Meeting Minutes:

If you missed the last BOE Meeting on 11/4/08....

Click here for Dr. McGuffog's Power Point on Educational Programs, Supports and Services Budget issues
or
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Meeting Minutes Pleasantville SEPTA
Presentation by Dr. McGuffog & Study Skills

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 7:30pm
PHS Information Center


1. Colleen greeted all attendees and announced the following:

• Summer Smiles Program: A program created and run by a group of teachers at BRS designed to identify children in need of scholarships to attend summer camp. SEPTA has joined in this effort by giving any support the teachers may need in administering the program.
• ELL Program - Juliana Moroney is heading up the implementation of a service in which Spanish speaking families will be able to obtain information about their children’s educational programs, services and to provide a forum in which they can ask questions. This service will also include forms available in Spanish. Many thanks to Juliana for all of her efforts.
• College Fair - Many thanks to Diane Philips for organizing this year’s College Fair, which took place on October 7. We had 22 colleges exhibiting, nearly 200 attendees and approximately 80 people attend workshops.
• A “Pleasantville Monopoly” game is being created to sell as a fundraiser this spring.
• Our first Network Night of the year will take place on Wednesday, November 5 at Jackson and Wheeler restaurant .
• Our first speaker event this year will feature Peg Tyre, author of “The Trouble with Boys”, on Wednesday, November 19 in the BRS Little Theatre. Tickets will be available soon at the Village Book Shop.
• Dr. Green announced that a Transition Planning Fair will be held on November 15 at the Westchester County Center.
• All information regarding Pleasantville SEPTA, calendar of events, meeting minutes and a list of resources can be found by accessing our website at www.pvillesepta.com
• Dr. McGuffog will be making a presentation at the next Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, November 4. She will be speaking on the topic of the cost of special education in district vs. out of district, among other things. All are encouraged to attend and support Dr. McGuffog.

2. Dr. McGuffog’s Presentation - Overview of Programs and Services at BRS, PMS and PHS

• Please see attached presentations for details. 
  BRS Power Point
  PMS & PHS Power Point
• BRS - Each grade has its own special education team.
- Relatively few children are classified because through RTI most services are now available at a building level.
- Once classified, child receives a resource room.
• PMS - Resource Room is IEP driven and skill based so that they can be independent learners.
- Generally the intent is to be as flexible as possible in order to be able to program around students needs instead of placing a child into an existing program.
• PHS - Resource Room is more content based.
- In order to get extended time on the SAT you have to show documentation that the rate at which a child reads, writes and completes math is significantly below average. It is up to the College Board to grant extended time for the SAT.

3. Barbara Leen and Susan Chester - Study Skills and Strategies (Mrs. Leen and Ms.Jenkins are teachers in the Mamaroneck School District)

• Developed a study skills/organizational skills program for regular education and special education students transitioning into middle school.
• Direct Instruction model was used to teach basic organization and study skills during a 40 minute period. Topics taught were :
- how to write in a day planner
- how to schedule homework time and where to find the appropriate place to do homework
- how to create index cards to study for tests
- note taking skills
- how to make best us of a locker
- how to behave in a classroom
- how to create a study guide
- how to make flash cards
• Flash Cards - Students made them throughout the year in class. They were collected and then given back to use as a study tool for tests.
• Study Guides - All teachers use same format and teach the children how to use it. As time progressed, the students began to create their own study guides. This model enabled the students to become more active in the studying process…studying is not staring.
• The result was that no student who participated in this program received below a C average.
• Other study tools - use of post-it notes, study guide schedules, index cards, using visualization/quotes/main idea of text. All of these methods create constant repetition for maximum retention.
• Skills must be used at school and carried over into the home.
• Mrs. Leen and Ms. Chester are in the process of trying to implement the program in the 7th grade.
• Continuity amongst all team teachers is key to the program’s success.


4. Ms. Jennifer McGuire - Study Skills and Strategies (Ms. McGuire is a PHS Science Teacher)

• Ms McGuire’s presentation was an approach to learning/studying using the Multiple Intelligences approach.
• Use Multiple Intelligences Test to find out what the student likes to do and develop study skills around that domain. You need to find intrinsic motivation - what makes the child feel good inside in order to take responsibility.
• Multiple Intelligence categories include:
- Verbal/Linguistic
- Logical/Mathematical
- Visual/Spatial
- Musical/Rhythmic
- Bodily/Kinesthetic
- Naturalist
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
• By using this approach you can find the best way to develop study skills, projects and daily review based on things that the student really likes to do.
• Examples of study skills:
- Mind mapping
- Match card - Flash card
- Drawing or illustrating
- Musical break
- Mum ball
- Outlining/Sequencing

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30pm

"It's So Much Work To Be Your Friend"
Rick Lavoie Film screening and district discussion on Social Skills.

APRIL 28, 2008
PHS INFORMATION CENTER


1. Tara greeted everyone and made the following announcements:

 May 13 will be SEPTA’s last Networking Evening of the year. Colleen will host this event.
 The Autism Speaks Walk will take place on Sunday, June 8 in Purchase. Italian Ices will be sold on Friday, June 6th at BRS and PMS to raise money for the organization on behalf of the team representing Pleasantville for the walk.
 SEPTA’s Spring Benefit will be held on Monday, June 23rd. David Kirby, author of “Evidence of Harm“, will be the guest of honor at a cocktail party from 5:30-7:30pm at the Marmaduke House. Immediately following is a presentation of the film ‘Autism Today” at the Jacob Burns Film Center. A panel discussion will follow the screening. All proceeds from the benefit will go toward funding for “Rachel’s Challenge”, an educational program on tolerance inspired by a child whose life was lost in the Columbine tragedy. This program will be presented to the PHS students.
 SEPTA’s Second Annual College Fair will take place on October 7, 2008.
 Mount Pleasant Library is implementing an after school program for PMS students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. ECHO students will be assisting with a variety of activities including games and homework. The library was also given a grant to purchase new computers. SEPTA will provide refreshments.
 The NorthEast Rec program at BRS is wrapping up its first after school sports program.
 A team building project is being developed to help students transitioning from 5th to 6th grades. The goal is to help children learn to diversify and to generally make the transition to multiple classes, teachers and students more cohesive.


2. Film Presentation by Rick Lavoie : “ It’s So Much Work To Be Your Friend”
Learning Disabilities and Social Rejection Causes:
 Timing and Staging
 Affective Matching (happy to happy, sad, to sad, laughing at funeral, etc.)
 Social Memory
 Social Prediction ( inability predicting a response)
 Social Relevance
 Paralinguistics (Non verbal language) - words comprise 7% of communication, 93% is comprised of gestures, tone, posture, etc.
 Kinesthetic - Body Movements
 Proxemics - Space, including public, social, personal, intimate
 Vocalics - Tone of voice
 Artifactual Systems - clothing
 Reputation Management
 Social Competence - Social Skills, Social Information…there are things that you just need to teach a child. There is a need to tell them about how your day was, teach what a good friend is, generally model appropriate conversation. Kids need a lot of natural environment teaching in making these focused connections.

3. Panel Discussion with BRS, PMS and PHS Psychologists:
 Tara began the discussion by pointing out that the film was really geared toward the counseling of younger children. How is Social Skills training handled in Middle and High Schools? Dr. Green indicated that Social Skills training in the High School is given mainly on a 1:1 basis and tends to be very specific to address issues reported by teachers/family. They do go into the classroom in order to gather data for social skills intervention. Dr. Einhorn added that the “staging/timing” issue is seen quite a lot in the High School, especially because it is such a small community. Dr. Einhorn also urged all parents to please speak to their children about the internet and the dangers regarding bullying, inappropriate communications, etc. as children sometimes look to these mediums as a way of breaking out and meeting new people.
 A parent in attendance, who is also an Early Intervention Social Worker, reinforced her belief that the professional staff needs to get into the actual environment and intervene when a correction needs to be made as opposed to dealing with it in an office or elsewhere. Mr. Kemp from BRS explained that he will use an activity to create a situation as an way to intervene and make corrections.
 Other questions asked: How can we have a better home/school connection? BRS is very connected, but what about as the children get older? How can parents help or stay connected? Can parents be advised when there is a child that would be socially compatible with another child? The answer was that it depends on the child and the type of disability. Tara commented that parents can make these sorts of things goals on an IEP. Parents can set goals with regard to behavior observation, pragmatics, counseling, etc.
 The psychologists also added that they cannot officially spend time with a child in clubs and after school activities. Classroom teacher are being relied upon to do more and more in attempting to lay a strong social foundation for the children.
Meeting ended at 10:02pm