Success Stories from the Lakes Region
Are you interested in family engagement in special education but not sure how to begin? Let's take a look at the development of the...
The Merrimack Valley Special Education - Parents Resource Group
The group developed as a result of the Family-School Partnership in Special Education Regional Forum held in their district, February 2010. The Merrimack Valley Special Education - Parents Resource Group is made up of volunteer parents and educators of elementary, middle and high school students in the Merrimack Valley School District. NH Connections facilitated brainstorming sessions and meetings where they developed their vision - for families and school staff to work together to make the education process successful and less stressful for everyone involved and mission - to provide support, guidance and resources to parents of students with special needs.
Regular monthly meetings are held - the 3rd Thursday of the month - with scheduled events for the year 2011 - 2012. Merrimack Valley School District has provided them with a webpage updated by a group member.
Parents chair the meetings, provide meeting notes, create flyers, coordinate activities and act as the liaison with the Special Education Administrators - Maureen Gross O'Brien - middle and high school; Mary Paradise - elementary schools. Please contact Erika Downie at ebdownie@tds.net or Sue Searah at ssearah@yahoo.com
Some of the supporting documents NH Connections provided the group:
- Tips on Structuring Your Meetings
- Sample Agenda
- Sign in Sheet
- Delegate Responsibilities
- Action Planning
- Sample "Ground Rules"
- Techniques for Coping with a Member Who Tends to Monopolize the Discussion
- Publicity Checklist
To learn more about NH Connections and how we can support you in strengthening family-school partnerships in special education, please contact Audrey Burke, Regional Facilitator (603-848-4204) or aburke@picnh.org.
Engaging Families in the Transtion Process
(with an emphasis on high school and thereafter) to
Increase Family-School Partnerships in Special Education
May 17, 2011- Hosted by InterLakes Cooperative and Ashland School Districts
The discussion was an opportunity to learn and share strategies that are currently happening in our region. The make up of the participants were special educators and a community organization. The group used the following questions to stimulate dialog with the overarching goal to improve Family/School Partnerships in Special Education.
Chuck DiCecca, Director of Special Education of InterLakes Cooperative and Ashland School Districts, said it best...
"Most important - listen to the parents, let them tell their stories, check in with them - ask them how things are going?"
* What is one strategy that engages families during transitions?
* What do you think is key to having a smooth or successful transition?
* What is done to inform and educate students with disabilities around the transition process?
* From your perspective- why is it important to have parents involved early in the transition process, as needs and services are discussed and determined?
* From your perspective, why is it important to have community service providers at the table for transition planning?
* What can families do to help prepare students?
To learn more, download the Results of Engaging Families in the Transition Process Discussion
Exploring the Development of
Parent Partnership Group - June 1, 2011
Fremont - SAU 83 "Sit & Chat" Forum
What happens when motivated parents and educators come together to explore partnerships?
The group used a world cafe style forum to explore the following guided questions:
* How does informing and involving families/staff about information help build family school partnerships in special
education?
* What are the topics that staff/families wish they had more information about? What would you like to see included?
* What information or resources are available in the schools? Where do you find these resources? Do you have
resources/information to share?
Overview of the structure:
- Small group discussions (4-5 people and one question per table)
- Guided questions to provoke reflection and conversation
- Talk! Talk! Talk! Set amount of time for each question, with a moderator assigned to each table, taking notes of the conversations.
- Be respectful - one person speaks at a time.
- Mix and mingle! Four rounds for an opportunity to speak to each guided question. Participants move to another table, mixing with new faces.
- After four rounds and an opportunity to speak to each question, we spend a few minutes summarizing the results of eachquestion.
- Share! The moderator of each table reads the notes recorded on flipchart paper then each flipchart paper sheet is posted on the wall for next steps.
To learn more, download the Results of Fremont SAU 83 - World Cafe Style Forum Discussion
The Use of Technology to Improve Family/School Partnerships in Special Education
April 19, 2011 - Hosted by InterLakes Cooperative and Ashland School Districts
NH Connections provided a brief overview of family involvement followed by Chuck DiCecca, Director of Special Education for InterLakes Cooperative and Ashland School Districts who provided a brief presentation of how the district uses technology.
The video clip, "An Open Letter to Educators" by Dan Brown, was used to begin an open discussion of how we use technology as a vehicle to connect with families in special education.
We also looked at how do we use our resources? Staff, families, equipment, community, grants, etc.
To learn more, download the Results of the Technology Strategies Discussion
SAU #53 - School Districts of Allenstown, Chichester, Deerfield, Epsom and Pembroke
Held a district-wide Professional Development Day for staff - March 25, 2011
"What Schools can do to Increase Parent Involvement"
NH Connections and Parent Information Center Presented on the Important Topic of Parent Involvement
Part I: Parents and School Personnel Working Together for Student Success
This workshop provided an overview of the many ways that parents and school personnel can be partners in children’s education. Values, beliefs and assumptions about parent involvement were explored. Workshop participants shared what schools are doing throughout SAU 53 to promote family/school partnerships.
Part II: Creating a Plan for Improving Family-School Partnerships
This workshop built upon the work done in the Parents and School Personnel Working Together for Student Success session. Participants strategized ways to increase family/school partnerships and discussed ways to overcome the barriers. Participants left with a plan of action to implement ideas/strategies they learned throughout the two sessions.
Goal - to look at what kind of things regular schools, guidance counselors, special education teachers, administrators, and teachers could do to make parents feel more involved. Things that are not way out of the box but help people build upon what they are already doing; how do we get people into the schools, feeling comfortable and feeling collaborative with the school.
Activity Feedback - Part I: Parents and School Personnel Working Together for Student Success
Activity Feedback - Part II: Creating a Plan for Improving Family-School Partnerships
If you would like to find out more, please contact Audrey Burke 603.848.4204.
Plymouth area making strides in parent support
Making connections for kids with special needs
June 17, 2010
Written by Matt Perloff, Editor, Record Enterprise
As a parent of children with special needs, living here in northern New Hampshire, there may be a sense of isolation without knowledge of who to turn to for support and information.
A team representing the schools, community and area support organizations have come together to connect those seeking help and direction.
Barbara Stout of Our Trails Parent Support Group, Fran Gonsalves of SAU 48, Lisa DiMartino of Lakes Region Community Services and Audrey Burke of NH Connections are working together to promote and develop the opportunities for parents, families and others working with children that have special needs to share ideas and move forward.
The regional effort started coming together two years ago, when SAU 48 screened the documentary Including Samuel, chronicling the efforts of the Habib family to include son Samuel, who has cerebral palsy, in every facet of their lives. It was here that Stout met DiMartino, a Family to Family Coordinator and Legislative Liason for Lakes Region Community Services. DiMartino describes her role as “making connections,” bringing families together to meet, collaborate, share ideas and support on another. “They empower each other and come up with some amazing ideas,” said DiMartino.
Stout had always wanted to start a parent support group; in November 2008, that goal was realized with Our Trail Parent Support Group, providing a local opportunity for parents of children with special needs to come together. Stout felt the effort would go even further with the addition of workshops to strengthen parent training and involvement, at which point DiMartino connected Stout with Audrey Burke of NH Connections, who in turn brought the effort full circle as she connected with Fran Gonsalves, Director of Special Education for SAU 48 representing the following school districts: Campton, Ellsworth, Holderness, Pemi-Baker Regional, Plymouth, Rumney, Thornton, Waterville Valley, and Wentworth.
In the past year, NH Connections has brought workshops to the Campton, Thornton and Waterville Valley schools, focusing on topics such as Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), Envisioning Your Child’s Future and Parent and Professional Communication, among other topics. These workshops are open not only to parents of children with special needs, but also school officials and others interested. “One of the things we were trying to focus on was opening them up to a general audience, so it wasn’t strictly for parents of children with special needs,” explained Burke.
They have also held Parent Leadership Training in Special Education at the Whole Village Resource Center in Plymouth, where parents engage in a two-day, 10-hour intensive course that allow them to step up as leaders in their child’s school or in area support groups. Parents are referred to this training by the school district, allowing them to return and help support the schools in bringing in parent involvement.
“It’s important that we have parent input,” said Burke. “Come September, we’re looking to have more parent involvement in the schools, and we’d like to have that input.”
“That’s one of the things I think the state is really pushing,” added Gonsalves. “That we try to ask families what they’d like and what information they need to help their children develop.”
Though Stout, Gonsalves, DiMartino and Burke have worked together in their efforts, they have focused on different venues. For Burke and Gonsalves, the priority is promoting parent involvement and awareness at the school level, including the workshops and directing parents to other opportunities. “We try to meet the individual needs of families and have different kinds of opportunities for them,” said Gonsalves. “We try to make it happen for them so they can achieve what they want to achieve…there are lots of agencies and people and families out there that are willing to help them reach those goals.”
For DiMartino and Stout, it’s about promoting through the parent support group and other family-to-family connections. “The most wonderful thing is that this is about the families and the children,” said Stout. “It’s a collaborative; we’re hearing from the families, so it’s coming from the bottom up, not the top down. The goal is to meet the needs of the community and what the families want and the families want opportunities to be together…to have choices on the whole gamut.”
Stout’s group, in connection with the Waterville Valley Recreation Department, Lakes Region Community Support Group and Coyote Grill, has also organized a Family Fun Night for Monday, June 21, where families that have children with special needs can come together and connect while enjoying a variety of fun games and food courtesy of the Coyote Grill. The event, which runs 4-6 p.m. at Packard’s Field in Waterville Valley, is open to all, but pre-registration is appreciated. Please call Barbara Stout at 568-6442 to do so or for more information.
“We want parents to know that they don’t have to be isolated,” said Burke. “They can come in and be connected with all these activities, they can give input and make a difference for their child with disabilities. They just need to make a phone call, come to a meeting or reach out to somebody.”
For more information, contact Barbara Stout at Our Trail Parent Support Group, 568-6442; Lisa DiMartino at Lakes Region Community Services, 524-1741 ext. 17; Audrey Burke at NH Connections, 848-4204; or Fran Gonsalves at 536-1254 ext. 21. Additional information is also online at lrcsc.org and nhconnections.org.
The HBO Temple Grandin Movie comes to the Moultonborough Academy on May 25th
Moultonborough Special Needs Alliance Committee (SNAC) and School District presented the HBO Temple Grandin Movie with a panel discussion - with more than 70 people registered for the event!
The Special Needs Alliance Committee in collaboration with the Moultonborough School District, NH Connections, Asperger’s Association of New England & HBO worked for months to bring the movie to the community, encountering setbacks along the way. Thanks to the perseverance and hard work of SN
AC and the Moultonborough School District all their hard work paid off! SNAC received the HBO DVD of the Temple Grandin movie in advance of its release to the public in August 2010.
Moultonborough has the honor of perhaps being the only school district in the nation to preview this movie before the August release.
The film is based on the life of Dr.Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science and a high functioning woman with Asperger’s Syndrome. Through her unique communication skills and high intelligence, Dr. Grandin dispels preconceived notions about the human condition
known as Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism.
A panel discussion followed the movie consisting of individuals on the Autism Spectrum ranging from a middle school student to adults, and a parent. They provided insight as to how Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome has impacted their lives. Some panel members expressed relief upon learning of their diagnosis – “things now make sense.” While others remembered how they were treated in school, work and the community. The youngest panelist, a middle school student, captured the audience’s attention with a beautiful piano piece – a gift!
Flyer for the event, click here.
Parent Involvement in Special Education Forum
The world cafe style forum was held at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook, NH on February 9, 2010. Great conversations were shared among the 33 attendees, which included parents, educators, and community members.
With the use of three guided questions, we gathered feedback and voted on top priorities under each question to be discussed and put into action plans at the next meeting March 2nd - again at Merrimack Valley High School.
Top priorities listed under each question:
1. What would your vision of parent involvement in special education look like?
Parent advisory group on special education.
Educate parents on the meaning of test scores.
Parent/teacher workshops together.
Celebrate successes.
2. What parent involvement happens in our schools today?
Parent to parent outreach (we want more of it).
Special committees to include parents.
Evening seminars for parents.
3. What challenges prevent us from improving parent involvement in special education?
Time constraints and childcare.
Parents not knowing the special education process.
The "Us" versus "Them" mentality.
Some comments from the forum:
A parent- thanks to all the professionals for coming together like this to share their perspectives - she never had this experience.
An educator - The more you share with us, the better we can communicate together.
An educator - thank you for encouraging the open discussion
Parent/educator - what a diverse group - with lots of knowledge. I gained new resources from parents and educators.
We also posed a question to participants before the forum:
What would the outcomes of parent involvement in special education look like?
Here is a small sample of the responses:
A better-informed relationship between parents, school officials and the students.
Student achievement, student self-esteem, parent knowing all about child in school setting.
Parents would know who to contact at school for answers to questions
Administrators/special education staff would be aware and sensitive to the needs/questions frequently asked by parents
Children's school needs would be identified.
The students would benefit with greater communication between home and school. The school could better serve the needs of the individual's strengths and weakness. It would be a win/win situation.
Open and honest communication - no surprises on either side of the table.
Educators would be the educational expert and parents would be the "customer."
Faster turnaround times in the process.
Parents would be treated as equals in the process. They would be involved in every step.
Frequent communication between: general education teacher and case manager, general education teacher and home, case manager and home, etc.
Parents co-writing IEPs at meeting, not sending home pre-written drafts that get revised at meetings.
Students receiving services outside of school as well as inside - collaboration of services/providers.
I believe there would be more positive outcomes for the kids, with more kids graduating.
Optimal learning for the child. Great communication with the team.
I would expect parents and professionals would collaborate in keeping the student at the center of planning, as well as the execution of those plans.
A collaborative effort between home/school, where the parent also feels empowered and truly part of the process.
