Bi-County Times
February & March 2023
From Our Executive Director: Jeanne Sullivan
I can’t believe how quickly February and March have flown by!!! We were so lucky to have a mild Winter but I am really looking forward to Spring!!!
During the month of February the entire collaborative focused on spreading kindness. You will see in the program updates below that our classrooms had various activities that encouraged students to spread kindness to their peers, across programs and at home. During the week of February 13-17 we held a Kindness Spirit Week where staff shared notes about why they enjoy working with each other, staff received kindness care packages, staff and students were encouraged to wear blue on Friday of that week to reflect the color of Kindness.
The focus for March was Mindfulness. Each classroom teacher was provided with a calendar that suggested daily activities to help our staff and students increase their awareness, adjust their mindset and connect to what is going on around them. I am hopeful that by participating in at least 1-2 of these activities we all start to increase our appreciation of ourselves and those around us.
I want to say a special thank you to our staff and students who are running the school store at Summit. These staff and students presented to our member district special education administrators during their February Meeting. Everyone was very impressed to hear about the school store being reopened and the various roles that you hold.
I have really enjoyed time spent in classrooms over the past two months. Each time I have been reminded of the talent of our educators and how wonderful our students are. I have loved my time reading The Boy In The Striped Pajamas with the high school students in the Learning Center Program. I was a mystery reader for students at TEAP Blackstone where I shared Beekle the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. I have spent recess and instructional time with students in both SEAP Bellingham Programs, and participated in Morning Meeting with students and staff at the TEAP Jackson, Plainville Program. I look forward to continuing to focus on being present in classrooms as we move into the final quarter of the school year.
We are continuing to look for qualified people to fill several positions within the Collaborative. If you know of anyone who may be a good fit for our programs they can view our open positions at https://bicounty.org/about/employment-opportunities/. Thank you for any referrals.
We are considering offering a series of training for families. If there is a topic you would like us to explore, please feel free to reach out to me via email -
jsullivan@bicounty.org.
Happenings Around the Collaborative!
PDLP & EDLP: Mansfield
The past 2 months our program has welcomed many new friendships! We have a new student, Maya who is adjusting very well. A volunteer Mansfield High School student, Olivia is enjoying her time here. Ms. Tori is a BICO Summit student who has started working with us every other Monday! And Ms. Melissa is a new paraprofessional in our program. Also pictured is one of our favorite FURRY friends, Bentley!
SEAP & TEAP: Plainville
Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brousseau's classes at the TEAP and SEAP Wood School programs have been working on Kindness in their weekly social skills groups with Mrs. Marcoullier this month. The students were challenged to complete 100 random acts of Kindness in 30 days ending on Valentine's Day. The combined classrooms earned 109 hearts for each random act of kindness and celebrated with a pizza party before vacation! The students were recognized by teachers, paras, therapists and other students when they did something kind and a heart with their name and what they did was added to the bulletin board. Staff also joined in on being recognized for kindness and adding their own hearts to the board. Acts of kindness that were recognized were often simple things like greeting a peer with a smile and a hello, sharing a snack with a friend and using manners. The students really like the challenge and countdown to reach the goal. They have even asked if there can be a new challenge for March!
TEAP: Blackstone
TEAP Blackstone students were excited to celebrate the 100th day of school! Students "raced to 100" during math, completed different STEM challenges with 100 different objects, and wrote about what they would do if they were given 100 dollars.
TEAP: Wrentham
Ms. McInnis and Ms. Ludwig's class earned a trip to the YMCA as a part of their Superflex incentive program! We shared so many smiles and laughs as we splashed around. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen, what an awesome experience it was for our students!
SEAP: Bellingham
Having fun and getting sensory input jumping on the trampoline!
Upper SEAP: Bellingham
Our Upper SEAP program celebrated St Patrick's day by making a leprechaun craft that the students created and also spelled their names. Our class has been working on group activities together to learn to share and work together. The students love to do crafts and have been doing a great job working as a team!
TEAP: Plainville
The TEAP Jackson school has been very busy with the Kindness challenge this month. Students have been learning how they feel when they do something kind or when someone is kind to them. The students have participated in kindness projects. One project was Valentine’s for Veterans. They made cards and sent them to a unit overseas. This unit had a family member of one of our students. The students are currently working on kindness packages for their bus drivers. We also had kindness spread to the classroom. A student from SEAP Wood donated Thomas the Tank Engine Trains to us. The students were so excited and appreciated the kind gesture. Students from the same class also came and read to the class. Once they have completed their challenge, the students will write a book about kindness and how it made them feel.
SLBP: Bellingham
SLBP has been learning a lot about chemical and physical changes in matter. We’ve had lots of fun with some hands on experiments!
TEP: Foxboro
In February, TEP celebrated school counselor week! Students created a scrapbook for our amazing School Adjustment Counselor, and presented it to her as a surprise! TEP also had a special visit from the New England Patriots cheerleaders and mascot for kindness week! They took pictures, signed autographs and brought gifts for the teachers!
AMS: Franklin
During February and March, AMS enjoyed completing an Occupational Therapy Group Challenge, a STEM Egg Drop and playing basketball with Dr. Murphy!
LREP: Norton
We have had a fun filled February and March in LREP Bellingham! We loved getting outside during the nice weather. We also welcomed JoMari and Kaitlyn back to school!
Summit Elementary School: Walpole
Summit Elementary and Middle School had a student moving on to a different program so we had a Waffle send off that included a make your own waffle bar, loaded with all the toppings.
Summit Middle School: Walpole
Mrs.Sousa's Classroom Door for the month of March.
Program Highlights include, ice skating at the Rodman arena and students working at the school store. Students in Mrs.Sousa's 8th grade social studies class are working towards doing a mock trial in their classroom on a Supreme Court Case.
Summit High School: Walpole
The focus the past two months has been engagement with each other and the curriculum through short stories. Students and staff are learning to see situations and behavior from each other's perspectives. We have read "The Overcoat," "The Gift of Magi," "The Lady, or the Tiger?" as well as excerpts from other texts. The themes covered include corruption within bureaucracies, bullying, work ethic as well as family, love, and sacrifice. Additionally, we are discussing human nature. We are looking at difficult situations and processing the different ways to handle such situations. Students are learning to analyze the information and messages from both fiction and nonfiction. They are learning the skills corresponding to each text as well as how to analyze the messages so they better understand themselves, others, and the world around them.
Learning Center: Blackstone
Learning Center students have been busy mentoring at TEAP Blackstone. They play bingo games, decorated fancy valentines cookies & more! In March, they inscribed a table during inclusion class at BMR. Students also enjoyed a visit with ABA the service dog!!
STAP: Walpole
STAP employees of Summit Convenience got a special treat from Jeanne Sullivan, the executive director of BICO. Mrs. Sullivan surprised the students with an ice cream party as a thank you for all the hard work they have been putting into the school store! STAP students also had the opportunity to participate in a CPR & First Aid training course! A Walpole police officer came in to run the training and they will receive a certification for taking the course.
LRTC (9-12): Walpole
LRTC has been working on a fun Egg Drop science experiment! Our students designed their own vessels to keep their egg safe when dropped from increasing heights! They chose what container to use and what materials to pack in their containers to keep their egg from cracking! It was a lot of fun!
LRTC (18+): Walpole
Our students have been very busy. They have worked very hard creating and making very special Valentines cards for our local Seniors in our local community! Students were very excited to take a trip to Charwell House in Norwood to deliver a smile to all the residents!
Transition Events Calendar
Congratulations to our BICO students who received the Student Achievement Award for Exceptional Performance on the 2022 MCAS-Alt from DESE. We would also like to recognize our dedicated teachers for their hard work in administering the MCAS-Alt and the perpetual support of their students.
