Crossroads Monthly Newsletter
April 2023
Principal's Message
Spring has sprung here at Crossroads. Even with Spring Break, students have been engaged in a multitude of activities during the month of April. April is autism acceptance month and Crossroads kicked off the month with themed activities that both students and staff were able to participate in. From wearing blue on World Autism Day to tie-dyed/rainbow clothing to highlight Neurodiversity, students and staff were able to bring awareness to our school community.
With the weather turning a bit warmer students have also had the opportunity to spend more time outside. Right before the break our students participated in a spring egg hunt outside on our playground. This year Crossroads School was awarded a Kids Dig In gardening grant. Many of our classes have already started the process of prepping gardens in anticipation of the growing season. For Arbor Day, we planted a tree gifted to us by the Union County Board of County Commissioners.
I would also like to formally announce the return of the Crossroads School Carnival. This event, sponsored by MLB Residential Lending, will take place on June 1, 2023. A schedule will be sent out in the coming weeks. This event will have food, games, inflatables, and music. Please save the date as we would love for our families/districts to join us as well.
Crossroads School is dedicated to providing students with an excellent educational experience. In order to ensure our school is meeting your needs and to identify areas where we could potentially address unmet needs, we have developed a feedback survey. We would greatly appreciate you taking 10-15 minutes of your time to provide us with your valuable insights. Your input will be vital as we ensure that we continue to provide the services that make us strong and work to improve in areas that need our attention.
You can access the survey at the following link: Union County ESC Feedback Survey
Upcoming Dates
May 25, 2023 - PTO and Parent Ed/Support Meeting
May 29, 2023 - School Closed (Memorial Day)
June 1, 2023 - Crossroads Carnival
June 7, 2023 - Preschool Stepping Up Ceremony
June 14, 2023 - 8th Grade Graduation
Crossroads Staff and Student Spotlight
Student of the Month - Sander
April’s student of the month is Sander. Sander is a happy boy who enjoys most school and classroom activities. Academically, Sander is best known for using photos and objects to match & sort a variety of products. This is a pre-requisite skill necessary to help perform jobs in a workplace, often practiced during middle school prevocational sessions and community-based fieldtrips. Sander continues to strengthen his visual perception skills, demonstrating increased accuracy and requiring less adult prompting. Sander is praised for his emerging independence as well as functional behavior. If he continues to make these positive gains, he will soon be seen working at a local store in your neighborhood. Great job Sander!
Certified Staff of the Month - Hannah Amengual - Teacher
1. How long have you been working at the commission?
I started working at the commission over the summer as a para. I was then hired as a teacher for the regular school year.
2. What would we be surprised to find out about you?
In school, I was able to work alongside the mens basketball team for Oral Roberts University. I'm really good at math even though I dislike it very much and I only write in cursive.
3. What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation has always been to visit the beaches in Bolivia. I did research on the country in the 6th grade and have wanted to go ever since.
4. What is your favorite meal?
My favorite meal is Puerto Rican rice, chuleta (pork chops), and buneulos.
5. What is your greatest accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment so far is this job. I've wanted to teach in this kind of environment since my freshman year of high school. So, 9th grade me is definitely proud.
Paraprofessional of the Month - Dallas Benavent - Paraprofessional
1. How long have you been working at the commission?
I have been working with the commission for 3 years. Working at Crossroads school is very rewarding. Each of the students truly put a smile on my face.
2. What would we be surprised to find out about you?
I’m a huge sports fanatic and I’m a lefty but bat righty while playing softball.
3. What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be visiting Europe with my entire family.
4. What is your favorite meal?
This is a really hard question to answer. I love to eat and try new dishes. My favorite meal is probably any type of Spanish or Mediterranean dishes.
5. What is your greatest accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment is earning my master’s degree in special education with autism at Kean University. I will be graduating in May. I couldn’t have made it this far without my family’s support and my colleagues here at Crossroads school.
Classroom Spotlights
Ms. Peggy's Classroom
Mr. Steve's Classroom
Mr. Steve’s class in Room 108 is learning about Spring. The students are currently enjoying a multitude of science activities related to the life cycle of a plant. The children are learning vocabulary such as soil, seed, root, stem, leaves, bud, and flower. They are also discussing the importance of sunlight and water. The students can be seen interacting with a diagram daily, taking turns matching their vocabulary words to corresponding pictures posted on the classroom bulletin board. Using additional photos, the children are encouraged to sequence each phase of the life cycle of a plant. An activity they especially enjoy is watching an educational time-lapse video of a seed emerging into a flower from beginning to end. This activity provides the students with evidence that all living things grow and change as they progress through a life cycle. To further strengthen this understanding, Mr. Steve and his staff complete a follow-up activity with the eager learners to create their own Chia Pets! The students use pantyhose, soil, and grass seeds to make their own silly characters (see photo). This science experiment is another fun, hands-on learning opportunity for the children to observe the typical changes that occur during plant growth and development. Spring is really blooming in Room 108!
Therapy Spotlight
Ms. Dina Brigandi - Occupational Therapist
April is Occupational Therapy Month! To celebrate this event, the occupational therapy department created a bulletin board with posters highlighting the different skill areas that OTs work on at Crossroads School. Many of the students participated in the OT Month celebrations by completing an “OT Flower” on which each petal contained a picture of one of their favorite OT activities. The “OT Flower” required multiple fine motor and visual motor skills including coloring, cutting with scissors, choosing activities from arrays of 12 and gluing the petals in the correct placement on the stem. The students did a great job with this project and many of them were able to participate in discussion about what they do in OT.
In keeping with the theme of OT Month, many of the sensory diet activities were taken into the hallway. A weighted ghost bucket was placed at each end of the hallway and the students complete the ghost transfer by carrying 1-2 ghosts down the hallway to toss in the 2nd bucket. This activity is an opportunity for the students to get heavy work and movement between class work to increase body awareness, organization and functional attention. A large figure 8 infinity sign was put on the wall outside the OT room for use by all students. The students can use a car or ball to trace the figure 8. This activity works on shoulder movement and stabilization, crossing midline with both arms and eyes and motor coordination, The Sensory Pathway was re-introduced and used as a motor warm-up prior to OT sessions and to assist with transitions between classrooms.
The focus of OT at Crossroads School is to prep the student’s bodies and sensory systems to increase functional attention and participation in the classrooms. Occupational Therapy promotes independence and self-esteem. This is summed up best by the chant that my students say/sign at the end of every session:
“I am Brave. I am Strong. I am Smart! OT is all Done”
April at Crossroads
Celebrating Neurodiversity Day by wearing Tie-Dye Clothing
Spring Planting/Gardening
Crossroads in the Community
Crossroads students working on Community goals in Target and Panera
Specials Report - Ms. Elaine - Social Worker
In honor of Autism Awareness Month /Acceptance Month the classrooms created “ Can Do” boards to display things the students have accomplished this year. The students are learning and growing each day, taking on more responsibilities and learning about self care. Students are becoming more independent, having play dates with peers, as well and learning and practicing hygiene and self care in girls groups.
The students also enjoyed our wear blue day to Celebrate World Autism Day. Tuesday was Neurodiversity day where the students wore rainbow or tie dyed clothes to school . Students also participated in "What’s your passion" Wednesday where students wore something they were passionate about , and a fun filled spring egg hunt on Thursday to find sensory toys hidden in colorful eggs as well as enjoy 80 degree weather on the playground and dance with the bubble machine.
About Us
Website: https://www.ucesc.org/schools/crossroads_school
Location: 45 Cardinal Drive, Westfield, NJ, USA
Phone: 908-233-9317