad to be here to support our students in whatever ways they need!
-Ms. P