On Tuesday evening we gathered at New Haven Elementary to hold our first meeting of the 2019-20 school year. We were missing our president, and thus a bit of our organizational skills (ha!), but the rest of the board members stepped up and a good meeting was had. We wish you a speedy recovery, Michelle!
Our treasurer Tara, our vice-president Amie, and our secretary Sara (left to right above) called the informal meeting to order. Sara let everyone introduce themselves and their tie to special education. We had a nice mix of parents, school staff, and community members. She gave some back-to-school tips, sharing a “Get to Know Me” sheet that she writes out for her son yearly and hands out to any staff who would interact with her son. It’s a good way to let those who may be new to that student know what his strengths are, what he struggles with, what are tips to best connect with him or calm him if he’s having a tough time, etc. If you’d like more details or examples of what to include, let us know! We can share samples.
Amie shared a bit about the success of our recent Walk for Inclusion, held at the end of August. So many people did behind the scenes work and volunteered to help make it all possible, and we’re so thankful to them. And we’re just as thankful to all who showed up to walk and show their support for inclusion! There were games, and food, and prizes, and even an impromptu dance party. It was a great time. All together, we raised an amazing $2100. We’re so happy with what we can put that money towards – mini-grants to help support our educators, supplies to pad out our traveling sensory space, funds to host inclusive events.. the list goes on. In fact, one of our newest initiatives is a peer-to-peer “Kindness Club” we’d like to help schools start up. The Thompson Center is behind this idea as well, and gave us a generous donation to be used towards that effort specifically.
Another new initiative announced is our SEPTA Spotlight. There were so many things I loved that SEPTA did last year, but I can honestly say the SEPTA Awards that we presented at the final meeting of the school year was my favorite. The SEPTA Spotlight will be an extension of that. Our members can nominate someone (educator, para, bus driver, office staff.. anyone who interacts with our Columbia students during their school day) to be recognized for their dedication and compassion. Each month, we’ll choose a staff member to be in the Spotlight. We’ll feature them on the blog and in an e-mail newsletter. They’ll automatically go into the submissions for end-of-the-year Awards as well. So head over to shine a light on the fantastic staff you know!
And one more announcement: shirts are coming soon! Keep an eye out for these. Our intent is for them to be available throughout October. Again our message is focused on kindness.. because kindness looks cool on everyone! We’ll have a basic short sleeve tee (shown here), a super soft tri-blend tee, a long sleeve tee, and of course a hoodie (also shown.) All styles will be available in youth sizes on up through 4XL for adult. The basic tee will be $15 and prices will vary from there. We’ll have it set up like we did last year, where you can have your order shipped to us for free and arrange a time to pick it up (or we’ll hand them out at November’s meeting.. in plenty of time for holiday gifting!) Or if you know someone not local who’d love a shirt (or maybe you just like to get fun mail), you can choose to have your order shipped straight to you for a small fee.
With all the announcements over, a few questions were put up by those in attendance, and there was a bit of discussion. One grandparent asked if there had been a decision on the recording policy. The school board didn’t vote on it this month, instead opening a discussion and gathering info. They have decided to convene a work group to look into it further, and we look forward to continuing to work with the board and administration in our shared mission of making CPS best. We had someone ask for a bit of clarification on what things SEPTA does for families. Among the things listed, Amie also shared that we can provide parent-to-parent support for IEP or 504 meetings. If you’d like someone to go along to help you take notes, or you have some questions about what to expect from a parent’s point of view, or you want to bounce ideas off of someone in a similar situation.. we’d love to hear from you! You can e-mail us at comosepta@gmail.com or use our comment form to send us a message. At the same time, don’t forget that CPS has Process Coordinators who can help you navigate what to expect as well. A couple were even at the meeting Tuesday! You can find a list of them on the Special Services section of the CPS website here. (And while you’re there, feel free to poke around. They updated it over the summer and there’s a wealth of information there.)
After that, everyone broke up to mingle and meet. There were a lot of active discussions happening around the room. We were able to gather new ideas for presentation topics or social events and more. All in all, it was a wonderful first meeting. We hope to see even more of you at the next one!