Communication

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to continue with our “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

The MHS community is so proud to announce that Farrah Spencer had the honor of competing in Berlin as part of the US Special Olympics Gymnastics Team.  

Individually, Farrah represented our country well, bringing home a Gold medal on Balance Beam, Silver medal on the Uneven Bars, 6th place on Floor, 4th place on the Vault and 5th place in All- Around.

Farrah tells us that the best part of traveling and competing internationally was meeting athletes from so many different countries and hearing the cheering from the crowd. 

Please join us in congratulating our student-athlete Farrah Spencer!

Important Dates:

• District 23-24 School Calendar 

• District 24-25 School Calendar 

 

• Report Cards Grades K-5

  • End of 3rd Trimester 6/16/23

 

• Report Cards FMS/MHS

  • End of 2nd Semester 6/16/23

 

• 4th Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 6/16/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

Special Education Parent Advisory Group

Special Education Baseline Parent/Guardian Survey

How to Get Involved:

• SEPAG website: http://www.sepagmorrisschooldistrict.org/

• Join other parents on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

• Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

• Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

• Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

• Attend SEPAG event

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • ALL IN has had an eventful spring. Along with their weekly lunches, the ALL IN Student Board had been very focused on developing a sense of community within MHS. The students worked together to plan an all school event with that in mind. As May is Mental Health Awareness Month ALL IN partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to raise funds and awareness for metal health in schools. ALL IN held a week of events from May 22 through May 26 for a Mental Health awareness week. Students held t-shirt sales, lunch awareness tables, fundraised, and distributed sign ups and Honor Beads (provided by AFSP) and bake sales. The key event was the MHS “Out of the Darkness” Suicide Awareness walk. The “Out of the Darkness” walks are AFPS’s signature community events and through the work of the Student Board,  MHS has become an official campus walk site. Held on May 23rd at lunch, ALL IN hosted a school-wide walk on the track at lunch. Over 100 students and staff came out to support ALL IN and a wonderful cause. The event was such a success that the Student Board has expressed that they would like to make it their main yearly event. 

  • FMS ALL IN:

    • FMS ALL IN ended the school year with our board members choosing to have spring and summer themed activities at our monthly after school events. The students who attended were able to play with different board games, oversize games, coloring pages, crafts, and online games such as Blooket and Kahoot. The students were sad to see the club ending for the school year, but are excited to sign up again in the fall!

 

• SNAP 

 Special Needs Athletic Program (SNAP) has wrapped up another year with a lot of celebrating and congratulating!

 

A total of 60 new SNAP Ambassadors (rising 5th graders)  were selected at AH, SX, NP, and TJ.  These students were nominated  for their acts of kindness, integrity, and demonstrated empathy.   While in 5th grade, the SNAP ambassadors  will assist Mrs. Strasser with the “Disability Awareness Training” for all 3rd grade classes.  

 

The current SNAP ambassadors (rising 6th graders) were acknowledged and each given a SNAP drawstring backpack to hopefully utilize in middle school.    The Ambassadors were encouraged to consider joining  “All-in” at FMS and give mentoring a try at SNAP.  

 

The true celebration, however, was on June 13th at SNAP’s annual Award Ceremony.  This was a magical evening where 25 participants and 30 mentors all circled up in the gym for a final night together.   Parents watched from the bleachers and for about 30 minutes, it was a gym filled with cheering, clapping and a heartwarming  show of support for one another.   Participants were awarded personalized trophies and the proud look on their faces was priceless.   An 8th grade FMS graduate gave a speech which was well received. 

 

 In addition, several mentors were recognized for 50 hours of volunteering with the “Presidential Volunteer Service Award”, and our HS seniors were each awarded a scholarship.   The evening ended with a photo montage recapping the year we had together.   

 

The song “You’re a Superstar” (by Love Inc.) summarized the evening:

Reach for the sky, and hold your head up high

For tonight and every night, you're a superstar.

And don’t you be afraid, think of all the friends you've made

Like any other night you’ve got your name in lights

You're a superstar!

 

SNAP will resume its Wednesday evening sessions and disability awareness training  in September.  Please reach out to Kim Strasser with any questions: kimstrasser22@gmail.com or 908-892-6771.

• 

• SNAP’s Award Ceremony: June 13, 2023

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

Even though the school year is coming to an end, the action in The Colonial Life program does not slow down! The students continue to work at their jobs four mornings per week. Some of the places that the students work at include The Morris County Courthouse, The Morristown Library, IHOP, Iron Culture Gym, and The Frelinghuysen Arboretum. All the students have made tremendous progress this school year and have developed work skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

 

The class enjoyed preparing recipes such as pancakes, eggs in a frame, and turkey sloppy joes. During April, May and June, the class enjoyed a trip with Parsippany High School to Dave and Busters, took the NJ Transit train to Denville, took a walking historical tour of Morristown, used Colonial Coach, and went mini golfing. In addition, the students continued to go on their monthly trip to TD Bank and The Morristown Library. The students continued to expand their social networks when they attended The Somerset Patriots game with students from other local 18-21 programs and attended a social group with students from West Morris High School. 

 

Some of the students in the program will be moving onto bigger and better things. I want to congratulate three students who will be leaving the program because they all secured regular employment. These students have all attained the skills necessary to be productive members of the workforce. Another student will be using the skills he has learned in a program called Project Search. This is a program based out of Overlook Hospital that trains students for potential future employment within the hospital. Congrats to all of these students! We are very proud of you!

 

• Unified Sports 

  • Unified Track has had an amazing season so far. With twice a week practices and both home and away meets, the athletes and their partners work hard for their winning ribbons. MHS has hosted home meets, with their biggest meet- an invitational now having 14 schools attend and 235 athletes. The Unified Track team has also participated in a number of away meets at Jefferson, and Hillsborough HS. They are most looking forward to defending their State Champion title at the Unified Track State Championship meet on June 8th. 

 

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to continue with our “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

• District 22-23 School Calendar 

 

• Report Cards Grades K-5

  • End of 1st Trimester 12/9/22

  • End of 2nd Trimester 3/17/23

  • End of 3rd Trimester 6/20/23

 

• Report Cards FMS/MHS

  • End of 1st Semester 1/27/23

  • End of 2nd Semester 6/20/23

 

• 3rd Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 4/14/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• 4th Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 6/20/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• MSD SEPAG 

• Demystifying the IEP

  • As part of SEPAG’s Navigating the Journey Series, we held a panel discussion with parents, case manager, teacher, related service provider and Pupil Services administrators about the IEP process.  The goal is to help parents feel informed, empowered and confident in the IEP process, and fully understand how we can all work together as a team to help each individual child succeed.  Please see below the presentation slides and video recording.

    • Demystifying the IEP Slides English

    • Demystifying the IEP Slides Spanish

    • Demystifying the IEP Video Recording

    • FAQ IEP Process

    • FAQ IEP Process Spanish

• How to Get Involved:

  • SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join other parents on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • ALL IN at MHS continues to meet weekly during lunchtime. Our lunches have grown in frequency and the students are using this time to enjoy more social opportunities. The students are taking the time to enjoy the time hanging out with each other playing Just Dance, card games, trivia and more. The students have also started a reading section of the ALL IN lunch. In February the students planned a clothing sale to bring their spring “gear” to their peers. ALL IN teamed up with Unified Teams at MHS to create a “Unified” section of the ALL IN clothing sale page with team gear representing our Unified Teams. ALL In is looking forward to the coming weeks as they continue planning their spring whole school engagement event. 

  • FMS ALL IN:

    • At FMS, ALL IN continues to meet once a month as a student board to plan our monthly ALL IN after school activities. The students showed the movie “WALL-E”, played online games including Blookets, had board games and oversize games, coloring pages, and snowflake crafting, just to name a few of the activities at our events. We focused on winter themed activities, and have now moved into spring themed activities as our focus each month. Our next event will be on Wednesday, April 26th.
       

 

• SNAP 

  • SNAP continues to thrive on Wednesday evenings.  Each session is action packed with sports, friendship, socializing and FUN! 

  • Our person -centered open gym concept allows our participants an opportunity to explore their favorite sport and play with teenage mentors. The students who mentor at SNAP have an infectious enthusiasm for fun, sports, and friendship and are some of the kindest kids you’ll ever meet. 

  • But the true STARS of SNAP are its participants, ranging from age 6-17  who quite simply, bring us all pure JOY.  

  • With only 9 weeks left of the school year, SNAP is planning its award ceremony on June 14th which promises to be a great closure for a memorable year for all who participated at SNAP.

  • If you are interested in learning more about SNAP, drop Kim an email at snapclinics@gmail.com or call/text 908-892-6771.     

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • The last few months have flown by in the Colonial Life Program! Time flies when you are having fun! The students continue to work at their jobs four mornings per week. Some of the places that the students work at include The Morris County Courthouse, The Morristown Library, IHOP, Tiffany & Co., Iron Culture Gym, and The Frelinghuysen Arboretum. At this point in the school year, most of the students are completing their workplace duties independently. The students who still need some support all continue to progress and become more independent in the workplace.  

  • The class enjoyed preparing recipes such as tacos, turkey burgers, and omelets in a mug. During February and March, the class visited a promotional product warehouse for a discussion on the jobs they have available, took the NJ Transit train to Summit and Madison, visited Iron Culture Gym for a boot camp, were given a tour of city hall by Morristown’s mayor, and went bowling at Hanover Lanes. In addition, some students went to TD Bank to practice using the ATM machine, while others went to The Morristown Library to explore the services that they have to offer. The students continued to expand their social networks when they attended Valentines Day and St. Patrick’s Day parties with students from Hanover Park, Parsippany, Mt. Olive, West Essex, Morris Knolls, and other local 18-21 programs. 

  • We are looking forward to the last few months of the school year. Some of the community trips planned include various NJ Transit train trips, a walking historical tour of Morristown, going to a Somerset Patriots Game, and using The Colonial Coach bus. The future is bright in Colonial Life!

 

• Unified Sports 

  • Unified Sports finished out their Unified Bowling season during the month of February. The students had 4 matches and ended their season with a team pizza social. March ushered in our Spring Sports season with Unified Track starting along with our Boys and Girls Track teams. The students are practicing their conditioning and technical skills and this looks to be the largest Unified Track team we’ve had yet. They are working hard in the hopes of defending their State Champion title for another consecutive year!

 

Resources for Families:

• SEL English newsletter link

• SEL Spanish newsletter link

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

SEPAG Executive Board Meeting – 4/13/2023

Agenda

-          May 20 event planning (45min)

-          - Align Sepag participation in YE activities already occurring at several schools (15 min)

-          - Align future meeting cadence (10 min)

-          - Propose future topics (10 min)

-          - Align current R&R, define next steps for (10 min)

House Keeping

-          Action: Follow up with Marissa one more time about access to Gmail, if we cannot gain access to it we will create a new one. And that e-mail will be used for communications going forward, and leverage the Google Drive for communications, agendas, storage etc. – Dani did get the password, but needs someone to do the 2-step verification on their phone- Possibly Melanie?

-          Action: For the website Marc will connect Illiana with Tracy Sica, in order to orchestrate the hand off of the website for I to be able to manage the website information

-          Action: Create additional Facebook Page, for people to use as a “bulletin board” not a group, to be managed by Communications (Dani) to ensure that multiple channels are getting identical information.

o   We will also leverage SwiftK12, existing FB Group, MSD website for communications

-          Action: When is Agenda being sent out, to who, and who is creating the agenda

o   When: Distribute to larger group 48 hours ahead of meeting, reminder to exec board 1 week ahead of meeting – Sent by comm/secretary (Dani)

-          Meeting Cadence: 2^nd Tuesday of every Month

o   May 9

o   June 13

o   Skip July

o   August 8

SEPAG Presence at End of Year Events

o   Since we are not a registered non-profit, we cannot fundraise in any way it is unlikely we can hold our own events.

§  Iliana and Ana suggest ‘tagging along’ on the currently planned EOY events at schools

·         Tara and Dani to connect with the various school’s HSAs to find out what events are possible to join in on.

o   Next month we will review consolidated list of events – May 9^th and identify potential events to participate in.

o   Definitely at TJ on May 31

·         Dani will reach out to the Downtown Partnership about setting a table up at the Summer Farmer’s Market

o   Marc to reach out to Renee about district website calendar 

-          Future Topics

o   Action: Contact Madison and Chatham SEPAGs to ask if they would be open to meeting up, to discuss what has worked for their groups, what has gotten the best engagement, etc. (Tara)

o   Action: Marc will put together a list potential events

District Updates

o   Currently “IEP Season” – currently in the midst of projections, IEP reviews, etc.

o   Assistant Superintendent is likely to be announced at the April Board Meeting

o   Pupil Services has developed a new program – A.C.E (Academy of Colonial Excellence) replaces School Solutions – Mental Health program, we’re shifting away from a for profit program, to an in house program,  hiring four clinicians, tenured employees. Currently services our highest tier of mental health need.

§  Geared specifically towards 6-12

§  The elementary school social work intern program will continue next year. We had 17 this year, and currently we’re at 8 interns planned for next year.

 

Next Agenda Possibilities

-select HSA events that we could ‘tag along to’

-Review list of prior SEPAG events, to put together a rough schedule of what we want to do without the next year.

 

-Update from Tara on collaboration with neighboring SEPAG groups 

SEPAG 3/16/23
Attendees
- District
o Marc Gold
- Parents
o Marissa Purdy
o Diana
o Ileana
o Dani Wolber
o Tara
o Ana

Expectations

- Parents are the ones that come with the agenda for the meeting. The goal is to be
transparent; minutes and agendas are posted on the SEPAG site for the MSD
community to see. Agendas should be ready to go ahead of the meeting, and
distributed to the group prior to the meeting.
- How those get blasted out, via just the website, stand alone blasts, quarterly
updates.

Role Descriptions
Diana -Co-President 
Clarinda - Co President 
Tara- Co-VP 
Ana - Co-VP 
Ileana - Website 
Consuela - Secretary 
Dani - Events/Comm 
Marissa - Special Counsel 
- President
o Presiding, creates agendas, attends BoE meetings, etc.
- Co- VP
o Deputize for the president as needed
- Events Planner
o Planning events and activities, determining needs for activities, etc.
Attending BoE meetings at this point.

- Secretary
o Minutes, attendance, attends BoE meetings as needed. Contact Lists
- Website/Public Relations

o Maintain website, FB page, twitter account.
o Outreach to SPAN activities and programs, forums, presentations and
speakers.
 Our group would like to keep the split that we had with
communications and website. To share the duties. Diana would like
to have the forward facing communication from the presidents at
this time.

- Diana would like Dani to take on more secretary duties
- Ana would like a better communication platform setup, she felt like the WhatsApp
group was a little overwhelming.

Ileana is suggesting that we vote every year, so that we can have transition plans in place for people
taking over new roles. She has attended NJ SEPAG training, and the state roundtable, the person in
charge of the NJ group is inviting us to attend their training to learn about and understand how to
structure a SEPAG group.
Diana, wants to hit the ground running quickly, good to understand and discuss where we are, and learn
what is expected. But wants to definitely start moving on things, since there has been such a big gap
from when the last SEPAG meeting and events were happening. She plans to attend the NJ SEPAG
training as well.
Logistics

- Is there an existing google drive? – No there is not, Marissa is trying to solicit
passwords for the SEPAG email address and Facebook page.
What are the goals for the rest of this school year and next school year

- Scheduling the Demystifying the IEP-
o Was supposed to be scheduled for Monday 3/20, but situations changed,
 We are going to blast out the existing recordings, in both English
and Spanish this year, to get things out NOW. We will move forward
with revamping the presentation for next year.

Events we would like to plan for the rest of this school year

- Ana would like to plan some social hours, these previously happened over zoom
during pandemic. She suggests making it up into smaller age groups.
o When this happened on Zoom previously, there were breakout rooms and
each was helmed by a SEPAG member.

- Marissa feels we need an in person anchor event, to get people in the room. A
majority of the group agrees.
- Tara suggests an outdoor picnic type events,

End of year Anchor event

- Saturday May 20, 330p.
o Plan to hold at Normandy Park School’s front playground
 Reach out to Jackie from i9 sports

 Invite incoming kindergarteners with IEPs

Beginning of Year Event

- October event to kick-off the year

Next meeting April 13, 730p- Marc Gold to facilitate space, likely held at MHS Learning Commons again –
In person with hybrid option.

- Goal will be to make plans for end of year event, as well as start to plan out 23-24
school year calendar of events.

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to continue with our “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

• District 22-23 School Calendar 

• Report Cards Grades K-5

  • End of 1st Trimester 12/9/22

  • End of 2nd Trimester 3/17/23

  • End of 3rd Trimester 6/20/2

 

• Report Cards FMS/MHS

  • End of 1st Semester 1/27/23

  • End of 2nd Semester 6/20/23

 

• 2nd Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 2/3/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP 

• 3rd Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 4/14/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• 4th Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 6/20/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report (using only web based platform)

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• MSD SEPAG 

  • We are looking to get more parents involved within our SPEAG committee.

    • We are holding an in-person meeting to get more involvement from our SEPAG Executive Committee.  If you are interested in having a role please attend our meeting on Thursday, February 23rd within the MHS media center at 7:15pm.  

• SEPAG Updates:

Click the link to find more information about our transition meetings that were held this past month.  

• Special Education Transition Presentations

• How to Get Involved:

  • SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join other parents on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • MHS ALL in continues to meet weekly at lunch. Students hang out, play games, and plan for ALL IN events.  ALL IN partnered with MHS Football and the National Social Studies Honor Society to give back to their community, making “No Sew” Blankets for individuals receiving treatment for Cancer at Summit Medical. Students met, planned and created beautiful blankets and are excited to be a part of such a meaningful project. 

  • FMS ALL IN: 

    • FMS ALL IN has been participating in winter themed activities that our student board chooses such as Jeopardy, crafting snowflakes, and playing online games such as Blooket and Kahoot. Our next event will be on Wednesday, February 22nd. Moving forward, we will continue to meet once a month as a board and hold monthly events focusing on spring themed activities.

 

• SNAP 
  • It was a busy and productive second quarter for SNAP.  (Special Needs Athletic Program) . 
  • 2 sports clinics were held every Wednesday with an average of 10 participants and 17 mentors at each clinic. While the participants are learning a variety of sports skills, they also  gratefully receive friendship from amazing teenagers volunteering their time and compassion.   Simultaneously, the mentors  learn patience, responsibility, and what it feels like to make an impact on a child with special needs. 
  • Each session is action packed!  First, participants  choose to play either soccer, basketball, bowling, pickleball, or football, which is then followed by our group activities that allow for positive social connections, exercise, and FUN!
  • SNAP ’S awareness program continued this quarter with Normandy Park School.  In January, the NP 5th grade SNAP Ambassadors met at Frelinghuysen Middle School to learn how to conduct SNAP’s “Disability Awareness Training”.   SNAP Ambassadors  then guided each of the students in the intermediate classes through SNAP’s unique and powerful lesson.  Students  learned what it might feel  like to have dyslexia, fine motor challenges, visual impairments, and autism. The simulations lead students to understand how someone with differences may want to be treated and the 5th graders facilitate a discussion about including others and how to use  “encouraging words”.  The 5th graders’  leadership skills resulted in successful lessons with the underlying message of empathy, acceptance and inclusion.    
  • Thanks to the many teachers who nominated  students for a SNAP award, 144 kids  were given positive reinforcement for embracing SNAP’s philosophy.   Recipients are announced on the loudspeaker and SNAP ambassadors hand deliver the award to the classroom announcing exactly what action was done to receive the award.   
  • Stay tuned for SNAP’s  “Learn to Skate Day”!   It will be sometime in March or April and open to any child with special needs and their siblings.   
  • If you would like more information about SNAP, please contact Kimberle Strasser 908-892-6771 / kimstrasser22@gmail.com to receive the weekly sign ups.

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • We have had an exciting first half of the year in The Colonial Life Program! The students have been keeping busy working at their jobs four mornings per week. Some of the places that the students work at include The Morris County Courthouse, IHOP, Tiffany & Co., Iron Culture Gym, and The Frelinghuysen Arboretum. The students have made progress in both their workplace duties and their soft skills.

  • Every Monday, the students plan a recipe and create a shopping list. We shop for the ingredients at Shoprite and then the students prepare the recipe later in the week. Some other community experiences the class has participated in include banking at TD Bank, using NJ Transit trains and buses, shopping at various malls, working out at Iron Culture, walking at local parks, and learning about the various services that the public library offers. In addition, the students have expanded their social networks by participating in various social events with some neighboring district’s 18-21 programs. Some of these events included a Friendsgiving, holiday party, and Halloween party. 

  • We are looking forward to what the 2nd half of the school year brings. Students will continue to go to their job sites to expand their workplace skills. Some of the community trips planned include a tour of city hall, a tour of a promotional product warehouse, and more social events including a St. Patrick's Day party. The students are also very excited to attend the Somerset Patriots game in May. Great things are happening every day in Colonial Life!

 

• Unified Sports 

  • Unified Swim had an amazing season. Students practiced twice a week with meets against other schools throughout the season. Students of all abilities participated and each swim relay was more exciting than the next. MHS again hosted one of the only Unified meets in the state when they swam against Lakeland High School. It was a fast paced season where students honed their swim skills along side the MHS Swim team. Our athletes are looking forward to the start of their next season, Unified Bowling! 

Resources for Families:

• SEL Newsletter

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

We held our Special Education Transition MHS Presentation 2023 on 2/1/23.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about MHS.

• Special Education Transition MHS Google Slides Presentation 
• Educación Especial Transición MHS Presentación Google Slides

We held our Special Education Transition FMS Presentation 2023 on 2/8/23.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about FMS.

• Special Education Transition FMS Google Slides Presentation 
• Educación Especial Transición FMS Presentación Google Slides

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to continue with our “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

• District 22-23 School Calendar 

 

• Conferences

  • Early Dismissal/Parent Conferences ONLY Grades K-5 2/13/23 and 2/15/23

 

• Report Cards Grades K-5

  • End of 1st Trimester 12/9/22

  • End of 2nd Trimester 3/17/23

  • End of 3rd Trimester 6/20/23

 

• Report Cards FMS/MHS

  • End of 1st Semester 1/27/23

  • End of 2nd Semester 6/20/23

 

• 1st Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 11/23/22

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• 2nd Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 2/3/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP 

• 3rd Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 4/14/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

• 4th Period Progress Report Window:

  • IEP Progress Reports will be published on PowerSchool Parent Portal for all levels on or around 6/20/23

    • Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

      • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

      • Video for PowerSchool Parent Portal IEP Progress Report Access

      • Como ver Reportes de Progreso de IEP

Upcoming Events:

• MSD SEPAG 

  • We are looking to get more parents involved within our SPEAG committee.

    • If you are interested in getting involved please complete the following form 22-23 Executive SEPAG Committee Sign Up

• SEPAG Updates:

MSD SEPAG is a parent-led group that seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration and mutual respect in a supportive partnership inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration among students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices. The Executive Committee is made up of parent volunteers and district staff and meets monthly to review issues, plan events and respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities in special education in the Morris School District.

• How to Get Involved:

  • SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join other parents on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • MHS ALL IN started off the year on a great note! After a successful round of Board elections, where we had a number of new leaders emerge, the group decided to elect co-presidents and vice presidents this year. 

    • All In was part of many whole school events this fall, most importantly the MHS Colonial Club fair. A club fair open to all students during the lunch period which was a great way to display all MHS has to offer. ALL IN also was a part of the MHS Pep Rally, featuring as a team of competitors in the relay race!

 

• FMS ALL IN: 

  • ALL IN (Allies in Learning and Leading: Inclusive Network) has started the 2022-2023 school year off strong! 

  • We have a great group of student board members who meet once a month to help plan our after school events. This group wants to become more involved by helping to set up and lead the events, in addition to planning and attending.

  • Our first event had fall themed activities with games such as Jeopardy and Blooket, as well as coloring pages, crafts, and riddles. The students had the chance to play regular and oversized board games as well. We received positive feedback from this first event!

  • Our next event will be on Wednesday, November 30th and we will be continuing with the fall theme, but by participating in activities such as a virtual escape room, a scavenger hunt, and watching a movie chosen by the student board.

 

• SNAP 

  • SNAP (Special Needs Athletic/Awareness Programs) is off to a great start!

  • SNAP’s  “disability awareness training” was done at Sussex Ave. School with 21   5th grade SNAP Ambassadors sharing their wisdom about being kind and inclusive.  Each 3rd grader had an opportunity to experience what it might feel like to have cerebral palsy, dyslexia, autism, and visual impairments.   Feeling frustrated while trying to accomplish an everyday task, 3rd graders are encouraged to think about how they want to be treated when struggling with something.  The 5th graders model using encouraging words and talk about how kindness is cool!

  • At the end of the session, 3rd graders are challenged to put into practice what they learned  and  follow SNAP’s motto of “kids helping kids”.  If noticed by a teacher, they might be rewarded during the first round of monthly SNAP Awards..  It is important to note that although it's always good to do something nice when no one is watching, sometimes a little certificate/recognition is a good motivation for kids to do the right thing.  

  • SNAP Trainings with the AH, NP and TJ Ambassadors and each 3rd grade class will be completed by the end of the 2nd marking period.  

  • SNAP ran a 90 minute “new mentor training”  in September with 15 teenagers all wanting to learn more about the program.  Many of them have begun mentoring and making an impact in their community.  

  • This year, SNAP has added an additional “open gym” in order to allow more students with special needs to participate in the program.  This addition has been very well received as each week we are filled.   Each clinic, run back to back,  has 10 participants and approximately 20 mentors from middle and high school, all playing together to create purposeful and productive relationships.  Oh, and have fun, too!

  • For more information contact Kim Strasser at 908-892-6771 or kimstrasser22@gmail.com

   

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Colonial L.I.F.E. students have been back to work! And thanks to a grant from MEFS (Morris Educational Foundation - Student Edition) the students have new collared Program shirts to wear to work.  They look very professional.

  •  Welcome to our newest Business Partners:

    • Tiffany & Co.  Three of our young adults are participating in an internship at the Whippany Facility as they explore manufacturing and retail fulfillment

    • Famished Frog welcomes two of our students as they explore the Hospitality Industry

  • Several students continue to work at the Morris County Courthouse in several division honing their clerical skills

  • The Frelinghuysen Arboretum and Grow It Green welcomed back our young adults they explore agriculture as well as Grow It Green

  • Whitson’s and IHOP welcomed back our students and continues to help them explore the Food Service Industry

  • A big thank you to Iron Culture for hosting two interns AND offering opportunities for the Colonial L.I.F.E program to learn about fitness and nutrition

  • The Colonial L.I.F.E. students continue with their Community Based Instruction which includes Shopping, Banking, Travel Training and more.

  • Colonial L.I.F.E. has socialized with other 18-21 Programs in the county with a field day in September, Costume Party in October and a Friendsgiving in November.  

  • If you would like more information about the Colonial L.I.F.E. Program or if you would like your business to Partner with Colonial L.I.F.E contact Patricia Herbert at Patricia.herbert@msdk12.net 

 

• Unified Sports 

  • Unified Sports started out the school year strong. Our Unified Soccer team had more participants than any other year. 

  • Unified Soccer opened their home field to some new opposing teams and also was able to meet new teams at new away matches. They played games against Sparta, Summit, and more

  • Unified Soccer teamed up with their partner athletes from the girls JV and Freshman teams to make the entire sport fully Unified

  • They are excited for another great season next year!

• Video Series from Effective School Solutions

  • Elementary/Middle School student videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • Elementary/Middle School parent videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • High School student videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • High School parent videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Respectful Ways: Family Holiday Activities 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

On May 4, 2022 MSD SEPAG held a presentation with transition experts Colin Brady and Kevin Trimble to share their knowledge with families of neurodivergent youth as they consider their teen's college transition. Please see the presentation slides and records below as they will provide insights into assessing college readiness, an overview of the educational opportunities beyond high school (from transition programs to four year colleges), and considerations families should have when comparing programs and schools. Families can expect to walk away with a better developed roadmap to guide their teen's transition team to work toward college success.

• The College Transition Process Slides
• The College Transition Process Recording 
• Diapositivas del proceso de transición a la universidad
• Grabación del proceso de transición a la universidad

• As part of SEPAG’s Navigating the Journey Series, we held a panel discussion with parents, case manager, teacher, related service provider and Pupil Services administrators about the IEP process.  The goal is to help parents feel informed, empowered and confident in the IEP process, and fully understand how we can all work together as a team to help each individual child succeed.  Please see below the presentation slides and video recording.

  • Demystifying the IEP Slides English

  • Demystifying the IEP Slides Spanish

  • Demystifying the IEP Video Recording

  • FAQ IEP Process

  • FAQ IEP Process Spanish

We held our Special Education Transition FMS Presentation 2022 on 1/19/22.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about FMS.

• Video Presentation for Special Education Transition to FMS 
• Special Education Transition FMS Google Slides Presentation 

We held our Special Education Transition MHS Presentation 2022 on 1/26/22.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about FMS.

• Video Presentation for Special Education Transition to MHS 
• Special Education Transition MHS Google Slides Presentation 

 

 

Tuvimos nuestra presentación de FMS de Transición de Educación Especial 2022 en 1/25/22.  Por favor, vea los recursos a continuación para su referencia para aprender más sobre FMS.

• Vídeo de presentación para la transición de la educación especial al FMS
• Presentación en Google Slides de la Transición de la Educación Especial FMS

Tuvimos nuestra presentación de MHS de Transición de Educación Especial 2022 en 2/1/22.  Por favor, vea los recursos a continuación para su referencia para aprender más sobre MHS.

• Vídeo de presentación para la transición de la educación especial al MHS
• Presentación en Google Slides de la Transición de la Educación Especial MHS

Thank you!

As we started to prepare for this unprecedented school year, we knew that our teaching staff, nurses, counselors, case managers, BCBAs, and related service providers had to rise to the occasion to provide instruction in a non-traditional environment.  They all went above and beyond this school year and dedicated themselves (physically, emotionally and intellectually) to be on the front line to deliver instruction and services (in-person, virtually and, a good amount of the time, both in-person and remotely).  Because of their commitment and creativity, we were able to open up to provide in-person instruction for our students from day one.  The way that each of our staff members and our students persevered throughout this school year has been an amazing accomplishment that we are all so very proud of.  From the entire Pupil Services Department, we just want to say THANK YOU! 

As we shift into the summer, it is important that all of us-- staff, students and families alike--take some time to recenter ourselves: 

“Relax, Recharge and Reflect. Sometimes it’s OK to do nothing.”

― Izey Victoria Odiase

It is so important that we take time for ourselves over the summer to recharge our batteries.  Please take some time to find that special thing that you are passionate about to help you renew yourself so that when we open in September, we are all ready to begin the next school year and support our students as they reacclimate to a post-pandemic environment.

Our goal next year is to continue to provide a safe environment and improve our daily practices, but we also want to focus on the following: 

• Healthy community: Reconnecting with our students will be a priority in the Morris School District.  As all of our students return to in-person learning, it is vital that from day one we continue to foster relationships with all of them.  Our teachers, counselors, and staff will attempt to learn multiple things about them besides their academic standing.  This will build trust with our students and allow us to get more engagement throughout the learning process.

• Instruction, technology integration, and professional development: We will return to a good balance within a blended learning environment, complementing off-line lessons and assignments with the Chromebook, to provide targeted and direct instruction for our students. 

• Operations:  We will continue to systematically approach our practices through our PLCs, department meetings, benchmark assessments, review of data (iReady, DRAs, DBQs, evaluations, etc.), providing our modifications/accommodations, adhering to deadlines, communicating with all key stakeholders and ensuring our students are ascending on their goals and objectives. 

• Mental health services:  We will continue to provide a safe and healthy environment for our students and staff.  It is extremely important that you take care of yourself and your families.  Please pause to reflect and ask yourself how you are taking care of yourself.

We wish you and your families an amazing, restful and recharging summer!  If there is anything that we can do over the summer to support you, please do not hesitate to reach out.  

Sincerely,

The Department of Pupil Services Team

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to debut our new “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

• 4th Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress reports to be mailed/backpacked home to families on or around 6/17 by case managers

  • Middle School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 6/18

  • High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 6/18

Highlights of Recent Activities:

• SEPAG Updates:

MSD SEPAG is a parent-led group that seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration and mutual respect in a supportive partnership inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration among students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices. The Executive Committee is made up of parent volunteers and district staff and meets monthly to review issues, plan events and respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities in special education in the Morris School District.

• How to Get Involved:

  • SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join other parents on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events

• MSD SEPAG Social Hours

  • Our Executive MSD SEPAG Committee holds virtual social hours for our families monthly and plans to host many in-person events in the 2021-2022 school year. All families are invited to attend. 

    • Sample flyer: Spanish Speaking MSD SEPAG Social Hour Flyer

    • Sample flyer: English speaking MSD SEPAG Social Hour Flyer

 

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • MHS ALL IN held their whole school engagement fundraiser in May raising awareness for Autism Acceptance and funds for the Special Olympics. The ALL IN Autism Acceptance Virtual Walk had 83 participants and walked a total of 3,806 miles. 

    • MHS ALL IN continued to hold their weekly Monday meetings for virtual social skills and to discuss September events for next school year. 

 

• FMS ALL IN: 

  • Our FMS ALL IN board continued to meet once a month to plan fun, virtual events for the entire FMS school community.

  • Our Jeopardy event was a big success, and students enjoyed the spring-themed topics.

  • Our final event for this school year allowed the students to choose between 5 activities when they signed up for the ALL IN event. Playing a summer-themed trivia & riddles game of Kahoot won, so that is the activity we created. It was a lot of fun!

  • Our students are so excited to have the opportunity to participate in ALL IN in person next year, and we appreciate the support to create and engage in these events this year!

 

• SNAP 

  • SNAP (Special Needs Athletic Program) has been offering ZOOM sessions since the beginning of the pandemic, but  during this last marking period, SNAP’s attendance was the highest.  

  • Each week, we took on a spring sport (lacrosse, baseball, golf, fishing, tennis, etc) and a mentor( and sometimes a participant) would demonstrate equipment, teach some basic skills and a conversation about this particular sport would spark enthusiasm.  

  • We exercised to music using our newly learned sports moves, watched short video clips of the pros, and incorporated the sport into other engaging activities.   

  • Our June 17th final session will be an award ceremony, recognizing all the athletes and mentors.

  • While we may not have been  exercising in person,  SNAP continued to be a source of encouragement and normalcy during an abnormal time.  Getting together virtually proved to be a great alternative which provided friendship and connections to our participants and mentors. 

  • In June, Sussex Ave. School gave out 56 SNAP awards to children going out of their way to be inclusive, kind and compassionate.  

  • Also in June, 5th grade SNAP Ambassador’s were acknowledged with certificates at Alexander Hamilton School, Sussex, Normandy Park and Thomas Jefferson School.  In addition,  next year’s SNAP Ambassadors were selected and recognized. 

  • SNAP wishes to thank Morris School District for its continued support for this impactful program.  Please direct questions to Kim Strasser at snapclinics@gmail.com

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Colonial L.I.F.E. continues to complete internships in local businesses.  They can be found at Grow it Green, Iron Culture, Whitsons Food Service, working around MSD schools and more!  This summer Colonial L.I.F.E. will have their own plot to care for at Ealy Street Community Garden.  In addition, students will be an integral part of summer Food Service for our ESY program.  Business interested in partnering with Colonial Life in the fall should contact Patti Herbert to learn more about the program.  Patt can be reached at pattiherbert@msdk12.net or 973-292-2000 x 2013.

 

• Unified/ Choose to Include Elementary School Program 

  • Our whole school engagement art program spread the message of inclusion through Thomas Jefferson School, where school counselor Dawn Wallace engaged students in conversation about the Unified theme and challenged them to express themselves through original art.  Please see the attached examples     

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • Unified Track had a wonderful season.  Our students competed in running, throwing, and jumping events and won many medals! On May 5th, Morristown Unified Track hosted Parsippany, Parsippany Hills, Mount Olive, Sparta, Lakeland, Vernon, Jefferson, Pequannock and Mendham Unified teams here on our home track.  Our athletes made signs to welcome each team and the event was a great success.  The track team also attended meets away at Lakeland High School and at Mount Olive High School.  The season ended with the state event at Franklin High School on June 12, where our athletes brought home the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP again for the fourth year in a row!

  • Please enjoy this clip of our 4 x 100 team running at Mount Olive High School. (Coverage provided by Morris Sussex Sports)  https://youtu.be/MljpBCnsJyg

• MSD has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms and to enable users to translate website content to multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on reorganizing our corner of the website to provide families with accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know whom they should be contacting first.  We would appreciate your feedback on our Pupil Services web pages. Please see the feedback section below, and please take a few minutes to complete the short survey.  

• You can find our Pupil Services main page by going to the MSD homepage, hovering on the Offices tab, and selecting Pupil Services. Or go directly to our main page by clicking the following link: Pupil Services Main Page.

• Website Improvement

We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey

• Back to School Video Series from Effective School Solutions

  • Elementary/Middle School student videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • Elementary/Middle School parent videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • High School student videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

  • High School parent videos:

    • English version

    • Spanish version

• COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Spanish COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Respectful Ways: Family Holiday Activities 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to debut our new “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

 

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume III, please click HERE

• 3rd Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress reports to be mailed/backpacked home to families on or around 4/23 by case managers

  • Middle School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 4/23

  • High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 4/23

• College Prep Event

  • Our SEPAG is going to be bringing in a guest speaker to talk about preparing your child for college.  Please be on the lookout for communication on this virtual presentation. 

 

• MSD SEPAG Social Hour

  • Are you a parent or guardian of a child with special education needs?  Come meet some other MSD parents who understand.  Parents socially get together over Zoom to chat and get to know each other as friends.  

    • Special Education Parent Advisory Group Social Hour on Thursday, April 22nd at 7pm.  Please click for more information  bit.ly/2PUZPcR

    • Hora social de la SEPAG sólo en español el jueves 29 de abril a las 19:00 horas. Haga clic para más información bit.ly/3hJsIB1

 

• SNAP Flyer for Upcoming Events

• SEPAG Updates:

MSD SEPAG is a parent-led group that seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration, understanding and mutual respect in a supportive partnership, inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration among students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices. The Executive Committee is made up of parent volunteers and district staff and meets monthly to review issues, plan events and respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities in special education in the Morris School District.

• How to Get Involved:

  • NEW! SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join the conversation on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events

 

• MSD SEPAG Social Hours

  • Our Executive MSD SEPAG Committee is holding virtual social hours for our families on 4/22/2021 and 4/29/2021. They occur approximately once a month throughout the school year.  All families are invited to attend. 

    • Spanish Speaking MSD SEPAG Social Hour Flyer

    • English speaking MSD SEPAG Social Hour Flyer

 

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • MHS ALL IN continues to meet weekly to participate in and plan virtual events 

    • MHS ALL IN hosted a game day with our fellow FMS Board members where we had the opportunity to meet our 8th grade ALL IN counterparts and play a team trivia game, introduce them to how ALL IN is run at MHS and develop our relationships for next year. 

• MHS ALL IN will be holding their biggest engagement activity yet this April. A virtual walk will be held over the course of the month, to raise awareness for Autism Acceptance, since April is Autism Awareness Month. Donations made for miles walked will be donated to the Special Olympics, a cause close to us as a Special Olympics Play Unified School. The goal of our event is to promote The Autism Society of America’s effort to  change the language of Autism Awareness to Autism Acceptance, embracing the inclusive goals of our community.

  • How To Join: Download the app “Charity Miles” and choose the charity as Special Olympics. To join our club’s walk, you can join our team “MHS ALL-IN Autism Acceptance Walk” on the Charity Miles app which you can join directly using your phone from this LINK. The app will make a small donation to the charity with every mile you log and you are free to donate additionally to support a great cause, you do not need to make any monetary donations yourself to join the cause! Walk, bike, run and follow the instructions to make sure your activities are being logged in the app. If you would like to join without the app you can submit how many miles you walked in this google form by May 2nd at 12pm if you do not join us on the app

 

• FMS ALL IN: 

• Our FMS ALL IN Board continues to meet and plan fun, virtual events for the entire FMS community.

• One event was a Virtual Game Day, in which students played trivia using Quizlet Live and then played Pictionary in breakout groups.

• Our 8th graders joined ALL IN at the High School for a fun, virtual trivia game. Students were able to see how ALL IN runs at MHS, and to encourage these students to continue participating in ALL IN next year.

• Our next event will be Spring Jeopardy and will take place April 27th.

 

• SNAP 

  • Finishing up with Thomas Jefferson School, SNAP ‘s Disability Awareness Training is complete for the entire 3rd grade.  

 

• SNAP’s weekly Zoom sessions have been offered and well received  each week by approximately 10-12 special needs students and 10-12 teenage mentors.  Adopting a theme each week,  SNAP provides an hour of activities including exercise, socializing, sharing, and connecting.  

• SNAP awards continue to be a sought out honor at Sussex Ave. School with approximately 40 kids each month receiving a nomination for their inclusive actions and acts of kindness.  Students who are nominated for the 1st time receive a certificate, students nominated a 2nd time receive a certificate and a SNAP bracelet, 3rd time nominees receive a certificate and a SNAP  T-shirt and kids nominated a 4th time get a certificate and a SNAP drawstring bag.  Each certificate specifically states what the student did to earn the award.  A presentation  with all the kids’ names and actions is shared with all students.  

• For “Disability Awareness Month” , SNAP was honored by Mayor Grayzel on March 17th for its positive impact on the community.

  • https://www.newjerseyhills.com/morris_news_bee/news/special-needs-program-honored-in-morris-township/article_5422aaf1-984d-563a-bbcc-f2e04ebb1267.html

• SNAP will be offering Disability Awareness Training to the first 50 participants on zoom on April 25th 4:00-5:00 PM

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eDwgJe8SObPS4DYZRE59YzNhfrvlP0IqtVkXtGzPkP4/edit

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Our Colonial L.I.F.E. students are developing their cooking skills!  They really can find their way around a kitchen.  They are planning meals, shopping for the ingredients and preparing meals too.  

  • Banking skills continue to be honed with the help of TB Bank

  • You might see our students hard at work in the community.  Look for our students at Iron Culture, Grow it Green Farm, Grow it Green Community Garden, MHS Main office and Whitson’s Food Service.

  • Coming soon to MHS…. Colonial L.I.F.E. Coffee Cart STAY TUNED!

 

• Unified/ Choose to Include Elementary School Program 

  • In the elementary schools, our school counselors provided classroom lessons and read books about empathy, inclusion and acceptance and invited students to create artwork that celebrates the Unified message. The artwork is currently decorating the hallways. The students had so many good ideas about how to be a friend to others. 

 

 

• Click the links to see more wonderful examples of student art at Normandy Park School, and coloring pages from AV and HC. Follow us on IG at @msdunified

  • https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-HzIjJADg/?igshid=jxzxcqilrs6d

  • https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-L8DTpVDQ/?igshid=zxt5dy1fadrz

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • The Unified Bowling team developed their bowling skills at Rockaway Lanes this winter.  All bowlers showed consistent improvement throughout the season, and recorded their high score for the year in the last bowling match vs. Morris Knolls. 

  • The Unified swim team was happy to be back in our pool at MHS, holding practices twice a week throughout March. 

  • Unified Track is back and off to a great start with a roster of 19 students participating. Like our other Unified teams, Unified track is an all inclusive team for students with and without disabilities. Practices are Tuesdays and Fridays.  On May 5, we are looking forward to our home meet, where we will host the following Unified teams: Parsippany HS, Parsippany Hills HS, Lakeland HS, Sparta HS, Vernon HS, Jefferson HS, Mendham HS, Mount Olive HS. 

 

• Updated Pupil Services Web Pages

  • MSD has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms and to enable users to translate website content to multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on reorganizing our corner of the website to provide families with accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know whom they should be contacting first.  We would appreciate your feedback on our Pupil Services web pages. Please see the feedback section below, and please take a few minutes to complete the short survey.  

  • You can find our Pupil Services main page by going to the MSD homepage, hovering on the Offices tab, and selecting Pupil Services. Or go directly to our main page by clicking the following link: Pupil Services Main Page.

  • Website Improvement

    • We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey 

• Website Improvement

We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey

• COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Spanish COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Respectful Ways: Family Holiday Activities 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

Stressed about IEP meetings?  SEPAG is hosting a panel discussion of parents and district representatives to learn about the IEP process and calm your fears about these meetings.  Join us and bring your questions! Meeting in English: Tuesday, February 16th. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q9Rtm_uu9P58CqskBl_oLsodEK2z4S53_5LQfhdqlUs/edit?usp=sharing

SEPAG Presentation- IEP Panel Discussion: Calm Your Fears

¿Estresado por las reuniones del IEP? SEPAG está organizando un panel de discusión de padres y representantes del distrito para aprender sobre el proceso del IEP y calmar sus temores sobre estas reuniones. ¡Únase a nosotros y traiga sus preguntas! Encuentro en español: jueves 18 de febrero: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1enD6QRu4wmPP1wwEhG1oBMxdfombOhqmWjGsljDtVrc/edit?usp=sharing

Spanish Speaking SEPAG Presentation- IEP Panel Discussion: Calm Your Fears

Video-Spanish Speaking SEPAG Presentation- IEP Panel Discussion: Calm Your Fears

 

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to debut our new “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

 

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

• 2nd Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress reports to be mailed/backpacked home to families on or around 2/12 by case managers

  • Middle School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 2/9

  • High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 2/9

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

• Demystifying the IEP Process

  • As part of SEPAG’s Navigating the Journey Series, please join us for a panel discussion with parents, case managers, teachers and Pupil Services administrators about the IEP process.  The goal is to help parents feel informed, empowered and confident in the IEP process, and fully understand how we can all work together as a team to help each individual child succeed.  There will be an opportunity for questions and answers with the panelist.

    • February 16, 2021, 7:00-8:30pm:  Navigating the Journey Series: Demystifying the IEP Process.  Offered in English.

    • February 18, 2021, 7:00-8:30pm:  Navigating the Journey Series: Demystifying the IEP Process.  Offered in Spanish.

 

• SNAP Flyer for Upcoming Events

 

• MSD SEPAG Social Hour

  • Are you a parent or guardian of a child with special education needs?  Come meet some other MSD parents who understand.    Parents socially get together over Zoom to chat and get to know each other as friends.   Stay tuned for the next social hour in February.  

 

• Feedback from our Families:

  • Website Improvement

    • We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

Highlights of Recent Activities:

• SEPAG Updates:

  • MSD SEPAG is a parent-led group that seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration, understanding and mutual respect in a supportive partnership, inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration among students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices. The Executive Committee is made up of parent volunteers and district staff and meets monthly to review issues, plan events and respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities in special education in the Morris School District.

 

• How to Get Involved:

  • NEW! SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

  • Join the conversation on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

  • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

  • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

  • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

  • Attend SEPAG events
     

• Transition Presentations:

  • Last month, we held transition presentations  to inform families of the services, supports, programs, and activities available to incoming 6th graders at Frelinghuysen Middle School and to incoming 9th graders at Morristown High School.  While these presentations were created especially for parents/guardians of current 5th and 8th graders,  we invited all parents/guardians interested in planning ahead for their younger children.  All families are encouraged to view the recordings and slide decks linked below to review the information we covered in the presentations.  Our SEPAG parent feedback is that many families appreciate learning about the schools and knowing what to expect several years in advance.

  • Click for a video and Google Slide Presentation for the FMS Special Education Transition Meeting

  • Click for a video and Google Slide Presentation for the MHS Special Education Transition Meeting

 

• MSD SEPAG Social Hours

  • Our Executive MSD SEPAG Committee held two very successful virtual social hours for our families on 10/2/2020 and 11/13/2020. They occur approximately once a month throughout the school year.  All families are invited to attend. 

    • Example of MSD SEPAS Social Hour Flyer

 

• ALL IN

  • MHS ALL IN: 

    • The ALL IN Student Board is leading committees of ALL IN students, developing a fundraiser for Autism Awareness culminating in an entire school engagement event to take place in April.

    • ALL IN students made and donated holiday cards for nursing home patients separated from their loved ones due to Covid-19. 

    • ALL IN students are currently in the process of making and donating materials to send to members of our armed forces as part of “Valentine’s For Our Troops”

  • FMS ALL IN: 

    • Our FMS ALL IN board has been doing a great job meeting and planning the events in which the entire FMS community is invited to participate. Our board has done an amazing job creating fun activities for our virtual world.

    • Our first event was a Virtual Game Day. We played winter-themed Kahoot and Scattergories.

    • The second event was a Virtual Scavenger Hunt. Students had to locate a list of 20 items in their homes. Afterwards, we played “I Spy” using objects in our Google Meet screens.

    • Our next event will be another Virtual Game Day, but using different games and focused around teams.

 

• SNAP 

  • SNAP Marking Period 2 Update

  • SNAP Flyer for Upcoming Events

   

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Our Colonial L.I.F.E. students did some groundbreaking work this fall!  Students assisted Farmer Shaun at two Grow it Green sites to harvest the remaining crops and prepare the fields for winter.  The weather held and they were able to work right up until Thanksgiving.  Students continue to work in our school office and at a local gym, and many students work for Whitson’s Food Service preparing pre-packaged meals. Colonial L.I.F.E. students are honing their cooking skills thanks to class with Ms. Cammisa.  They continue to do online banking, shopping and learning.  And, of course, Mindful Meditation and Yoga play an important role in their classroom. Students are looking forward to spring on the farm!

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • Unified Soccer: Unified Soccer ended its season at the end of November. The turnout for the team was great for its inaugural year! Team members received certificates and superlatives and are all looking forward to next year’s season. 

  • Unified Swim is scheduled to start on February 1. Students of all abilities will practice and compete together in the beautiful pool at MHS. The students are excited to break up the winter

  • Unified Bowling will also start on February 1. The team will bowl at Rockaway Lanes

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

• MSD has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms and to enable users to translate website content to multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on reorganizing our corner of the website to provide families with accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know whom they should be contacting first.  We would appreciate your feedback on our Pupil Services web pages. Please see the feedback section below, and please take a few minutes to complete the short survey. 
• You can find our Pupil Services main page by going to the MSD homepage, hovering on the Offices tab, and selecting Pupil Services. Or go directly to our main page by clicking the following link: Pupil Services Main Page.

 

• Website Improvement

  • We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

Resources for Families:

• COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Spanish COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Respectful Ways: Family Holiday Activities 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

To read the complete Quarterly Report Volume II, please click HERE

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

Wednesday, February 3, 20201

7-9 pm 

Via Google Meet

 

 

Agenda

7:00 - 7:30:  Welcome (Melanie/Chris/Marc)

• Check ins (all)

  • District Update (Marc/Natalie) - transition meetings, other    

7:30 - 7:45: 2020-21 Discussion/Planning:

• Update on social hours, including Spanish-only - Friday, 1/8/21 

• Update on Spanish survey of communication needs 

• Planning for Demystifying the IEP panel presentation - February 10th  (see last year’s planning below)

8:45 - 9:00: Additional Business and Next Steps

• Any other business?  

• Next meeting March 3, 2021

We held our Special Education Transition FMS Presentation 2021 on 1/13/21.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about FMS.

• Video Presentation for Special Education Transition to FMS
• Special Education Transition FMS Google Slides Presentation 2021 

We held our Special Education Transition MHS Presentation 2021 on 1/21/21.  Please see the resources below for your reference to learn more about MHS.

• Video Presentation for Special Education Transition to MHS
• Special Education Transition MHS Google Slides Presentation 2021 

Tuvimos nuestra presentación de FMS de Transición de Educación Especial 2021 en 1/26/21.  Por favor, vea los recursos a continuación para su referencia para aprender más sobre FMS.

• Vídeo de presentación para la transición de la educación especial al FMS
• Presentación en Google Slides de la Transición de la Educación Especial FMS 2021

Tuvimos nuestra presentación de MHS de Transición de Educación Especial 2021 en 1/28/21.  Por favor, vea los recursos a continuación para su referencia para aprender más sobre MHS.

• Vídeo de presentación para la transición de la educación especial al MHS
• Presentación en Google Slides de la Transición de la Educación Especial MHS 2021

Purpose: The Department of Pupil Services is continuing our focus on thorough and timely communication.  One of the department’s goals is to ensure that our community and staff members have multiple opportunities for open, two-way communications with all stakeholders to foster trusting partnerships in our mission to deliver exceptional programs.  Accordingly, we are pleased to debut our new “Pupil Services Quarterly Report.”  The intention of this update is to provide families with upcoming important dates, highlights that are happening within our department, resources for our families and opportunities for feedback.

• 1st Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress reports to be mailed home to families on or around 11/20 by case managers

  • Middle School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 11/23

  • High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on or around 11/19

• Transition Presentations:

  • These transition presentations will focus on the services, supports, programs, and activities that will be available for incoming 6th graders and 9th graders at their respective schools.  While they are geared primarily for families of current 5th and 8th graders, these events are open to anyone who is interested in learning about these transitions, as we have learned from parent feedback that many families appreciate knowing what to expect several years in advance.

  • Presentation on 1/13/21 will be held virtually via Google Meet (link will be sent out prior to the meeting 6:30-8:00).  

    • A Swift alert will be sent out in January with more information.  Please save the date and time.  

  • Presentation on 1/20/21will be held virtually via Google Meet (link will be sent out prior to the meeting 6:30-8:00).  

    • A Swift alert will be sent out in January with more information.  Please save the date and time.

 

• Demystifying the IEP Process

  • As part of SEPAG’s Navigating the Journey series, please join us for a panel discussion with parents, case managers and Pupil Services administrators about what the IEP process is all about. This panel will help you feel more empowered in understanding the process and will provide the opportunity for questions and answers. The date is still to be determined but will be around the end of January or early February.  Watch for more information after the New Year.

 

• MSD SEPAG Social Hour

  • Are you a parent or guardian of a child with special education needs?  Come meet some new folks and learn what's happening with SEPAG this year!  Stay tuned for the next social hour in January.  

• SEPAG Updates:

MSD SEPAG is a parent-led group that seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration, understanding and mutual respect in a supportive partnership, inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration among students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices. The Executive Committee is made up of parent volunteers and district staff and meets monthly to review issues, plan events and respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities in special education in the Morris School District.

• • How to Get Involved:

    • NEW! SEPAG website: www.msdsepag.com

    • Join the conversation on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/msdsepag

    • Email us: msdsepag@gmail.com 

    • Leave anonymous feedback: https://tinyurl.com/msdsepagfeedbackform

    • Follow on Instagram: msdsepag 

    • Attend SEPAG events
       

• • 1st Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG) Feedback Meeting:

    • Meeting on 10/13/20 was held virtually.  Please see the information that was discussed at this meeting. 

      • MSD SEPAG Presentation 10/13/20

      • Parent Feedback

      • MSD SEPAG Spanish Presentation 10/13/2020

      • MSD SEPAG Spanish Presentation Screencast 10/13/2020

      • Spanish Parent Feedback

 

• • MSD SEPAG Social Hours

    • Our Executive MSD SEPAG Committee held two social hours for our families on 10/2 and 11/13, 2020. They occur approximately once a month throughout the school year.  All families are invited to attend.    

      • Example of MSD SEPAS Social Hour Flyer

 

• ALL IN

  • ALL IN continues this year to devote themselves to making an impact for all students. While this year is unlike any other, ALL IN has found a way to stay connected. The club, under advisors Stephanie Corona, Matthew O'Brien and Samantha Pino, meets virtually every Tuesday to plan volunteer opportunities, discuss community outreach, develop ways to connect with other clubs and most importantly plan ways to bring both the in-person and virtual MHS community together. ALL IN members participate in social games, clothing sales and craft activities. New to our ALL IN model this year are our new Activity Committees.  A wonderful student-led program, our Activity Committee has 2 members volunteer each week to plan a virtual activity to be held during our Tuesday meetings, with students leading the groups. ALL IN this year has also taken on its biggest undertaking yet. This is the first year the club has decided to dedicate itself all year to fundraise for a specific charity, developing year-long engagement activities that will culminate with a virtual walk supporting Autism Speaks in April, 2021. Keep an eye out for new announcements and for the upcoming clothing sale!  (Write up provided by Stephanie Corona.)

 

• SNAP 

  • Please click the link for a detailed update on our SNAP program.

   

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Colonial L.I.F.E. continues to grow and expand our program.  Covid has helped us reimagine daily routines.  Students continue to work on self-care skills and life skills within our space at MHS.  Daily Mindful Meditation helps our students start their day. They continue to stay fit by participating in regular physical fitness activities through the MHS PE Department and also sharpen their culinary, decision-making, and collaboration skills with Ms. Commisa in Culinary Arts.  In addition, Colonial L.I.F.E. has partnered with Grow it Green, Whitson's and Iron Culture Gym to continue our SLE experiences.  Students are farming with Farmer Sean to make the most of the late harvest and prepare the farm for the winter.  Our Colonial L.I.F.E. students are also an integral part of the Morris School District Breakfast/Lunch “Grab and Go”  program.  Under supervision, our students are portioning items and packing bags while adhering to strict safety protocols, including wearing appropriate PPE (gloves, masks and face shields) and washing/sanitizing their hands regularly.  Finally, our students at Iron Culture are developing their merchandise stocking skills and sanitizing skills.  (Write up provided by Patricia Herbert.)

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • The Morris School District was awarded a generous grant by Special Olympics/Unified for the 2020-2021 year.  While the pandemic has posed challenges to the implementation of all of our district Unified programs, we are looking forward to creatively using the funds this year to teach inclusion in new ways while keeping our students safe. At MHS, our ALL IN club continues to provide a venue for general education and special education students to gather for socialization and building relationships via Google Meet. 

  • We are very proud to announce the inaugural season of Unified Soccer at Morristown High School this fall! Ms. Stephanie Corona, who served as our Unified Soccer coach, reported the following: “Unified Soccer rounds out our Unified teams so that our athletes have the ability to participate in all three sports seasons. While the season itself was unconventional, our Unified Soccer players made the most of it! Athletes practiced two days a week after school, with focus on skill development, social inclusion and teamwork. Under the direction of Coach Corona, special guests Coach Crane and Coach Waxgiser and our supportive assistants, our Unified athletes developed the skills and game-play strategies to hit next season with the ball rolling!” Some of the other SONJ/Unified funded projects in the works are a new Unified Readers program at the elementary level, a pilot intramural soccer program at two of our 3-5 schools, and a Learn to Ride program at Hillcrest with new strider bikes and helmets.

• • The MSD has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms as well as the ability for users to translate website content to multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on reorganizing our corner of the website to ensure that families have accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know whom they should be contacting first.  We would appreciate your feedback on our Pupil Services web pages. Please see the feedback section below, and please take a few minutes to complete the short survey.  

  • You can find our Pupil Services main page by going to the MSD homepage, hovering on the Offices tab, and selecting Pupil Services. Or go directly to our main page by clicking the following link: Pupil Services Main Page.

 

• Website Improvement

  • We would appreciate your feedback on our updated Pupil Services web pages.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Pupil Services Web Pages Feedback Survey

• COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Spanish COVID-19 School-Age Child Care Tuition Assistance for Working Families

• Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Respectful Ways: Family Holiday Activities 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

 

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND HEALTHY THANKSGIVING!

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

7-9 pm 

Via Google Meet

 

 

Agenda

 

7:00 - 7:25:  Welcome (Melanie/Chris/Marc)

• Check ins

• District Update (Marc/Danae/Natalie)

  • In person schooling for FMS/MHS students with IEPs

                  

7:25 - 7:45: Guest presenter/Q&A

• Patti Hebert presentation on 18-21+ transitions

 

7:45 - 8:05: Review recent activities

• Parenting during Covid presentation (Nov 9) (Melanie)

• Presentation to the NJEA (Oct 15) (Melanie)

• Back to school night videos (Melanie, others)

• Open House fora (Oct 13) (Marc, Danae, Natalie, others): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WIQd_dFaZ0JqXtWaY1UeO1UxTZMALMZ4CkzBrK8d2dI/edit?usp=sharing

 

8:05 - 8:45: 2020-21 Discussion/Planning:

• Balancing the three-legged stool - ideas on engaging teachers/case mgrs in SEPAG

• Preliminary planning for Demystifying the IEP panel presentation in Jan/Feb

 

8:45 - 9:00: Additional Business and Next Steps

• Any other business?

• SEPAG Upcoming Social Hour on Friday, Nov 13, 7 pm

• Next meeting is set for December 9, 7 pm

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

 Wednesday, October 7, 2020

7-9 pm 

Via Google Meet

 Agenda

 

7:00 - 7:25:  Welcome (Melanie/Chris/Marc)

• Check ins

• District Update (Marc/Danae/Natalie)        

7:25 - 7:45: Review recent activities

• ReStart Committee update (Melanie)

• SEPAG Social Hours (Theresa, Libia, Sandy and others)

• Back to school night videos (Melanie/Libia)

• Website presentation/feedback (Tracy, Marissa, Jessica)

 7:45 - 8:45: 2020-21 Planning:

• Upcoming Open House forum on October 13th

• Preliminary planning for Demystifying the IEP panel presentation in Jan/Feb

 8:45 - 9:00: Additional Business and Next Steps

• Any other business?

• Next meeting is set for November 11, 7 pm

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

 Tuesday, September 15, 2020

7-9 pm 

Via Google Meet

 

 

Agenda

 

7:00 - 7:25:  Welcome (Melanie/Chris/Marc)

• Check ins

• District Update

• Welcome Natalie Balon (new grade 6-12 supervisor)             

7:25 - 7:45: Review previous meeting decisions re: Goal setting for the year 2020-21

• Be included in all big meetings (e.g. ReStart Committee, Back to School Nights, HSA websites, etc..) - currently part of ReStart, HSA for FMS website, others?

• Raise awareness:

  • Promote FB page as place for conversation, advice, support

  • Update district’s website with SEPAG info

• Set yearly goals to address needs of (1) elementary, (2) middle, and (3) high school parents

• Yearly events:  

  • Special ed open house (Q&A; suggestions)

  • “Navigating Your Journey” Series; suggestions for this year:

    • Virtual education

    • Demystifying IEPs

    • Understanding the full range of options (through and past HS)

7:45 - 8:45: 2020-21 Planning:

• Discussion: Set dates/planning committees for this year’s events

• Calendar planning and roles

• Website/media committee work planning: HSA outreach, updating info for District website

• Discuss support groups

8:45 - 9:00: Additional Business and Next Steps

• Any other business?

• Suggestion to set fixed meeting dates; e.g. first Thursday of the month, etc.

In an effort to provide our special education families with the most updated information with regards to our special education services (both in person and virtual), we are going to hold the following virtual town halls via Google Meet.  Recordings of the town halls will be posted on the Pupil Services Communications page of our website in case families are unable to attend.    

Please click here for detailed information with regards to the programs (self-contained, ICS, CABAS and Colonial L.I.F.E.)

Tuesday, August 4th 5:36-6:36 PreK-Elementary Self-Contained Town Hall 

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/wud-przc-qdy

Phone Numbers (‪US‬)‪+1 234-759-0313‬ PIN: ‪270 822 202#‬

Recording from 8/4/2020 and Google Slides Presentation

Wednesday, August 5th 5:36-6:36 FMS Self-Contained/CABAS Town Hall

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/aof-jwhy-sns

Phone Numbers (‪US‬)‪+1 419-962-6096‬ PIN: ‪590 671 808#‬

Recording from 8/5/2020 and Google Slides Presentation

Wednesday, August 5th 7:06-8:06 FMS/MHS ICS Town Hall

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/mki-sbtw-zye

Phone Numbers (‪US‬)‪+1 575-394-8177‬ PIN: ‪406 439 219#‬

Recording from 8/5/2020 and Google Slides Presentation, Content from Chat Thread

Thursday, August 6th 5:36-6:36 MHS Self-Contained/Colonial L.I.F.E. Town Hall

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/gxh-cdoj-qmn

Phone Numbers: (‪US‬)‪+1 865-498-3206‬ PIN: ‪195 445 208#‬

Recording from 8/6/2020 and Google Slides Presentation

Friday, August 7th 5:36-6:36 Elementary ICS Town Hall

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/mjn-erzm-vca

Phone Numbers (‪US‬)‪+1 513-788-2070‬ PIN: ‪949 423 530#‬

Recording from 8/7/2020 and Google Slides Presentation

Thank you for everyone who joined us for our Town Halls this past week.  

Pupil Services ESY Plan

This summer, the Morris School District’s Extended School Year (ESY) Program will be delivered via virtual instruction. In light of the changing conditions of COVID-19, and in accordance with the NJ Department of Education, the Office of Emergency Management, and State and local agencies, the virtual ESY Program is the safest choice for our students and our community. The design for delivering special education and related services will be a combination of live virtual sessions, pre-recorded lessons, interactive learning activities, and independent practice. The Pupil Services Leadership Team will closely monitor the ESY Program and will be accessible throughout the summer.  We wish you and your family a healthy, safe, and successful summer.  

If you have any questions or if you would like to make changes to your child’s enrollment status please contact your case manager.  

 

Following, please click for detailed information about our ESY Plan.

English Pupil Services ESY Plan  

Spanish Pupil Services ESY Plan 

• COVID-19 Technology Permission Slip

 

• Spanish COVID Technology Permission Slip

March 29, 2020

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As we enter into our third week of virtual learning, we would first like to extend a deep thank you to our students, families, teachers, related service providers and our child study teams for working together with patience and understanding as we navigate our new context.  The feedback that we have received from teachers and parents has been very positive thus far. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to refine and improve our services. If something is not going optimally or if your child is having difficulty transitioning to a virtual experience, please reach out to us immediately. 

Per the communication from the Superintendent last week, the Morris School District is extending the timeframe in which virtual learning will occur--possibly until the end of the year.  Therefore, the Department of Pupil Services has developed a comprehensive, detailed plan to maintain students’ special education programs and deliver related services throughout our extended closure, using online Google platforms and Canvas (6-12). Please see our update below:

• In-Class Support and Pull-Out Resource Replacement:  Special education teachers have been providing support throughout the instructional day via Google Classroom and/or Canvas (6-12). As we move forward into our virtual learning experience, we are looking to expand connectedness through teachers providing small group virtual meetings via Google Meets.

• Supplemental Reading Intervention: Students have been provided with individual access (in a virtual platform) to direct instruction in reading as stated in their IEPs.  Students have been contacted by their teachers about how to access the virtual platform. Communication with regard to permission forms has been sent home by case managers for elementary-age students.  If you received a permission form and have not signed it, please see the permission slip below and send it back to your child’s case manager as soon as possible.  

• Physical Therapy: Students have started with individual access (in a virtual platform) to Physical Therapy as stated in their IEPs.  Students have been contacted by the physical therapist about how to access the virtual platform. Communication with regard to permission forms has been sent home by case managers for elementary-age students.  If you received a permission form and have not signed it, please see the permission slip below and send it back to your child’s case manager as soon as possible.

• Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Counseling:  We received guidance on Friday, March 27, that the District can start to provide these services through a virtual platform.  Students will be provided with individual and/or group access (in a virtual platform) to their related service as stated in their IEPs.  Students will be contacted by the related service provider about how to access the virtual platform. Communication with regard to permission forms for this IEP-driven service will be sent home by case managers this week.  Please note that if you have already signed off on the permission slip, there is no need to sign off again. These services will start next week.  If your child is in grades K-5 and you have not signed this permission form, please see the permission slip below and send it back to your child’s case manager as soon as possible.  

• IEP Meetings:  We have been conducting annual review meetings during this time period.  Thus far the feedback that we have received has been positive. Your child’s case managers will still be in touch with you regarding any previous or upcoming meetings.        

• Out-of-District Students: We have confirmed that all of the schools attended by our out-of-district students have created a virtual learning plan. We encourage you to review carefully your out-of-district school’s virtual learning plan.  The school’s virtual learning plan may have been sent to you directly or may be available on the school’s website. If you have any questions please contact the school directly first and if there are remaining questions or need further assistance to please contact your case manager.  

• SEPAG Webinar: Dr. Crosbie held a parent webinar presentation on Monday, March 23, called "Successful Strategies for VEEP [Virtual Education Emergency Plan],"  Please click here to view the presentation and related resources.  

• MSD Virtual Learning CyberSafety Guidelines

• COVID-19 Technology Permission Slip 

 On behalf of the Department of Pupil Services, we would like to thank you in advance for your flexibility during this time. If the plan evolves and changes, we will be sure to notify you of the updates.  As always, if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Best regards,

Marc G. Gold, Rori Benson and Danae Heywood

 

March 16, 2020

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As you know, Virtual Learning throughout the Morris School District will begin on Wednesday, March 18.  The Department of Pupil Services has developed a detailed plan to maintain students’ special education programs and deliver related services, throughout our extended closure, using online Google platforms and Canvas (6-12). 

• In-class Support and Pull-out Resource Replacement:  Special education teachers will be providing support throughout the instructional day via Google Classroom and/or Canvas (6-12).  

• Supplemental Reading Intervention:  Students will be provided with individual access, via Google Meet, to direct instruction in reading as stated in their IEPs.  Students will be contacted by the teacher about how to access Google Meet. Communication with regard to permission forms for this IEP-driven service has been sent home by case managers.  

• Physical Therapy: Students will be provided with individual access, via Google Meet, to Physical Therapy as stated in their IEPs.  Students will be contacted by the teacher about how to access Google Meet. Communication with regard to permission forms for this IEP-driven service has been sent home by case managers.

• Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Counseling:  The New Jersey Department of Education Regulations prohibit telepractice for these areas of service.  Guidance from the NJ DOE will inform the district’s plan to address these areas of related service when school reopens.  Additional information will be communicated as it becomes available.

• IEP Meetings:  Your child’s case managers will be in touch with you regarding any previously scheduled meetings.        

• Out-of-District Students: Please review your students out-of-district school’s plan to provide distance learning.  If you have any questions you can contact your case manager.  

On behalf of the Department of Pupil Services, we would like to thank you in advance for your flexibility during this time. If the plan evolves and changes, we will be sure to notify you of the updates.  As always, if you have questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact us. 

Best regards,

Marc G. Gold Rori Benson Danae Heywood

Dr. Crosbie's presentation "Successful Strategies for VEEP" and associated resources can be found here.

• 2nd Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress Report to be sent home with report card on/or around 2/12

  • Middle/High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on/or around 2/12

 

• Transition Presentations:

  • These transition presentations occurred in January.  They focused on the services, supports, programs, activities that will be available for your incoming 6th grader and 9th grader at each respective location.  

  • 1/15/20 at Frelinghuysen Middle School Auditorium from 6:30-8:00.  

    • FMS Presentation 

  • 1/22/20 at Morristown High School Learning Commons from 6:30-8:00.  

    • MHS Presentation

• SEPAG Update 

  • The first Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG) Meeting was held on 11/21/19 at Morristown High School, Media Center/Library from 7-8pm.  Please see the links below for more information regarding this event.  

  • Information on minutes, presentation, themes gathered from focus group questions

 

• SEPAG Executive Committee Update 

  • December 16, 2019 Initial SEPAG meeting at MHS. 

    • Discussed purpose of SEPAG

    • Transition Presentations

    • Future Topics

    • Focus Groups 

    • Contact information collected

    • Requested volunteers for the Executive Committee 

 

• • January 9, 2020 first meeting of the SEPAG Executive Committee held at LLC

    • Mission Statement drafted:

The Morris School District Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG) seeks to encourage honest and effective communication, collaboration, understanding and mutual respect in a supportive partnership, inclusive of all students, parents, educators, and the community at large. Our mission is to foster collaboration between students, parents, community members, administration, staff, and the Board of Education, for the purpose of improving the quality of district-wide special education policies, programs and practices.  

• • • Discussed how executive committee will be set up and run

      • President, VP, Secretary, Communications, Events, HSA Liaison

      • Staggered terms (2 & 3 years) 

    • Communication

      • Public and Private

    • Future meetings discussed: monthly executive committee meetings, at least two “listening” meetings per year and 2-3 topic-oriented meetings.  

 

• • January 23, 2020 meeting at MHS

    • Finalized positions for the committee

      • Added position for addressing language/cultural barriers

      • Added “at large” position

    • Set goals for remainder of school year

      • Presentation addressing issues surrounding IEP meetings

        • Panel format with Q/A session

        • Prioritized as first event, occurring in March if possible

      • Guest Speaker

        • Possibly addressing executive functioning

      • “Exit Interviews” with graduating students/families who had an IEP at some point during their time in district

        • Event with small group breakout session

        • Survey sent out to families prior to graduation

• ALL IN

  • Write up provided by Stephanie Corona: The ALL IN “Highlight of the Year” dance was a huge success. ALL IN partnered with NHS, SGO, Unified Sports teams, and a number of other clubs and sports to host their annual dance. The students spent from October through January planning everything from the theme to the music to the food as well as planning volunteers for set up and clean up.

  • Please click the link to view pictures from the ALL IN dance.  

  • Lunch group is going well and the students met to plan February’s after school event.  

    • The ALL IN Feb Event is February 28th 4:00pm, Unified Bowling Match at Rockaway Lanes

    • The ALL IN March Event is March 17th 6:00pm, Sensory Friendly Performance of the MHS Spring Musical "Into The Woods"

 

• SNAP 

  • Write up provided by Kim Strasser: SNAP (Special Needs Athletic Program) has been a huge success this marking period.  Sports clinics have been held every Wednesday from 7-8 PM in the Sussex Avenue School gym. 

  • At a typical clinic, you will find approximately 20 enthusiastic mentors from middle and high school who volunteer their time to play sports with approximately 10-15  kids with different abilities. Some students play basketball, others may prefer soccer or bowling or hulu hooping. The evening ends with everyone gathering in a circle for parachute play and socializing. 

  • While learning a sport and exercising is the goal, the outcome is much greater than that.  Beautiful relationships form and everyone leaves with a smile on their face feeling good about themselves.  

  • Please click here to view pictures of some SNAP events. 

  • SNAP is especially grateful for 2 high school SNAP mentors who have taken on additional  volunteer hours to plan a SNAP Exercise Party on February 8th at Lifetime Fitness.  

  • In addition, SNAP’s annual Ice Skating event is planned for February 29th. Partnering with NJ Freeze hockey team, Aspen Ice graciously hosts the event inviting SNAP participants and mentors to skate together and enjoy donated refreshments as well.  

  • Please click her for flyers and contact Kimberle Strasser at 908-892-6771 for more information.  

  • SNAP Exercise Party Flyer  

  • SNAP Learn How to Skate Flyer 

  • SNAP Fun and Friendship Flyer

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • Write up provided by Patricia Herbert: It has been a great first semester for our Transition Program and our Colonial L.I.F.E. program.  Sixteen Students participated in 24 SLE's (Structured Learning Experiences) where they are learning valuable employment skills. These sites including Preparing food at Metlife Cafe, Whiton's Food Service, Verilli's Bakery or Tito's Burritos, Agriculture learning at Frelinghuysen Arboretum or Grow it Green, Honing clerical skills Metlife, several departments in the Morris County Courthouse or the Morristown High School Office as well as working in the fitness industry at Iron Culture or MHS Athletic Department. Beyer Ford hosts a student who is working on digital advertising and Century 21 is hosting a student who is learning all about retail. 

  • The Colonial L.I.F.E. adult program may be housed at Morristown High School but participants are always in the community!  All young adults are out working each morning and in the community most afternoons. They can be found shopping at Shoprite purchasing ingredients for their cooking units or at TD Bank attending to their accounts or at the Greater Morris YMCA staying fit and working out.  Community Based Instruction destinations this semester have included Yogi Berra Museum for a Character Ed lesson, Tour of Morristown Memorial Hospital, Numerous experiences on NJ Transit bus a rail system, A lesson at the Apple Store and more. Colonial L.I.F.E. partners with other adult programs in the area for joint social opportunities which allows students to make new acquaintances and form additional friendships.

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • Write up provided by Cynthia Chiariello: Unified Recess was launched at Woodland and Hillcrest Schools.  Our new Unified recess advisors report that as the students are getting stronger and healthier, they are also learning so much by trying new equipment, practicing good sportsmanship, taking turns, and having positive interactions with each other. The students love the new equipment that was funded through the Unified/Special Olympics grant! At Woodland, they nicknamed the activities "Roaring Recess" to go along with the school mascot, the wildcat. Some of the favorite games and activities are the hippity-hop balls and the 4 hoop basketball hoop.

  • Unified Swim capped off their season with an historical event in New Jersey.  The FIRST EVER Unified Swim meet was hosted on January 29, 2020 by the Morristown Unified Team, with Lakeland Unified Swim team visiting. Afterwards, pizza and refreshments were shared with the Lakeland team.  The event was well attended, with enthusiastic cheers and applause for every athlete. The team looks forward to hosting more events in the future. We are grateful to our athletic director, Smitty Horton, our coaches, Coach Weller, Coach Gelegonya, Coach Componile, Coach Sparano, for their excellent leadership and to our many extracurricular aides, and parents, and transportation department for their support of the Unified Swim Program.   

  • Click here for the Daily Record Article

  • January 31st is the first day of the Unified Bowling season.  The team will bowl at Rockaway Lanes, with Coach Sean McBride’s guidance. The meets are scheduled for February 28th and March 2nd. We look forward to reporting on their success!

 

• Updated Website

  • The district has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms as well as translating the information into multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on re-organizing the website to ensure that families have accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know who they should be contacting first.  We are looking for some feedback on our website (please see feedback section) and please take two/three minutes to complete the short survey.  

  • You can find our Pupil Services website by going to the district’s main page and we are located underneath the tab of Offices (please select Pupil Services or click the following link: Pupil Services Website

•  Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

• Special Education Toolkit

  • Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

•  Website Improvement

We would appreciate your feedback on our updated website.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Website Feedback Survey

Please click the link below to review the Special Education Middle School Transition Presentation that occurred on 1/15/2020

FMS Special Education Middle School Transition Presentation

Please click the link below to review the Special Education High School Transition Presentation that occurred on 1/22/2020

MHS Special Education High School Transition Presentation

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

7-9 pm

7:00-7:15:  Welcome (Marc/Melanie)

• Review previous meeting notes/decisions

7:15-7:45: Review current status of activities 

• Facebook and other communications channels

• Executive Committee contact sheet

• HSA Contacts 

• Events

7:45- 8:45: Event Planning

• March IEP event

• Executive Functioning event

8:45- 9:00: Next Steps

 

SEPAG Executive Board

Meeting

 

Thursday, January 23, 2020

7-9 pm

 

 

Draft Agenda

 

 

7:00-7:15:  Welcome and Introductions (Marc/Melanie)

 

Ø  Review previous meeting notes/decisions

                         

 

7:15-7:35: Drafting Descriptions of Executive Committee Roles/Responsibilities

 

Ø  President(s)

Ø  VP(s)

Ø  Secretary (ies)

Ø  Communication(s)

Ø  Events

Ø  Bi-lingual/Translation

Ø  At-Large

 

 

7:35- 8:00: Electing EC Members

 

2-year terms, with some people starting with 3 to allow for staggering so that there is continuity

 

 

8:00- 8:15: Goal Setting for AY2019-20 and 20-21

 

 

8:15- 9:00: Event and Task Planning for Remaining Calendar Year

 

Ø  Tasks to be assigned:

§  Designing Google docs for (1) parent/guardian input, (2) staff input

§  Setting up FB group

§  Setting up a SEPAG email address

§  Reaching out to HSA groups to identify liaisons

§  Event planning for IEP event

 

 

Thursday, January 9, 2020

7-9 pm

 

What is SEPAG?

A Special Education Parent Advisory Group, or SEPAG is a state-mandated, district-level, parent-driven group charged with providing input to the local school district on system-level challenges in special education and related services. The role of SEPAG is to engage parents, community leaders, and school district staff in collaborative teamwork to improve education, not just for those with disabilities, but for all children. SEPAGs insure that there is a forum for meaningful parent input to the local school district, with the opportunity for system-level change.

 

SEPAG Manual: https://www.state.nj.us/education/specialed/resources/SEPAGManual.pdf 

 

Agenda

 

7:00-7:15:  Welcome and Introductions (Marc/Melanie)

        Setting the Stage for a Strong SEPAG  - What SEPAG is/is not

 

7:15-7:30: Setting the Mission and Roles

 

See handout for sample missions; identify roles of Exec Committee, District, SEPAG as a whole

 

7:30- 8:00: Forming the Executive Committee (EC)

 

Discussion Questions:

• How should the EC be formed? Elections? Volunteer? Annually? Term limits?

• Who should be on the Exec Committee? Reps from each school/age?

• How many people should be on the EC?

• Should EC formally have parents AND district?  Some meetings of parents alone?

• How should the EC communicate internally?

• Formal roles and descriptions within the EC?: e.g. Pres/VP/Secretary/Comms/

• Drafting bylaws

 

8:00- 8:30: Setting up SEPAG Communication

 

• Facebook – private group (similar to school HSAs, with multiple parent administrators)

• District blasts through Swift

• Mechanism for raising issues (outside of meetings)

• Evolving Google doc with resources, processes 

 

8:30- 8:45: Setting Goals for Remaining Academic Year

 

• Identifying number and type of meetings for AY2019-20 (EC meetings, full SEPAG meetings (what type? listening meetings, featured speaker, district/topical presentations, etc.

 

8:45-9:00: Next Steps

• Introduction (3 minutes)

  • Director Marc Gold, Supervisor Pre-K-5 Danae Heywood and Supervisor 6-12 Rori Benson introduced themselves to the community and shared their backgrounds

  • Please refer to the Google Slides presentation slides 2-4 for more information

 

• Purpose of SEPAG (4 minutes) 

  • Marc Gold shared the purpose of how a SEPAG should function  

  • Please refer to the Google Slides presentation slides 5-8 for more information

 

• Interest in joining the executive SEPAG Committee (3 minutes)

  • Danae Heywood shared how the district is seeking families to join the district executive SEPAG committee that will develop future meetings with the district  

  • Please refer to the Google Slides presentation slides 9-10f or more information

  • Please click the link to fill out a Google Form to join our Executive SEPAG Committee

 

• Transition Presentations (3 minutes)

  • Rori Benson shared about transitional presentations that will happen for students attending FMS and MHS.

  • Please refer to the Google Slides presentation slides 11-15 for more information

  • We are seeking additional questions/topics to be discussed at these transition presentation.  Please click on the Google forms below to add to this discussion:

  • Middle School Google Form

  • High School Google Form

 

• Future Topics for Parent Meetings (2 minutes) 

  • Marc Gold shared with the audience that the department is seeking to gather interests about what type of topics should be discussed at future SEPAG meeting

 

• Focus Group Questions: (40 minutes)

  • Marc Gold described to the audience that they would break up into three groups and would respond to 4 focus group questions

  • Please see below the themes that were gathered from the focus groups

 

• Questions, Comments, Feedback (5 minutes)

  • Parent questions:

  • Q: How often will these meetings occur? 

  • A (Marc Gold): It will be dependent on the executive SEPAG committee.  Please note that an executive committee is not effective with 40 members coming to the table.  We will invite everyone who is interested in being involved in the executive committee to the first meeting and will figure out a diplomatic way of identifying an appropriate amount of committee members.  

  • Q: Will these meetings always be at night?

  • A (Marc Gold): These meetings will rotate from day time to night time as we would like to accommodate families that need to work at night and vice versa.  If you are not able to make one of the meetings, that is okay as minutes will be shared and there will be opportunities for feedback through online platforms.  

  • Parent Comment: We are envisioning this SEPAG being a parent-led group and we are really interested in getting an executive SEPAG committee up and running.  We see everyone being involved and an extension of the committee even if you formally do not have a seat at the executive committee table. Your voice will be heard as we are one large committee.  

Department of Pupil Services thanks everyone for coming and ends the meeting.  

Below are some of the themes that were identified during the focus groups.  These themes will be reviewed 

• Question Number 1: What are your hopes, dreams and goals for your child within the Morris School District?

  • Students are provided with enriched social skills 

  • Students are supported throughout their experience

  • Obtain the necessary skills to succeed in college and beyond

  • Students develop independence skills

  • To learn a hands-on trade and connect with an apprenticeship opportunity

  • To have a place to go where people have a genuine interest in my child’s well being

  • To be accepted for being twice exceptional

  • To be able to function without parent/adult supervision

  • To have more academic/technology experience

  • To be have more after school opportunities for social growth

  • To be less prompt-dependent and more able to function globally

  • To have more focus on daily living skills

 

• Question Number 2: How do you envision special education supports in the Morris School District?

  • Every child is getting what they need at their particular level

  • Holding students to appropriate high expectations (not setting the “bar” to low or high)

  • Make changes to the services/programs at the necessary times

  • Communication needs to be improved on all levels and communication needs to be clear

  • Providing parents with the menu of services, programs and supports that are available to them within the district

  • Preparing the students for the next level of classes/building

  • Small, structured environment that fosters independent thinking and problem solving skills

  • Nurtured Heart Approach (or a similar style) to implement positive behavior supports and build confidence for students who demonstrate challenging behaviors

  • Social Emotional Learning

  • Effective School Solutions

  • ALL IN is a great opportunity for all students to interact.  Encourage SNAP Ambassadors at FMS to go with their buddies.

  • To be truly “Least Restrictive” to allow students to succeed in the g. Ed

  • More support for parents

  • More information for parents

 

• Question Number 3: What are some important questions/information that we should address with families before they transition to Middle School and/or High School?

  • What are the supports/peer supports available at the next level?

  • For CABAS/MD students at FMS what does their programs look like at MHS?

  • What are the continuum of services that are provided at FMS and MHS?

  • What are the supports for students and families with regards to the technology requirements? 

  • What is the flowchart of who to contact within the building (FMS and MHS)?

  • What type of transitional support are available at each building?

  • How long should a parent expect their child (6th grader/Freshman) to take to be acclimated to the new building?

  • What is the procedure for setting up an observation of in-district and out-of-district special education programs?

  • Who do I contact for what?  Flow chart of who is who at each school and contact information?

  • What are the components of the transition skills class?

  • What are career pathway options and how will my child access those options?

  • Can we schedule an Open House to inform parents about special education programs?

  • Can we arrange for a parent buddy when my child is transitioning to FMS and MHS?

  • What are the class sizes?

  • Is there availability of transition aides?

  • Parents want a deeper understanding of special education supports, what types of supports are available?

  • What is the structure and functioning of the school? 

  • If you would like to add to this list, please click the appropriate link below:

    • Middle School Google Form

    • High School Google Form

       

• Question Number 4: What are some future topics and/or information session that we can provide to our Special Education families?

  • Plan summer ALL IN events

  • Crash course in parent options

  • The flow chart for parents when hitting a wall with the IEP process

    • Parent rights: what to do when at an impasse? 

  • IEP process and the rights of parents.  

 

Please click the following link to view the presentation from our SEPAG meeting on 11/21/19: MSD SEPAG Meeting Presentation

 

 

If you are interested in joining our executive SEPAG committee that will work with the district to develop future SEPAG meetings please click the Google Form below, so that you can be invited to a meeting.  At this meeting the committee will develop a diplomatic process of getting representation on the committee.  If you are interested, please complete this form by Thursday, December 5th.   

If you have any questions or concerns about the Executive SEPAG Committee and its purpose, please do not hesitate to contact the Director of Pupil Services, Marc Gold via email marc.gold@msdk12.net or by phone 973-292-2200 Ext 2040.  

Please click the link to fill out the Google Form if you are interesting in joining the Executive SEPAG Committee 

• 1st Marking Period Progress Report Window:

  • Elementary window: Progress to be mailed home on/or around 11/20 by case managers

  • Middle/High School: Will be published on Parent Portal on/or around 11/20

 

• 1st Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG) Meeting:

  • 11/21/19 at Morristown High School, Media Center/Library from 7-8pm.  Please see link for more information regarding this event. Looking forward to see you there.  A translator and childcare will be provided for the meeting.

    • English flyer

    • Spanish flyer

    • RSVP Sign Up Form (Both in English and Spanish)

 

• Transition Presentations:

  • These transition presentations will focus on the services, supports, programs, activities that will be available for your incoming 6th grader and 9th grader at each respective location.  

  • 1/15/20 at Frelinghuysen Middle School Auditorium from 6:30-8:00.  

    • A flyer will be sent out in December with more information.  Please save the date and time.  

  • 1/22/20 at Morristown High School Learning Commons from 6:30-8:00.  

    • A flyer will be sent out in December with more information.  Please save the date and time.

• ALL IN

  • ALL IN at the high school is going well this year. The attendance at the September and October lunch events are usually a little lighter than the rest of the year, but this year we saw an increase which is great.  All students are welcome to join an inclusive lunch setting which is located in classroom 102. We held our monthly board meeting last week to discuss the twice weekly lunch hang out now that the weather is getting colder.  We also discussed our November and December after school events and assigned committee duties. We are also working on identifying representatives of ALL IN to attend this year's Special Olympics Unified Champion School Youth Summit in December.  Our October event was Homecoming. In the past, students have only attended the game, but this year they wanted to attend the dance as well. (Write up provided by Stephanie Corona, Matthew O’Brien and Kaitlyn Brady)

 

• ENABLE

  • This fall, Morristown High School was extremely fortunate to once again partner with ENABLE for their transition program, via the DVR PRE-ETS grant. This is the second year that MHS has partnered with ENABLE. Over the past 6 weeks, 12 students (juniors and seniors) participated in the after school program at MHS. Topics covered included “soft skills” such as interview skills, workplace social skills, resume writing, and networking. Mrs. Ellen Blake and Ms. Karlene Chi, ENABLE employees, facilitated the after school program along with Dr. Kristen Rudiger, School Psychologist at MHS. Mrs. Blake and Ms. Chi successfully developed relationships with the MHS students in the program and learned about each student’s individual strengths and preferences. Mrs. Blake and Ms. Chi also developed meaningful relationships with community businesses, which resulted in business owners coming to MHS to speak with the students in the program. These individuals volunteered their time to tell their stories to our students, teach our students about networking, interviewing, and various career paths. Some of the most memorable connections were made when the business owners discussed their personal struggles and differing paths to success in the workplace. Students are currently being matched with internship placements at various job sites throughout the greater Morristown community, and will soon earn their first paychecks, and most importantly are building confidence in the workplace. (Write up provided by Dr. Kristen Rudiger)

 

• SNAP 

Kim Strasser writes: It has been an exciting and productive start of the school year and I am honored to be a part of a program that embraces inclusion, acceptance and kindness for all. 

Over the last several weeks, I have  met with the selected SNAP ambassadors from  Sussex Ave. School, Normandy Park School, Thomas Jefferson School and Alexander Hamilton School.  These meetings were done on 4 separate evenings from 6:30-8:00. Ambassadors practice their presentation and new leadership role, and parents experience what it feels like to have a disability when SNAP ambassadors take them through 4 stations that make everyday tasks challenging.  Everyone left the meeting feeling empowered to help out. I am happy to report that Sussex Ave. School and Normandy Park School have completed all the SNAP trainings for their 3rd grade classes. There was 100 percent attendance for all the ambassadors attending the sessions. They took their role seriously and were thorough in delivering impactful message of helping others, including everyone no matter what.  

During the October 25th School Spirit Day, 34 kids from Sussex Ave. School were  recognized with SNAP certificates, bracelets, t-shirts and bags for their kind and inclusive actions.   

The SNAP sports clinics have been going strong through the month of October.  With approximately 10 participants and 20 mentors per session, SNAP has provided friendship and a safe environment for kids with special needs to play sports with a friend from middle school or high school.   In addition, the "Peace for Parents" room has also been a hit, giving parents of special needs kids a much needed break, or the chance to collaborate with other parents while their child is engaged in exercise across the hallway with a mentor. (Write up provided by Kim Strasser)   

Please click here for some pictures from our SNAP events.  

SNAP Dates to look for: 

• Thomas Jefferson School SNAP training will be done by October 29th 
• Alexander Hamilton School's SNAP training will be done by November 15th

 

• Colonial L.I.F.E.

  • The Morris School District's Colonial L.I.F.E. (Learning Independence for Employment) Program for adult learners age 18-21 hit the ground running in September, led by teacher Scott Ronay!  Our adult learners participate each morning in a two hour Structured Learning Experience (SLE), hosted by Beyer Ford, Verilli's Bakery, Morris County Courthouse, Morris County Sheriff's Department, Iron Culture Gym, Lafayette Learning Center, Morristown High School Custodial Department and Morristown High School Athletic Department. While at their SLE, students are  learning job skills first hand, helping them to be successful in the workforce. The rest of the day our young adults can be found working on their health and physical fitness at the Morristown Greater YMCA as they implement their personal training plans developed with personal trainers at the Y. When not on SLEs or hitting the gym, students can be found in the classroom honing their functional life skills through meal prep, laundry, cleaning, planning for community trips and practicing work related skills.  

  • You may find these young adults out and about in Morristown where they participate in rich community based experiences. These experiences include banking, shopping, leisure activities and community service.  And of course they are learning the finer points of public transportation as they participate in travel training utilizing NJ Transit travel system. Coming up, The Colonial L.I.F.E. participants are looking forward to joining other young adults from local 18-21 programs for scheduled social events like Friendsgiving, a Holiday Social and a meet up at the mall. (Click here for pictures) (Write up provided by Patricia Herbert)

 

• Unified Sports at MHS

  • We are off to a good start! 14 students have signed up for Unified Swim and 11 are approved and participating in the developmental clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays (click here for pictures).Special Olympics provided support and resources for the respect week at Hillcrest.  Unified sports will be attending a field trip to the Unified Youth Summit at College of St. Elizabeth. (Write up provided by Cynthia Chiariello)

 

• Updated Website

  • The district has invested in revamping our district website to make it more accessible on all digital platforms as well as translating the information into multiple languages.  The Department of Pupil Services has worked on re-organizing the website to ensure that families have accurate information as well as accessible contact information to ensure they know who they should be contacting first.  We are looking for some feedback on our website (please see feedback section) and please take two/three minutes to complete the short survey.  

  • You can find our Pupil Services website by going to the district’s main page and we are located underneath the tab of Offices (please select Pupil Services or click the following link: Pupil Services Website

•  Instructions on how to view your child’s IEP Progress Report online

  • IEP Progress Report Instructions 

  • Instrucciones del informe de progreso del IEP

Special Education Toolkit

• Resources

• Parent Rights in Special Education (PRISE) in English

  • PRISE

• Los Derechos de los Padres en la Educación Especial en Espanol 

  • PRISE en Espanol

• Website Improvement

We would appreciate your feedback on our updated website.  Please take a moment and fill out this short survey to provide us with feedback regarding our website.  Website Feedback Survey