Winchester Wire - Winchester Public Schools

Winchester Wire
A Periodic Electronic Publication for & by the Staff of
Winchester Public Schools
Superintendent’s Message
Volume 15
November 2015
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the quote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except
death and taxes.” As I look out my office window in an attempt to collect my thoughts and scribe a message for
the Wire, a maple tree whose leaves have turned from green just a few weeks ago to a brilliant orange, catches
my eye. I settle my gaze on the tree for a few moments and think back over my past 25 years in education.
Pondering the quote, I replay many wonderful memories, experiences, and challenges of a lifetime spent in
education trying to determine the certainties in our profession.
An involuntary smile appears as I recall my entry into education as a high school social studies teacher.
I still remember my first day on the job full of anxiety and high ideals. I had entered the profession because I
truly believed that I could make a difference. Those of you that know me are familiar with my unwavering
belief that education is the absolutely most important fundamental aspect of our democracy. The next eight
years in the classroom were truly the wonder years as I worked daily to make connections with students and
teach the curriculum. As a teacher I saw many changes. Legislators and policy makers were busy crafting the
latest school reform in response to the report, “Nation at Risk.” This report lambasted the state of America’s
schools and called for a host of much-needed reforms to right the alarming direction that public education was
seen to be headed. These reforms trickled down to my day to day practice in the classroom and did impact my
instructional delivery and assessment. Some of the changes were good and some not. Did I like all the changes?
No. Even technology was impacting my instruction. I started teaching with chalk and nine years later when I
became an Assistant Principal, we were using our first smartboards and schools were fully equipped with
computer labs.
Still gazing at the beautiful tree, my mind shifted to the decade I spent in school leadership, first as a
high school assistant principal and then principal. Pondering the inevitable changes for that tree in the coming
weeks, as its brilliant leaves fade and wither and drop to the ground, I’m reminded how that is like the many
cycles of change in leading a school building. Leaders learn and reset all the time. Leaders experience regrowth
as do followers. After some period of continuity, things will suddenly spring to life and everything will change.
After many years of doing the schedule a certain way, that issue may be revisited and major changes made as
we work collaboratively to do what ultimately is in the best interest of our students.
It was also during this time of my career that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed. The
successes and failures of No Child Left Behind are greatly debated. No doubt, the impact of this reform on our
assessment and instructional practice has been unprecedented. Have these changes all been good? Absolutely
not. In our high stakes accountability climate where school accreditation is held hostage, what gets measured
gets done at the expense of everything else. However, one positive of this legislative reform was changing our
perspective on the success of our minority subgroups. From an equity perspective, the work that began over
60 years ago is still not fully realized. NCLB was helpful in changing our perspective to do our very best to
ensure that all children, regardless of race, wealth, ethnicity, or disability, are assured a quality education
whereby they gain the skills and knowledge to sustain our democracy.
Page 2
Superintendent’s Message
Winchester Wire
Continued from Page 1
As I continued to gaze, the wind kicked up and the many bright leaves of this brilliant tree began to flutter.
It came alive. My mind wandered on to my more recent years in education serving as an assistant superintendent
and superintendent. Looking at the leaves reminded me that the tree is only glorious with the large mass of leaves
intact. Without the collective grouping, it will lose its majesty. Hmmm….much like system level leadership. Without
the collective knowledge, skills, and wisdom of each and every staff member here at Winchester Public Schools, we
cannot achieve. Without the collective energies of so many here, we will not have a successful opening of the new
John Kerr Elementary School. Opening the new school has already resulted in many changes and will continue to
cause ripples of change into the future. From a system perspective, I know that all changes will not be positive and
in hindsight, we will look back and wonder on some of them how we could have not foreseen the unintended
consequence. But just as with the tree, we will adapt and change, rather than be uprooted or break under our own
weight.
In reflecting back on my 25 year educational journey, there seems to be two certainties in education. The first
unequivocal certainty is change. However, as your superintendent and also in my role of state wide advocate for
public education, it is my personal mission to do my very best to ensure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the
past. We have learned from the educational reforms over the past 30 years. There is some indication that we are
moving in a direction for reform and school improvement that best allows for student needs to be looked at
individually, not as a statistic, but rather a human being with endless potential; not rated by test scores, defined by
demographics, but one that is in need of a challenging and liberating education.
As for the second certainty, I return to the tree, and see the maple “helicopter” seed pods slowly twirling
towards the earth. As educators, it is our responsibility to drop seeds of knowledge, and inspire our students and
future generations to grow by expanding their minds and helping them envision the possibilities. It is an awesome
responsibility. And sometimes, it is not always clear what the result of our efforts will be. Sometimes we will spin,
just like the helicopters falling from the tree. But eventually, our impact is felt. We may not hear from a particular
student until decades later, or possibly never, on the impact we made on their lives. But I assure you, one thing is
certain. We as educators are the best chance, the very best hope for our students to realize their potential and I’m
certain as educators, we matter, you matter.
Enjoy the last few weeks of the beauty of fall!
Mark
Winchester Wire
Page 3
SCHOOL NEWS - Frederick Douglass Elementary
The FDES Panda Readers Club
Three years ago a few passionate teachers at Frederick
Douglass set out to build a community interest and love
for reading and discussing books amongst all of their
upper elementary students. They wanted to teach them
that reading is a meaningful and fun way of life rather
than just a task that must be done to get through each
school day, and the resulting Panda Readers Club was
born.
At the start of each school year third and fourth grade teachers invite all
students to “join the club.” Members receive a tee-shirt that is worn once a month
to show their love of books and reading. In order to broaden horizons and to
encourage growth teachers work individually with students to set personal goals
for how many books or which types of books they plan to read each month. Those
who successfully achieve their goal will earn a “paw print” that they get to paint on
the back of their shirt during a monthly “reading is fun” activity block. That
afternoon parent volunteers assist students to paint paw prints while others
engage in activities such as buddy reading, flashlight reading, or listening to
special guest readers. As the months go by the students get excited and
motivated to read even more by watching their paw print “collections”
grow. Over the lengthy holiday break students are encouraged to keep
reading by taking the Panda Readers Holiday Challenge. This gives
students chances to read under festive circumstances like reading
while wearing pajamas, sitting under the Christmas tree, drinking hot
chocolate, or reading a book they received as a gift. Those who
complete this challenge earn a special gold snowflake stamp added to
the back of their shirts in January.
Winchester Wire
Page 4
SCHOOL NEWS - Frederick Douglass Elementary
The day students most eagerly anticipate is the
exciting end-of-year celebration where they will get to tie
-dye their tee-shirts. They enjoy rubber banding and
dipping shirts into a bright color of their choice, and on
the last day of school teachers love seeing all the joyful
faces as the Panda Readers proudly wearing these
colorful badges, displaying all the hard, but enjoyable,
work they’ve done over the course of the year.
Written By: Amy Stock
Winchester Wire
Page 5
SCHOOL NEWS - Garland Quarles Elementary
At Garland R. Quarles, all subjects are important, but what the students, parents, and
teachers hear all the time is, “Quarles . . . a thriving literacy community.” It’s impressive how
much literacy is loved and shared at Quarles. That love is due to everyone in the building
working so hard, but especially to our two Title 1 teachers, Teresa Cave and Heather Campbell
who coordinate all the special literary events.
Mem Fox, an author, has said, “Reading aloud and talking about what we're reading
sharpens children's brains." Mrs. Cave says, “Reading with and to children is not only important
in helping children academically, it is also important in building relationships.” What better way
to bond and to build relationships than by listening to and reading stories with our children?
Let’s just look at a few of the literary occasions that have happened thus far. The first
school-wide function was “International Dot Day” which is celebrated around the world around
September 15th. All the students heard the story of, “The Dot,” and then made their own dot
after being told to “make your mark and see where it takes you.” In technology integration, the
students also made dots using the Paint program from Microsoft Office and now there are
stained glass windows made from 4 quadrant dots! That same week there was also the first
Learning Fair and “The Dot” was carried over and the parents even made dots. There are
hundreds and hundreds of dots meandering around the school.
The next event was the “One Book, One School” project where every student in 1st – 4th
grades received, “Stuart Little,” and the pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners received, “If
You Give a Dog a Donut.” (These books were produced by coupons being typed in—all 500
same!) Volunteer teaches read while being videotaped and the students were able to listen to
two chapters a day. Naturally, there were questions for those chapters, and of course, anyone
could turn in the answers, but only 1 student from each grade could be the big prize winner...a
free book or their choice from books donated by Books-A-Million. Thanks Books-A-Million!!
To end the celebration of ”One Book, One
School” families joined with teachers and
administrators to watch, “Stuart Little,” during the first
Movie Night. Well, that was fun! If anyone would like
to hear, “Stuart Little,” being read, the files are
uploaded to the Quarles webpage, http://
www.wps.k12.va.us/quarles/quarles_index.html
Page 6
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - Garland Quarles Elementary
Global Read Aloud was next on the docket on October 5th. GRA is an
ongoing function where the school either chooses from specific books or chooses
an author study. Quarles chose to do an author study of Amy Krouse Rosenthal and the
students had a surprise when the teachers swapped classes to read to their “new” class.
How else does Quarles promote literacy? We have several “older” classes paired with
“younger” classes for reading buddies and later in the year Book Buddies begins with
volunteers who come to read and work with students. The students read to our school pets,
Chamele and Leon, and classes love to go into the literacy garden to read. There’s also the
“Tri Our Books” literacy bike program where teachers ride two huge bi-, oops, tri-bicycles. The
back basket is loaded with books which are shared in different Quarles neighborhoods and the
kids love trading in read books for new books. Thanks to an article which was in the
Winchester Star, we’ve also received books from donors who read the article, “Tri Our Books.”
“Read for the Record” was the next big event. The purpose is to increase literacy by
having as many people reading the same book on the same day to break world records. This
event was held during the 2nd Literacy Night on Thursday, Oct. 22. The book celebrated was,
“Not Norman: A Goldfish Story,” and the books were received from a First Book Grant. Our
pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners performed by singing nursery rhymes then parents
and students signed up for Handley Library cards and had some great snacks - goldfish of
course.
“One Book, One School” will continue in January using, “The Tale of Despereaux,” and
in April there will be, “The Lemonade War.” And so, the literacy continues while the
relationships and memories continue to grow. Thanks to everyone for helping our students
learn to love reading.
For those interested, a few links have been included from websites that have children’s books
being read out loud.
http://www.justbooksreadaloud.com/
http://www.storylineonline.net/
http://www.livebinders.com/ Search: ”read
aloud”
Written By: Ellen Martin
Page 7
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - John Kerr Elementary School
The fall air was crisp and full of excitement as students, parents, and staff
laced up their running shoes on October 9 for the annual JKES Fund Run. Earlier
in the week students walked the course during their specials time. As Friday grew
closer, the sense of anticipation also grew. Friday’s weather for cast was a little
unsettled and a brief shower in the morning created uncertainty. Fortunately the
sun decided to shine and the race was able to take place on a perfect fall day.
At 1 PM all of JKES met on the lower playground and with the help of staff
and parent volunteers the fun began. Students warmed up in the pumpkin corral
led by PE teacher Mr. Archetti and his fourth grade student leaders. When the
whistle blew, they were off on a spooky mile run through the woods, encountering
scarecrows, cobwebs, and bats along the way. Students ran by grade level starting
with PK. Along the way staff and volunteers cheered the runners on. Water bottles and “Bats and Jacks” pretzels were handed out at the finish line. Smiles were
seen all around as students enjoyed their snacks and comments like “This was
fun” or “ I wish I could do it again” were heard.
Students were treated for their hard work that evening with a dance,
boogying the night away to tunes spun by volunteer DJ Nick Nerangis. Students
from all grade levels (and some younger siblings) were represented and they
enjoyed doing popular dances like “Watch me Whip”. Wonderful snacks were
also provided by the PTO. It was a great night of fun for all!
Page 8
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - John Kerr Elementary School
Prior to the event envelopes were sent home to collect money for the JKES
PTO. According to the PTO President Jenny Bruening, the money raised by the
Fund Run will help pay for 2nd and 4th grade field trips and provide teachers
with money for classroom supplies. What a great way to raise money for the
school and incorporate fitness! An activity like the Fund Run is an excellent
example of the relationship between JKES and the PTO and proves that working
together benefits everyone. Of course the best outcome is the excitement and
happiness of the students. They were already asking when the next Fund Run
will be!
Written By: Heather Lark-Rickard and PTO President Jenny Bruening
Page 9
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary
For the past several years, 4th grade teacher Scott Bucey has been a driving force
behind community service projects at Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary.
The goal behind his project is to teach students the intrinsic value of helping others. He
designs the program so that fourth grade students give up their extra recess time once a
week to volunteer to help teachers and students throughout the building. Small groups of
students arrive on time to the location of service, perform their duties, and return in time
for lunch. Service projects include peer tutoring, read alouds, buddy reading, food bag
packing, recycling, garden bed care such as planting/weeding/harvesting, helping out in
the cafeteria during lunch or breakfast, peer mediating, and organizing (PE equipment,
nurse station, library shelves, art supplies, teacher filing). The response this year has
been overwhelming. Mr. Bucey writes, “Every slot that was on the sign-up sheet was
filled!” VACDES students are learning how to be a positive force inside and outside
the schoolhouse walls through service to others.
Written By Elizabeth Davis
Staige Dolan and Jackson Miller read to first grade students.
4th graders Kenisha Levy, Brayan
Lopez-Romero, and William Pardue
give up their recess time to clean out
the garden and plant the fall crop.
Page 10
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary
This fall, eight sessions of swimming lessons were taught to sixteen fourth grade
VACDES students. Thanks to Winchester Recreation Department Aquatic Director,
Brandon Ware for the wonderful support and cooperation in allowing our students
the opportunity to take swim lessons at the Indoor Pool at Jim Barnett Park.
Students learned basic water safety skills and two strokes. At the end of the
sessions, Mrs. Robin Northrup, volunteer assistant, and Mrs. Lee, instructor, were
very pleased that all students could float on their front and back and swim down
the length of the pool with or without a floating device.
Parents were invited on the last day to see their children swim and receive their
certificate for Level 1. Thank you to all who have supported this wonderful activity
for our students: parents, VACDES administration, transportation, and
Dr. Lineburg.
Page 11
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary
For the past nine weeks, VACDES students had the opportunity to run our
cross-country route behind the school from 7:30 to 7:50 A.M. weather-permitting.
With the volunteer help of Mrs.Janet Fabin, Adam Fabin, Mrs. Bev Thomas,
parent volunteers, Mrs. Melissa Barker, and Mrs. Bonnie Paine, over 100 students
in grades Kindergarten-Fourth ran and got a great work-out before school officially
started. The only requirements were to make sure each student had breakfast at
home or at school before they joined the runners.
Mrs. Lee, P.E. Teacher and Running Club Supervisor, is so pleased that some
VACDES students participated in the Second Annual WPS Elementary CrossCountry Meet held at Daniel Morgan on October 29th, at 4:00 P.M. The VACDES
runners, were excited about the opportunity to compete with the other elementary
schools. Thank you to Ms. Rachel Levi, DMMS Athletic Director for all her support
in hosting this event.
Winchester Wire
Page 12
SCHOOL NEWS - Daniel Morgan Middle School
I AM WALL
The month of October was the National Bullying Prevention Month. This year the scholars at Daniel Morgan Middle School participated in weekly activities focusing on bullying
prevention awareness. The month culminated with the creation of the I AM WALL. The I
AM WALL was a project first created by a group of middle school students in
Alabama. The purpose of the wall is to eliminate stereotypes and appreciate the
differences in others. Over 1300 statements were written by scholars and staff
members. Staff members and scholars worked many hours putting the wall together
with the overall message I AM…BUT UNITED WE ARE DMMS! Daniel Morgan Middle
School is Together Against Bullying, United for Kindness, Acceptance and Inclusion.
Written by: Jerry Putt
CONFIDENT
HO
Y
PP
A
H
ACCEPTING
MYSELF
ATH
L
ETE
NICE
Y
AD
RE
NE
ST
Page 13
Winchester Wire
SCHOOL NEWS - John Handley High School
The Breakfast Club at JHHS is a hit with students...the first Friday each
month, administrators and counselors invite students to join them for
breakfast in the Student Union before school begins! Over 24 students
show up to eat breakfast bought or made by the leadership team. You can
eat hotcakes off the griddle made by the principal or fresh eggs prepared
by the assistant principal. Various students are selected each month for
doing great things, making positive progress, or just need a little extra
encouragement.
It's a fantastic way to begin a FRIDAY morning at Handley High School!!!
Written by Mike Dufrene
Page 14
Winchester Wire
School News - John Handley High School
The Handley Volleyball Team participated in their 4th Annual Dig Pink Game on Oct.
13th 2015. This year through the help of the local community, local businesses, parent
volunteers, WPS faculty and staff the fundraiser was huge success. The Handley Volleyball
Team was able to successfully raise a total of $6,378.52 this season.
The Handley Volleyball players participated in lots of fundraiser efforts that led up
to their October success. The players participated in a Chipotle Spirit Night, they sold
various dig pink items at football games, and held their 3rd Annual Junior League
Volleyball Camp for 5th-8th Graders. The players really enjoyed taking the time off the
court to help their DIG PINK cause and feel it brought them closer together for a great
cause.
The players, coaches, and volleyball parents are so pleased to be able to help such a
great cause that impacts the lives of many in our community and all over the world. It is a
great honor to participate in the DIG PINK rally on behalf of the SIDE OUT FOUNDATION
and Valley Health’s Cancer Center Capital Campaign. It truly shows a new definition of
the term rally in volleyball- as our Handley Volleyball players and fans showed pride to
rally and raise so much money for breast cancer and research. Again, the Handley
Volleyball Program would like to thank all those who supported and contributed to our
DIG PINK EVENT.
Page 15
Winchester Wire
John Kerr Project at 50% Completion!
The walls are up, the roof is nearly complete, and the windows will soon be installed – all signs point
to an on-schedule project completion in March 2016! The general contractor, Caldwell & Santmyer,
based in Berryville is overseeing the work performed by multiple subcontractors and hundreds of
construction workers, all directed at completing Winchester’s first elementary school project since the
renovation and expansion of GQES in 1997. When the doors open for students in August 2016,
the new John Kerr will be the largest (approximately 700 students!), most energy efficient, and
technologically equipped elementary school in Winchester. WPS Technology is evaluating
next-generation SmartBoard systems which utilize flat screen technology in place of projectors;
equipment which should improve the image quality and reduce operating and maintenance costs.
The building heating and cooling plant will be served by modern HVAC (heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning) equipment and controls which are designed to operate at high efficiency, and
optimize comfort levels throughout the building. The building also boasts the latest technology in
“daylighting” of interior spaces. Learning spaces are individually designed to capture and optimize
natural lighting from windows and skylights, and electronic controls automatically adjust lighting
levels to provide the best environment for teaching and learning!
WPS Operations staff is busy specifying and procuring new furnishings and equipment based
on input provided by JKES faculty and staff; and developing plans for food service, transportation,
and custodial operations. As well, a division-wide team is reviewing staffing requirements and personnel shifts necessary to accommodate the greatly expanded JKES attendance zone. All of these
efforts are underway to ensure that the transition to the new John Kerr Elementary is seamless, and
the students and staff enter their new home ready for teaching and learning!
Winchester Wire
Page 16
Exterior: Admin & Media Center
Main Staircase at Entry Lobby
1st Floor North Classroom Wing
Block Work Completion at Admin
South Classroom wing
Winchester Wire
Page 17
Personnel and Finance
Donna Eagle, Director of Personnel
Overview and Changes to Sick Leave
Personal Leave
Personal and/or emergency leave with pay is granted to all employees who are ineligible for annual
leave but who work four (4) or more hours per day in a given job or are categorized as half-time. This
leave is designed to provide a reasonable opportunity for employees to be absent from work to take care
of personal business not covered under the sick leave plan or other legitimate reasons necessitating
absence from work. Personal and/or emergency leave can only be taken in one-half day or full-day
increments. Allocation of leave is outlined below. Effective immediately, any remaining personal and/or
emergency leave will be transferred to accumulated sick leave at the end of each fiscal year. This is a
change in our policy. In the past, annual leave was “use it or lose it.” If you are in the early stages of
your career, you may not have a great deal of sick leave accumulated. This change to allow the transfer
of remaining personal leave to sick leave is very positive!
- Licensed Personnel - 3 days per year
- Support Personnel - 2 days per year
Sick Leave
Full-time employees are granted sick leave days at the beginning of each fiscal year or school year of
employment. Employees that are 10 month will receive 10 sick leave days, 11 month employees will
receive 11 sick leave days and 12 month employees will receive 12 sick leave day per school year. For
partial years of employment, this allocation is prorated. New employees may transfer up to (90) days of
sick leave accumulated in another school division in Virginia or in an agency of the state government.
Unused sick days are accumulated to a maximum of 90 days. Sick leave may be used for personal illness,
illness in the immediate family, or bereavement leave for death in the immediate family. An employee
may use up to five (5) days for each instance of death in the immediate family and five (5) days in cases
of illness in the immediate family. Remember that bereavement leave is deducted from your sick leave
accumulation. In addition, the maximum amount of days that may be used for illness in the immediate
family per contract year is 15.
Sick Leave Bank
The Sick Leave Bank benefit is designed to provide pay to those participating employees out for
extended illness/injury who have exhausted all of their personal paid leave. Participation in the Sick
Leave Bank is for all fulltime employees who are members of Plan 1 or 2 of the VRS. Bus Drivers, Bus
Aides, Cafeteria Workers, and part time Custodians are not eligible for participation in the sick leave
bank. Eligible employees participate in the bank by making an initial contribution of two (2) days from
their accumulated sick leave allocation. Employees are not required to contribute to the sick leave bank
annually. Additional contributions of days are only made if all sick leave days in the bank have been
exhausted.
Winchester Wire
Page 18
Personnel and Finance
Donna Eagle, Director of Personnel
The sick leave bank does not cover the first twenty (20) consecutive days of a disability/sickness. The
waiting period must be covered by the participating member’s accrued sick leave, personal leave, or
leave without pay. The member must have exhausted all of his/her paid leave days before using days
from the bank.
The sick leave bank is not available to new employees who are in the VRS Hybrid Plan as they have
short/long term disability. However, it is important to note that the short term and long term disability
plans only cover 60% of your income while you are out. Therefore we do allow you to compensate the
40% remainder of your salary with your sick leave.
For all employees, it is extremely important that sick leave is reserved for legitimate sickness as it is an
important component of income protection should you suffer catastrophic illness/injury. Otherwise,
you could experience leave without pay if you exhaust all of your paid leave.
Your 2015 Virginia Retirement System
Member Benefit Profile is Available!
Your Member Benefit Profile (MBP) is your annual benefits statement based on information
your employer reports to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) as of June 30 each year.
Plan 1 and Plan 2 members can look up and print MBPs at https://www.varetire.org/myVRS/.
Note: MBPs are not available for Hybrid Retirement Plan members. However, you can look
up your account balance information through myVRS.
Accessing your MBP
Log in to https://www.varetire.org/myVRS/. From your Account Home page, select the MBP
link from the left column. From your MBP list, select your current statement as well as previous statements to view and print. Not registered? Register at https://www.varetire.org/
myVRS/ESAgreement.do.
If you need assistance with accessing your MBP or if you have questions regarding your retirement benefit, please contact Kristen Campbell, HR Generalist at [email protected] or at 667-4253 x14100.
Winchester Wire
Page 19
Personnel and Finance
Donna Eagle, Director of Personnel
EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS
Doorbusters, extended shopping hours, and ugly Christmas
sweaters are just around the corner! Get the most for your money
during your holiday shopping by taking advantage of our employee
discounts. With over 120 participating businesses, you are bound to
find something for everyone on your list! For a current list of discounts visit the WPS website (Staff Employee Discounts) or the GO
WPS! App (Resources Staff Resources > Employee Discounts) Happy
shopping!
Drowning in student loan debt?
You may qualify for loan forgiveness!
Go to the WPS site for links to information on teacher and public service
loan forgiveness programs. They are located here: Staff/Useful Links/Forms
for Staff Members. Under Personnel, click on Teacher/Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Programs.
Page 20
Special Education
Winchester Wire
Sarah Kish, Director of Special Education
Winchester Public Schools has a team of teachers who meet several times
during the school year to enhance their knowledge of assistive technology
(AT). Our mission statement continues to be Assistive Technology:
Empowering students and educators to adapt the ordinary and create
extraordinary possibilities.
Our goals have focused on creating and expanding a portaportal account to
share with all staff, being a collaborative partner with schools, researching
various data collection methods to track AT use and increasing accessibility to
the curriculum. We have encouraged our IEP team members to track the use
of assistive technology using the AT consideration form which allows a team
to trial items before committing to a specific item or product. We have
encouraged accessibility options such as text-to-speech and commercial
products to increase writing creativity and productivity.
Our 2015-16 goals for the Assistive Technology team will focus on creating a
resource for our special education teachers which would provide helpful
information related to AT. We will continue to research data collection
methods and how to document the use of assistive technology in the
Individual Education Plans written for our students. Finally, we are recruiting
for new and returning members. It is our goal to have at least one staff
member from each of our schools. We welcome new members.
Debbie Beeman
Special Education Lead Teacher for WPS
Winchester Wire
Page 21
Special Education
Dreams
Goals
Vision
Self-Advocacy
Independence
Success
Sarah Kish, Director of Special Education
Transition Services at JHHS
Did you know that students who receive special education services with an IEP are
exposed to transition services? Under the federal law of the Individual with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), school divisions must implement transition services to improve
academic and functional achievement that will promote movement from school to
post-school activities. Transition services include activities associated with postsecondary
education, vocational education, continuing and adult education, integrated and
supportive employment, adult services, independent living and community
participation.
To plan effectively for transition services, planning must begin no later than the age 14,
based upon age appropriate transition assessments that outlines student needs, taking
into account the students strengths, preferences and interest..
How are Transition services assessed? Students are assessed in a variety of ways to
include observations, interviews, inventories, situational assessments, formal and
informal assessments, and academic assessments. These assessments are very important
with assisting youth with disabilities in reaching their postsecondary goals (e. g.
military, college, career/technical programs). By the age of 16, or earlier if determined by
the IEP Team, interagency linkage must be addressed in the IEP to support youth with
disabilities after they exit high school. These interagency linkages include and are not
limited to the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DARS), Northwestern Community
Services Board (NWCSB), Department of Social Services (DSS), Job Corps, and the
Department of Labor.
There are a host of transition activities that students can access such as classroom
instruction, related services, community experiences, employment, adult living, daily
living skills and functional vocational evaluations. At Handley, students with disabilities
are engaged in transition activities such as researching careers, exploring career options,
completing job applications, developing resumes, cover letters, preparing for interviews,
community experiences, career and job fairs, college and technical school visits, time
management etc. Students who participate in these activities are more apt to secure and
maintain employment, even if they attend college.
Overall, transition services are vitally important. Not because it is the law but, it allows
students to access the general curriculum with their non-disabled peers, as well as,
provide meaningful opportunities to engage in functional activities that will enable all
students to meet their goals and dreams.
To learn more about transition services at John Handley High School, contact Toni Cary,
Coordinator of Transition Services at 540.662.3471 or send an e-mail to
[email protected]
Winchester Wire
Page 22
The Winchester Education Foundation and Winchester
Public Schools would like to thank our very gracious
sponsors of the Free Admission Program, which allows
for all schoolchildren (K-12) to be granted free admission
to all Handley High School and Daniel Morgan Middle
School regular season home athletic events by showing
the Free Admission Pass:
H.N. Funkhouser and Co.
Shenandoah Valley Orthodontics –
Dr. Damon DeArment and Dr. Daniel Lill
The Bayliss Wealth Management Group of
Wells Fargo Advisors
H.P. Hood
Wells Fargo
George Mason Mortgage