It's hard to believe it's November, especially with the beautiful warm weather we have had!! As I have visited our classrooms this month I have been so impressed with the way that our teachers, paraprofessionals and therapists go above and beyond every day to engage our students. You might be wondering what that means, to me it means taking a lesson that may be a discussion and making it an experience for students for example: students in our TEAP program in Wrentham learned about the history of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then held their own parade for their families to share what they learned, other examples include students at AMS finding ways to illustrate our Positive Thursday Messages. I think it's also important to mention that staff going above and beyond for our students comes through not only in academic lessons but also in their relationships with students. I often see staff working with students who are having a very difficult time; in the moment, students can be resistant to the support being given and everyday I see staff hang in with the student anyway. You wouldn't be wrong if you said "that is their job" , however, I believe it takes special people to be able to do these things for our kids day in and day out. During this season of giving thanks, I am truly grateful that we have amazing staff in all roles across the Collaborative who believe in "making it possible" for our students. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!!

SEAP Wood is enjoying art and reflecting on giving people in our lives! Students also took part in their Tradition Celebration, celebrating annual family traditions that they participate in. Students brought in a favorite food to share with the class. All students enjoyed trying new foods!

TEAP Wrentham hosted a Thanksgiving Festival for families and leadership to join them as they presented their Turkey inspired work that included Turkey Disguises and their very own Macy’s Day Parade! We had a blast!

The therapy dogs came to visit Summit School. Some of the dogs that were here hanging with the students include:

Rebel from Walpole Police Dept.

Murf from Hudson Police Dept.

Derby from Salem Police Dept.

Harper from Randolph Police Dept.

Before the Thanksgiving holiday, SLBP wrote stories about "The Perfect Pie". Some stories students came up with described a delicious pie and others were more comical (anyone want frog pie?!). The day before Thanksgiving, we made our own chocolate chip cookie pies! It was a yummy way to kick off our break!

At Summit High School, students are reading the novel, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." The story includes an interesting contrast of an innocent child’s perspective in a setting with circumstances far from innocent. Students are exploring the meaning and value of an innocent perspective and how it enables this story to unfold. Other themes include friendship, acts of humanity, understanding conformity and obedience, and exploring prejudice and discrimination.

Students are learning to take each other's perspective into consideration and understanding how the other themes are related.

For the month of November we have been learning about Kindness. The students have gone around in a group and say what they like about other students and staff. One of our students was helping his classmate look for a song on the Chromebook.

Thank you to Ms. Brousseau and Mrs. Jones for organizing this wonderful event!

Every Thursday, a #PositiveSign that was created by a member/ members of the BICO community is shared with the collaborative to incorporate into their day!