Together We Can

Wow! This will be last newsletter of the 2022 calendar year. This year has been full of positive change. We started our kindergarten and first grade co-teaching and Unique Learner program at Cos Cob School, training for all of our elementary and middle school special education teachers and speech and language specialists in the Visualize and Verbalize reading comprehension program, and expanded our co-teaching at the high school is just a few fantastic things going on around the District!

Take a look below at all of the great things happening around our schools as we get ready to close out 2022!

Have a wonderful winter break and a happy New Year.

Best,

Stacey Heiligenthaler, Ph.D.

Chief Officer of Special Education and Student Supports

stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us

Preschool students in Ms. Lori Mancini's class at North Street School work together. They are amazing bakers!

Students in Ms. Patrizia Iavarone's preschool class at Hamilton Avenue School work together to build a tower.

Ms. Fals third grade class at New Lebanon School is learning about different strategies to solve division problems. Students are working together and sharing their preferred strategy.

Mrs. Sylvester's first grade music class at Glenville School incorporates movement into the music lessons. Students are collaborating, taking turns, and following multistep directions.

There was a reindeer sighting at Riverside School! Students have fun with winter crafts while practicing their articulation with Ms. Victor.

Western Middle School's Ms. Carlin pre-teaches skills from sixth grade English class in the academic lab. Students are learning about conflict by identifying and classifying conflict from their independent reading.

Mrs. Cheney’s sixth grade academic lab is working on summarizing. They are using the strategy, "SWBST," also known as, "Somebody Wanted But So Then." Students are reading and highlighting information to include in a summary.

Mrs. Olyha and Mrs. Fitzsimmon's eighth grade co-taught math class at Western Middle School is reviewing for an upcoming math test. Students have learned about transformations (e.g. dilations) and have applied reasoning, analyzed relationships, and used strategies to solve real life problems.

Greenwich High School's Education and Wellness Center students participate in an internship at the Boys and Girls Club as an art instructor.

Students at Greenwich High School participated in teams of four creating these amazing gingerbread houses. Over 100 students participated in this annual holiday event, sponsored by Student Activities.

The students at Community Connections played basketball with the Manhattanville College men's basketball! This lead to a competitive game. Staff joined in on the fun and gave the Manhattanville team a run for their money!

Students at Community Connections took a trip to the Glory Days Diner. They budgeted, reviewed the menu ahead of time, ordered, obtained receipts, and most importantly, had FUN, together!

HI I am Rachel Rubin, GPS’s new Inclusion Specialist.

As part of the Special Education and Student Supports Team, I work across the district with the overall goal of my role is to ensure ALL students are getting the most inclusive, equitable, and impactful support as possible. As GPS prioritizes inclusion, it is important that families and community members, along with their students and GPS staff, are learning about aspects of co-teaching, inclusion, and neurodiversity.

It is my goal to provide a variety of resources and engagement opportunities to help families better understand what it means to be inclusive. I would also like to know what all of you want to know. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. Each month I will be sharing some resources with you. To start, let’s build our shared language of what inclusion means.

At each marking period, progress on IEP goals and objectives are sent out to families. For this fall marking period, due to the change in IEP systems, there will be a slight delay and progress reports will be sent out to families no later than the start of winter break. Thank you for your patience and understanding as the District transitions to the new state IEP system

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Email: stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/teaching-learning/special-education
Location: 290 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 625-7493