From the Desk of Mrs. Brush
September 16, 2020
Welcome Back!
Welcome back! It is my great pleasure to be a member of the Julian Curtiss Team and both principal Trish McGuire and I are looking forward to a successful and productive year. I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some information that may be helpful to you this year.
Meet The 2020-2021 JC PPS Team
Mrs. Brenda Brush - Assistant Principal
Mrs. Meredith Gillam - Special Education Teacher
Mrs. Caroline Perez - Special Education Teacher
Mr. Anthony Oddo - Special Education Teacher
Ms. Kimberly Tartaglia - Special Education Teacher
Ms. Morgan Gedney - Special Education Teacher
Ms. Rachel Davis - Special Education Teacher (Remote Learning)
Mrs. Tonia Lackran - Speech-Language Pathologist
Mrs. Lisa Berluti - BCBA/Behavior Support Team
Ms. Emily Peters - School Psychologist
Dr. Lisa Melmed - School Psychologist
Ms. Melissa Danko - Occupational Therapist
Mr. Akin Akinola - Physical Therapist
Ms. Eileen Brehm - Professional Assistant
Ms. Jessica Confalone - Professional Assistant
Mrs. Mahalia Ferguson - Professional Assistant
Mrs. Ceil Pelazza - Professional Assistant
Mrs. Barbara Re - Professional Assistant
I have been working at JC since 2000 as a Professional Assistant. Prior to working here, I taught Pre-K for 13 years. I have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. I love spending time with my family, going to the beach, listening to music, and dancing.
Mrs. Stacey Turpin - Professional Assistant
Mr. John Sabito - PPS Clerk
SES – Special Education Subcommittee of the PTA
This subcommittee of the PTA focuses on the needs, issues and concerns of the families of students with disabilities. Together the committee will be planning and hosting several important and exciting events throughout the year. The central office will send out notices and reminders using the email address you provided when you registered. If this is not the best email to use, please call the school office and give the staff your preferred email for school/district communication.
We are currently looking for a parent to represent the Julian Curtiss community on the SES Committee. Please let me know if you are interested.
For the 2019-2020 school year, the co-chairs of the SES subcommittee of the PTA are:
Doreen Conte (dorconte@gmail.com)
Caroine Lerum (caroline.walker85@gmail.com)
IEP Annual Review Meetings
Again, this year, we are attempting to lessen the impact of PPT/IEP meetings on the instructional day wherever possible. As in the past, we have scheduled all of our PPT meetings on Thursdays this year. Your child's team will let you know when your child's annual review is due. By scheduling meetings in advance, we are decreasing the time that staff will be pulled from classrooms and services. You will receive a reminder of your child's meeting date at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting, but we are asking all families to make arrangements in advance to ensure that you are able to attend the scheduled meeting. If you know now that the tentative date will not work for you, or need to have your meeting at a specific time of day due to work commitments, please call the office now so we can take that into account when scheduling. Please call my clerk, John Sabito, or me at (203) 869-1896. While we understand that there may be a need for an IEP meeting in addition to the Annual Review, our goal is to keep to the schedule as closely as possible to decrease the impact on instruction.
We have a few special notes for this year. Due to the current restrictions because of COVID-19, all meetings will be held virtually via Google Meet. When your meeting is scheduled you will be sent a link for the virtual meeting.
Also, there were many meetings that were postponed in the spring due to the extended emergency school closure. Please know that your child's IEP is still in place and will be honored until such time that the team is able to come together to make changes. Missed annual reviews will be scheduled as soon as possible.
IEP Implementation Service Plans
For example, if a student was pulled during a lunch bunch for a turn-taking activity sharing items, this goal may need to be addressed in a different way than originally written. No changes will be made without discussion and agreement with families. Please know that teachers are making recommendations that will best serve students. This document will become part of your child's PPS file and will be maintained along with the IEP. Changes to the instructional model such as this are not reflected in the actual IEP document. They are circumstantial changes not related to the student's current level of performance.
Remote Services and Cross-Cohorting
Given the fact that we may need to change to remote learning at any point in time, we will also need permission for all students to participate in the remote provision of services. This also may include students working with teachers and service providers individually or being placed in online groups. We have some students at Julian Curtiss participating in remote learning who may also be participating in groups with students attending in-person instruction here in the building. Within the structure of remote group services, the identity of students with disabilities may be disclosed.
In order to provide services to all students within the current in-school model, most of our service providers work with students across cohorts. In our case at Julian Curtiss, a cohort is a grade level. Each of our service providers works with at least two grade levels. Our related service providers may work with students across all grade levels. At this time, we do not have any instructional groups that include students from different cohorts.
There is a form below for you to read and sign once your child's team communicates service structure with you. Should you have any questions after that conversation, please feel free to reach out to me.
General Communication
Open communication between families and school staff is critical to the success of all children, but particularly crucial for students with disabilities. We continue to work with our parents to promote communication strategies that are effective but result in minimal impact on teachers’ instructional time with students. We ask you to use the following communication strategies in your contact with your child’s teachers. Please remember that the communication books and emails are considered educational records and may be shared with other school staff for legitimate educational reasons.
Routine information
The most effective way to communicate routine information with teachers is by email (for example, a sweater that was left in school, a note in a backpack). All such emails will be addressed promptly, typically within one school day. In some cases, additional time may be needed and if so, your child’s teacher will let you know if this is the case. In response to some communications, the staff will offer to speak with you directly about your concern or question. Email is NOT the best way to communicate serious questions or concerns about your child or your child’s program.
Questions or Concerns about IEPs/Services/Instruction
Questions about your child’s IEP, including accommodations, services, etc., are best addressed directly with your child’s teacher and/or special education monitor. As a school district, we value personal connections and communication with students and families. For this reason, we encourage parents and teachers to communicate in person or by telephone regarding questions or concerns about IEPs, services instruction, etc. In some cases, the monitor may need to follow up by email with parents or other members of the school team. In some cases, the monitor may need to schedule an IEP meeting to discuss any changes to your child’s program - no decisions can or will be made about the IEP outside of a IEP/PPT meeting unless the school has your written permission to do so.
Bus Concerns
Any issues with the bus should be reported to the district transportation office through the use of their on-line system. Go to the district web site (www.greenwichschools.org) and under the “Quicklinks” section on the left hand side of the home page, click on the heading, “Report Bus Issues.”
General Issues and Concerns
Please follow the process of “chain of command” when dealing with issues and concerns. Your first contact should be the general or special education teacher, depending on the nature of the concern. If you are unable to reach resolution through your contact with the teacher, you should contact me. If you are still not satisfied with the solutions/response at the school level, you may contact the Special Education Administrator for our cluster of schools, Karen Vitti. The next level of problem resolution would either be Mary Forde, Chief Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Officer, or Ann Carabillo, Deputy Superintendent. Please follow this hierarchy in attempting to resolve any concerns or issues you may have with your child’s program. This will allow the staff who are closest to the problem the opportunity to solve the problem before involving administrators outside the building.
Emergencies
Procedural Safeguards
Copies of the Procedural Safeguards in both English and Spanish can be found on the district’s website, http://www.greenwichschools.org. Also included, in English and Spanish, are the Safeguards regarding Restraint and Seclusion and the Transition Rights. If you would like to obtain a paper copy of any of the Procedural Safeguard documents, please contact me at the school or you can contact the district Office of Pupil Personnel Services and make your request (telephone – Joan Pritchard, 203-625-7493, fax 203-625-7490, email – joan_pritchard@greenwich.k12.ct.us). Should you wish to print a copy, the document is attached below in both English and Spanish.
Parent Education and Communication Opportunities
Although we won't be able to host an in-person parent coffee at the start of school this year, we will be setting up virtual coffees periodically throughout the year focused on different topics. Our first coffee will be in the month of October so be on the lookout for dates and details!
You will also receive periodic newsletter updates from me, as well as from our PPS staff, throughout the year with resources, local events of interest, and other pertinent information. If there are specific topics you would like to learn more about, feel free to reach out!
¿Necesita leer nuestro boletín en español?
Mrs. Brenda Brush - Assistant Principal
60 Countries, 30 Languages, One Great School!
Email: brenda_brush@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: greenwichschools.org/jcs
Location: 180 East Elm Street, Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone: (203) 869-1896
Twitter: @JCSEaglesAP