It's hard to believe we have completed our first trimester of school. The Response to Intervention program is up and running throughout the district. The feedback so far has been very positive from the staff and community. Also, a thank you to the board of education who approved the purchase of several researched based interventions and staff training that have helped make this program a success. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Our newly formed Parent Group had its first meeting on Thursday November 6 at Prairieview. Our guest speakers were our three district social workers, Valerie McCaffrey, Virginia Westra, and Meg Wills. The topic of the evening was behavior strategies for effective parenting. The evening was well attended and well received. Two more meetings will be held this year one in February and one in May with the dates to follow. These meetings are open to all parents. I hope to see you all there.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Preschool screening was held at Elizabeth Ide last Friday, October 10th. We will be holding another screening on February 13th at Elizabeth Ide school. Please call 630-783-5168 for an appointment.

Center Cass School District is hosting the first Parent Group on November 6th at Prarieview School from 7:00 pm. - 9:00 p.m. The topic will be behavior strategies to use at home and at school. Our three district social workers, Valerie McCaffrey, Virginia Westra and Meg Wills, will be the presenters. Please come with questions and ideas to share. Hope to see you there.

Fall is in the air which means it is time for pre-school screening!! The first screening will be held October 10th at Elizabeth Ide school. Please call 630-783-5168 for an appoiontment.

Beginning this school year District 66 will host a parent group to be held in the fall, winter and spring. This group is designed to inform parents of the latest research and techniques available to assist at home and at school. In addition, parents will be able to ask questions and share any techniques they are currently using. Our first meeting will be held November 6 at Prairieview school from 7:00-9:00 P.M. The evening will include district Social Workers Valerie McCaffrey, Ginnie Westra and Meg Wills as speakers. More information will be coming soon.

SASED

Center Cass District 66 is a member of SASED, a special education cooperative located in Naperville. We employ speech therapist, psychologists, social workers, occupational and physical therapists from SASED. They offer training and services for behavior and other therapies as well. There website is http://www.sased.org/

Just a reminder that pre-school screening is Friday October 10, 2008. It will be held at Elizabeth Ide School. Appointments are being taken now. Please call 630-783-5168 for an appointment.

Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year. Our first preschool screening will be October 10th at Elizabeth Ide. We would like to welcome our new psychologist,Gemma Johnson to Elizabeth Ide School. In addition to Gemma we would like to welcome Colleen Nino, who is substituting for Ivy Gabriel while she is on maternity leave. If you have any questions please call 630-783-5168. Have a great year!!

Thank you all for returning the Special Services surveys. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will be helpful in planning for next year.

Many of you may have heard of RtI (Response to Intervention). This is a new federal law with implications for general education as well as special education. Response to Intervention identifies and provides high quality instruction and research based interventions matched to student needs. RtI measures the rate of improvement over time to make important educational decisions. RtI uses ongoing student performance data to determine if an intervention is working. If the intervention is not working it is time to do something different. RtI uses a 3 tiered approach to problem solving. All students are screened. This tells us where each student is compared to peers. It tells educators which studnets need intervention. The students move up the 3 tiers depending on the level of interventions needed for the student to make progress. RtI is an overall integrated system of service delivery. RtI is not an eligibility system. It is not simply a way to find students eligible and or reducing the number of students placed into special education.

We have formed committees in all three buildings this year. The staff has attended training offered through SASED/ASPIRE throughout the year. We will continue to implement the RtI process next year.

I hope everyone had a restful spring break. The Special Services Department is sending out a parent survey. Please take a moment to complete the survey and return it in the self addressed envelope enclosed. Your input is very important to the educational process. Thank you in advance for completing this important survey.

Pre-school screening was held on February 22, 2008 at Elizabeth Ide school. This was for screening children ages 3-5 in the areas of speech language, fine and gross motor, and cognitive ability. We will be holding another screening in the fall of 2008. Please check our website for more details in the fall.

On Insitute Day, February 5 our teaching assistants had the opportunity to attend a workshop on Autism Spectrum Disorders. They were inserviced on techniques that are most effective when working with these students in the classroom.

FYI - There is guide for parents entitled "A Parents Guide" which is the educational rights of students with disabilities. This the "the blue book" of special education and is developed by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for parents to learn about the educational rights of children who have disabilities and receive special education services. The ISBE website is available on line at www.isbe.net. In addition click on to www.ccsd66.org and access the special education link under our schools for more helpful information.

There are several questions I am often asked concerning the special education process. I would like to address some of these questons here.
What is an IEP? An IEP is an Individualized Education Program written and developed for each public school child who is eligible for special education. The IEP is created through a team effort and reviewed at least once a year.
Who are the IEP team members? The IEP team consists of a multidisciplinary team that includes the parents, regular education teacher, special education teacher, individuals who can interpret the evaluation results, a representative from the school system, and anyone who may have special knowledge about your child.
How is eligibility determined? For a child to be able to receive special education services, he/she must be identified to have a disability that adversely affects his/her educational performance.
Once your child is found eligible for special education education services and IEP is written to meet your child's unique educational needs. The IEP guarantees that your child will receive the special education and related services as agreed upon and listed on the IEP.
There is a booklet available in the Special Services office 630-783-5168 that explains in detail this process. Please call if you would like a copy.

Remember Preschool screening held on February 22 at Elizabeth Ide. Please call 630-783-5168 to make an appointment.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. We are off to a busy start this new year. I have begun the annual reviews with the high school. This is the second year that we hold the meetings at the high school instead of at Lakeview. The students are able to meet with and discuss their schedules with their guidance councelor. Having the meetings at the high school helps the transition to go smoothly.

On a different note I would like to explain a little about our special education cooperative. The School Association for Special Education in Dupage County (SASED) is a cooperative of 19 school districts providing services to 6,400 students with disabilities. A continuum of services is provided for all students with disabilities ages 3-21 at various participating school district locations throughout DuPage County. SASED as an extension of District 66, provides programs and services for students with moderate and severe disabilities and for students whose behavior requires an alternative setting. SASED also operates specialized programs for students with severe hearing, vision, and orthopedic disabilities. Private placement opportunities are also utilized, when appropriate. SASED can be found at www.sased.org. This website has information about programs and services as well as many helpful links.

Remeber pre-school screening will be held at Elizabeth Ide February 22, 2008. Please call 630-783-5168 to schedule an appointment.