A Message from Andrea Leonardi, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services
Welcome to the first edition of the Student Services Newsletter! In this edition, we seek to introduce and assist students, staff, parents, and all stakeholders in understanding the focus of our work in the 19/20 school year. We hope to publish the newsletter quarterly to share information, celebrate successes, and inform the public of all the work going on in our department. I hope you enjoy our first edition.
This year we have three areas of focus that we believe will improve outcomes for all students with disabilities across the PreK-21 spectrum. The three areas of focus are Literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening), Social and Emotional Learning and Executive Functioning (SEL/EF), and Post SecondaryTransition Planning. We will seek to update the community on these 3 initiatives in each edition. In addition to the work being done in these 3 areas, we will seek to share successes, updates, and information about things happening in the district. It is our goal to publish this newsletter 3-4 times per year, so stay tuned!!! We hope you enjoy this newsletter. It is a work in progress, so constructive feedback is welcomed. Please send constructive feedback and suggestions to ssnewsletter@wiltonps.org
I wish all of you a wondrous holiday season and a healthy, happy, and productive 2020!!!
Sincerely,
Andrea Leonardi
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Literacy Initiative, submitted by Sharon DeAngelo, Assistant Director of Student Services PreK-5
Our work to discover and experience literacy begins at our Early Learning Center at Miller-Driscoll with our 3 and 4 year olds! Our students both with disabilities and without enjoy discovery with books and pre-reading development through rhyme, song, and stories galore. The units of instruction each have their own wonderful books that are incorporated into the play and lesson structure to enhance our students familiarity with concepts of print along with the enjoyment of a story. Technology adds a whole new layer of interaction with our literacy work as well!
At Miller Driscoll School we believe remedial Literacy instruction is an individualized journey
encompassing a variety of programs, approaches and activities to meet the needs of our learners. Our special education teachers develop specific lessons combining multi-sensory, research based approaches to reading. Instruction is individualized to target the impacted areas of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Our reading services are presented in individual and small group settings both in and out of the classrooms. Our programs are fluid as we adjust based on student needs. Literacy at Miller Driscoll is individualized, research-based and addresses the essential areas of reading for our young learners.
At Cider Mill we continue to target reading instruction to our struggling readers through comprehensive interventions. Our special education staff supports students both in the classroom and in resource rooms at their independent and instructional levels. Instruction that is out of the classroom may be in the form of a phonics group to address decoding, encoding, and/or fluency needs, or small comprehension groups. Instruction in the classroom is structured to provide our students with access to the curriculum at their individual level and is also in the form of small group work. We spend time collaborating with classroom teachers, related service members, and other staff members to differentiate and tailor instruction to fit the students’ literacy needs across environments and disciplines and utilize research-based interventions to teach and progress monitor regularly.
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Post Secondary Transition Initiative: submitted by Melissa Barrett, Assistant Director of Student Services Grades 6-Age 21
Post Secondary Transition Planning is a formal process for helping students with disabilities develop and implement a plan for life after their eligibility for special education ends. This process begins for students at age 14 (or earlier if teams feel it necessary)l. Transition is a process and we are dedicated to making that transition a bridge for students and their families to a meaningful and successful life. This fall WPS hosted our third annual Transition Expo that was attended by adult service agencies (DDS/BRS), Landmark College, Dean College Arch Learning Center, Mitchell College, Norwalk Community College and a representative from Norwalk Probate Court. Also, we have trained five teams on the PATH and Lifecourse transition tool. These tools help students and their families, along with other critical friends explore their strengths, challenges, and goals to assist in developing this critical and dynamic plan. You can learn more about these tools at https://www.pacer.org/transition/learning-center/independent-community-living/person-centered.asp and http://www.lifecoursetools.com/planning/. For additional information about Transition, you can also look to our WPS website’s Transition link at https://www.wiltonps.org/departments/special-services/transition-planning
SEL/EF Initiative: Supportive Parenting of Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Training
On November 4th and 5th the Wilton Public Schools, in collaboration with Wilton SEPTA, Wilton Youth Services, and SpedNet Wilton, welcomed Dr. Eli Lebowitz, Director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center to provide training in the S.P.A.C.E. Program (Supportive Parenting of Anxious Childhood Emotions) to clinicians and schools mental health providers from Wilton and the surrounding community. SPACE is a 12-session program that works with parents to develop skills in parenting children who are prone to anxiety, including those with anxiety disorders. The School Social Workers from the Wilton Public Schools along with area clinicians and staff from neighboring school districts spent 2 days working directly with Dr. Lebowitz at Middlebrook Middle School. In addition, Dr. Lebowitz presented to parents and the community on this program in the evening on Monday, November 4th in the Middlebrook Auditorium. The feedback from parents has been fantastic!
If you are parenting a young person who is prone to anxiety and would like to learn more about SPACE or seek assistance there are a number of pathways to help. Here are just a few:
You can learn more about this transformative work by reading Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety, A Guide for Caregivers, by Dr. Eli Lebowitz and Haim Omer (https://www.amazon.com/Treating-Childhood-Adolescent-Anxiety-Caregivers/dp/1118121015/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FD51LJC8IXHP&keywords=eli+lebowitz+book&qid=1573748203&sprefix=eli+lebowit%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2), or
Contact one of WPS School Social Workers as follows:
For Miller-Driscoll and Cider Mill you may contact James Martin (martinj@wiltonps.org)
For Middlebrook, you may contact Bonnie Schnitzler (schnitzlerb@wiltonps.org)
For Wilton High School you may contact either Kathy Weiss (weissk@wiltonps.org) or Nicole Mok (mokn@wiltonps.org)
For the Genesis program, you may contact Allison Hourani (hourania@wiltonps.org)
- If you are interested in learning more directly from Dr. Lebowitz and his team or you are interested in receiving free treatment as part of the ongoing research, you may contact the Yale Child Study Center, Program for Anxiety Disorders at (203) 737-4644
If you are interested in this work and would like to engage with a clinician privately the document below provides all the clinicians who participated in the recent training who have given us permission to publish their names
We will keep the community posted as we partner with Yale to explore and develop how SPACE can help strengthen our students and families. Stay tuned!!
Staff Spotlight: Dr. Julie Bookbinder, Speech and Language Pathologist, Middlebrook Middle School
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Checking out the storm drain!Wondering what the preschoolers at the Miller-Driscoll Early Learning Center are curious about? Well, we moved the fence on our playground to create more green space for outside play and our curious preschoolers were fascinated by the storm drain! | How many apples? We used units of measure (apples) to find out how tall we were? | Creative Curriculum Beginning School Year study explores multicultural foods, nutrition, and family. We piggybacked with the story Gregory the Terrible Eater. Children made their own restaurant signs, menus and re-told the story with props. We created various relay races for the billy goats to get their food. We played a rainforest ocean drum with partners. |
Checking out the storm drain!
Wondering what the preschoolers at the Miller-Driscoll Early Learning Center are curious about? Well, we moved the fence on our playground to create more green space for outside play and our curious preschoolers were fascinated by the storm drain!
How many apples?
Creative Curriculum Beginning School Year study explores multicultural foods, nutrition, and family.
We piggybacked with the story Gregory the Terrible Eater. Children made their own restaurant signs, menus and re-told the story with props. We created various relay races for the billy goats to get their food.
We played a rainforest ocean drum with partners.