Together We Can

Tomorrow is the last day of October, and it sure went by fast. There were so many exciting events that occurred this month, from United Nations Day at Julian Curtiss School to College Night at Greenwich High School.

I am looking forward to all the fun activities in November!!

Best,

Stacey Heiligenthaler, Ph.D.

Chief Officer of Special Education and Student Supports

stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us

Spooktacular shapes from kindergarten students at Julian Curtiss School.

Students in Ms. Kim’s preschool class at Old Greenwich School are constructing apple pies after listening to a story about them.

On a beautiful October morning, Mrs. Chejin and some of her students at New Lebanon School practice a minute of calming mindful listening in the school's garden.

Students in Ms. Yates’ preschool classroom at Hamilton Avenue School are learning about pumpkins and the fall. They enjoyed listening to stories about pumpkins and decorating them as well!

Students in the second grade co-taught class at Cos Cob School are working on a Fundations lesson with Ms. Gleason. Assistant Principal Mr. Groccia made a guest appearance as well.

Riverside School celebrated their 90th birthday. Part of the celebration included announcing the winners in the school-wide art contest, "Riverside School 90 years from now!"

Hamilton Avenue School worked with Dr. Agiurgioaei-Boie to schedule developmentally appropriate presentations for all K-5 students to remind them of our school norms, teach them what bullying is, how to identify and report it and teach them about the school's existing resources. Students enjoyed the presentations, got to role-play, and learned what it means to have an ASSERTIVE voice!

Every year, Greenwich High School hosts a College Night where over 150 colleges and universities attend to provide the opportunity for our students and families to learn more about post-secondary education options. Over 1,000 members of our school community attended this long-standing event!

Student from Community Connections works diligently at one of our Job Sites, Milbrook Golf Club!

Windrose was fortunate to have Yohanna Escamilla, a Flamenco Dancer, take us on a journey and exploration of the Flamenco dance and music. Students were clicking the castanets to accentuate the beats and clapping to produce the rhythmic beats for the dance. Students and staff then participated in the very basic steps of a Flamenco dance. The event marked the end of Hispanic Heritage Month activities.

In order to create a student-centered approach addressing the needs of diverse learners, Greenwich Public Schools provides a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). GPS’ MTSS Handbook was created with a K-12 collaborative team including a parent representative. You can now view the Handbook on our K-8 Curriculum Webpage and our GHS Academics Webpage. If you have any questions about MTSS in your child’s school, please contact your child’s Principal (K-8) or House Administrator (9-12).

Don McGuire, a Greenwich parent of a student with special needs, created a blog Empowering Special Needs Voting: A Parents Guide to assist families in teaching their child with special needs the importance of voting.

by MaryPat Caldwell

This month, I would like to talk about phonemic awareness, the ability to hear, identify and manipulate sounds.

Phonemic awareness is a critical reading skill and an early predictor of reading success. The National Reading Panel deems it one of the five essential reading skills.

Children begin to develop these skills as early as three years old, when they begin to recognize rhymes. They continue to develop these skills through elementary school and beyond (for some). By the end of first grade, a typically developing reader is able to orally blend sounds and syllables together to form a word, to segment sounds in a word and identify the first, last and medial sound, to delete syllables/sounds in a word and to do some sound substitution (“say sleep but don’t say the /s/”).

More advanced skills include more difficult sound substitution and deletion tasks and are typically in place by Grade 3 and beyond (for some). If a child is struggling to acquire basic decoding, fluency and spelling skills, weak phonemic awareness may be the culprit.

The good news is that these skills can be acquired with intervention and are part of Orton-Gillingham based reading instruction. To assess phonemic awareness skills, there are many options. Some standardized assessments used in special education include the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (“CTOPP-2”) and the Phonological Awareness Test (“PAT-2”). These critical skills are also assessed using more comprehensive academic achievement tests such as the WIAT and the FAR. For informal measures the DIBELs (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) and the PAST (Phonological Awareness Screening Test) are two great tools used for assessment and progress monitoring.

By Michele Iannello

November is National Stress Awareness Month.

Our students can sometimes feel overwhelmed, leading to stress, anxiety, and other mental health concerns. The month of November brings to our attention the negative impacts that stress can have on our overall health and well-being.

Stress and anxiety are intricately entwined, with anxiety presenting itself in a number of ways as a person’s reaction to stress.

I encourage you to take a look at the Stress and Anxiety Resources on the Understood website. It is full of supports for your student if they are struggling with anxiety and a downloadable form to look at what signs to look for in your child.

If your child is struggling with anxiety, and you believe that a 504 Plan with accommodations to help support them in the classroom, please reach out to your child’s administrator or school counselor. I am also always available for questions.

Be Well!

Stress and Anxiety

Classroom accommodations for anxiety

Stress vs. Anxiety - Knowing the Difference is Critical to Your Health

Our Mission

To offer a safe space where parents/caregivers of children receiving special education support can come together, feel heard and connect with others. Staff will guide parents/caregivers through the process of exploring mindfulness, self compassion and reflection, with relation to the many emotions associated with parenting.

Please join our Fall 2023 Listening Community.

Meetings will be held at Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Avenue.

Friday mornings 9:30-10:30 AM:

November 3

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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