Together We Can

April has been a busy month. The District opened up a new preschool class at Julian Curtis, started the Lindamood-Bell reading training for teachers and speech and language pathologists, and Greenwich High School put on a Career and Transition planning day. Those are just a few of the activities taking place around the district with much more to come in the months ahead before the school year ends.

With Spring Recess just a few days away, I want to wish everyone a wonderful break and hope that you get a chance to rest, relax, and recharge.

Best,

Stacey Heiligenthaler, Ph.D.

Interim Chief Officer of Special Education and Student Supports

stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us

K-8 special education teachers and K-12 speech and language staff had an amazing week of learning at the visualizing and verbalizing training.

This spring, over 75 SESS staff members district-wide will be trained in Lindamood-Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking. For over 35 years, Lindamood-Bell has been improving the lives of students. Their evidence-based programs develop the skills necessary for reading and comprehension and they believe all students can learn to their potential, including those previously diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, or autism spectrum disorder.

April is World Autism Month, and Saturday April 2 was World Autism Awareness Day. To celebrate and bring awareness, staff at Western Middle School wore their blue autism awareness T-shirts.

Recently, the GHS Education and Wellness Center sponsored a Career and Transition Planning Day for center and academic lab students. Students were given the opportunity to meet with their respective school counselors to start the program and then six local technical/trade schools, including Lincoln Tech, Porter and Chester Institute, SoNo Academy, Norwalk Community College, Monroe College, and Job Corps, presented their individual programs to students. Students had the opportunity to choose two presentations that matched their career interests.

North Street School's Speech Language Pathologist Theoni Stavrianopoulos hosted Pete the Cat Day recently. Elementary and preschool students engaged in language activities while enjoying one of their favorite characters.

The new Julian Curtiss preschool class, lead by Ms. Danielle Szanto, has opened. We are so excited to welcome our new friends to JC.

Dr. Heiligenthaler, Dr. Alina Boie, and Dr. Fabian A. Boie presented at the 2022 Childhood Conversations/Together We Will conference on Saturday, April 2. The presentation focused on supporting both families and staff to address the increased levels of stress and burnout, anxiety, and depression in young students and to help children develop resilience, independence, and perseverance. The presentation is available to view until the end of April.

The fourth graders in Mrs. Currier's classroom at Julian Curtiss practice a minute of mindful breathing to help them relax and refocus before their next activity.

Second graders at Julian Curtiss engage in SEL and put together a Tree of Friendship to share how they will care for self and others in the classroom.

The CSDE is offering a series of brief “IEP Preview Sessions” to highlight the improvements to the IEP and special education processes, you can access the preview sessions on its website.

The Listening Community's the next session will run from April 27 through June 1. Meets occur during the fall, winter, and spring for a six-week cycle and are held on Wednesdays at Greenwich Town Hall. Parents/guardians have the option of attending the morning session from 9:30-10:30 AM or the evening session from 6:30-7:30 PM.

For those that prefer, the evening session will offer participants the option to stream if they cannot attend in person. You can also find more information through the Listening Community newsletter.

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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