SPAN Parent Leadership E-News
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Dear Parent Leaders,
Our newsletter is designed to empower, engage, and support individuals like you who passionately represent the needs and perspectives of all parents. Parent leaders become role models for family engagement, advocating not only on behalf of their own children, but for ALL children!
~ START-Engaging Parents of Students with Disabilities in Schools (START-EPSD) Project Team
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Upcoming Networking Meetings
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START-EPSD Project invites parent leaders, advocates, school professionals, local agency representatives, and community members to participate in the upcoming networking meetings.
These networking meetings encourage mutual learning and information sharing to expand connections as well as to enhance skills and knowledge of parents, school staff, and community partners to work together to improve outcomes for all children, and particularly for children with disabilities.
Strategies for starting and developing effective Special Education Parent Advisory Groups (SEPAGs) and other advocacy groups will be discussed.
Atlantic County
Date:
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Time:
6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Location:
Solid Rock Pentecostal Church, 1140 Ocean Heights Ave.,
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Camden County
Date:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Time:
6:30 PM-8:00 PM
Location:
Lindenwold High School, 801 Egg Harbor Road,
Lindenwold, NJ 08021
Gloucester County
Date:
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Time:
6:30 PM-8:00 PM
Location:
Clayton HS, Media Center,
55 Pop Kramer Boulevard,
Clayton, NJ, 08312
Middlesex County
Date:
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Time:
6:30 PM-8:00 PM
Location:
Old Bridge Public Library, 1 Old Bridge Plaza,
Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Monmouth County
Date:
Monday, March 9, 2020
Time:
6:30 PM-8:00 PM
Location:
Raritan High School, 419 Middle Road,
Hazlet, NJ 07730
Ocean County
Date:
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Time:
6:00 PM-8:00 PM
Location:
Central Regional High School- media center presentation room
509 Forest Hills Pkwy, Bayville, NJ 08721
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NEW TOOL for Your Leadership Toolbox
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Quick Guide "How Can SEPAGs Build Diverse Family Engagement?"
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Even with the best of intentions, it may be difficult to get and keep a core group of parents engaged in the Special Education Parent Advisory Groups, or SEPAGs. It’s even harder to do in the diverse school districts in which there are language and cultural differences that may further impact parent involvement in the SEPAG. Follow these strategies and tips to increase your culturally responsive practices in your school district when it comes to engaging diverse families on SEPAGs.
*All Quick Guides are available in English and Spanish. Download them ALL:
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Cherry Hill: Making It Work
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By most standards, Cherry Hill is a very large school district. With 19 schools in the district, in addition to students in out-of-district placements, issues of compliance and meeting the needs of district parents can be challenging. Once Ms. Weathington, the Director of Special Education, became aware that the district needed to have a
state-mandated Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG)
, she reached out to one of the Parent Group Specialists on the
START-Engaging Parents of Students with Disabilities in Schools (START-EPSD) Project
of the SPAN Parent Advocacy network to help her get a district SEPAG up and running. [
New Jersey Administrative Code 6A: 14-1.2(h)
, mandates that "
Each board of education shall ensure that a special education parent advisory group is in place in the district to provide input to the district on issues concerning students with disabilities
."]
Ms. Weathington began by sending request for
letters of interest
to district parents of children receiving special services. Of the parents who responded, twenty were invited to the
initial SEPAG meeting
, one parent from each school in the district and one parent representing parents of students in out-of-district placements. In addition to the district parents, the initial meeting included the Director of Special Education, all four special education supervisors and the 504-coordinator, as well as the START-EPSD Project Parent Group Specialist. The group began by
identifying the positive things
about the district as well as some of the
challenges
for children, and families of children receiving special education services. Over the next several meetings, the SEPAG, using the generated list, began to
identify priorities
and to
create
a vision and a mission statement
. The list also helped to
inform meeting agendas
, and to
define the group’s goals
.
Creating the
vision and mission statement
was an important step
in forming a solid foundation for the group. This foundation was formed over the course of the school year. Before a group can begin to take any action or to give any input to the Board of Education, it is important that they have
established themselves as an existing, sustainable group
. In Cherry Hill, this was accomplished using several tools available through the START-EPSD Project, including
Serving on Groups
,
Leading by Convening
, and
Creating Collaborative Action Teams
.
Once the vision and mission statements were created, they were posted on the
SEPAG page of the district website
where any district
parent is able to access information about the group
, including
the names and contact information for parent representatives from each school
. The SEPAG page also lists the
“Three Key Takeaways” from each meeting
and possible topics for upcoming meetings. The Cherry Hill School district website is one way that the SEPAG uses available
technology to connect
with all parents in the district to keep them abreast of
group accomplishments
.
There is another very important way that the Cherry Hill SEPAG takes advantage of technology. One challenge that the group has faced and continues to address is
establishing a consistent meeting schedule
. It is important for a group, especially a new group, to meet on a regular basis in order to
maintain momentum
and
strengthen the relationships
between group members. In a SEPAG or any type of volunteer organization where all or most of the members also have full-time jobs, this can be very difficult. The Cherry Hill SEPAG has had
success
in this area by
meeting online
using platforms such as
Zoom
,
Webex
or
FreeConferenceCall
(audio only). These online meeting platforms provide an economical way (each of these has a free version) for members to more easily accommodate the group by allowing parents to participate in a SEPAG meeting from home or soccer practice or wherever a busy schedule finds them.
Every district has its challenges when it comes to finding ways for parents and schools to work together. This is certainly true for a district as large and diverse as Cherry Hill Public Schools. The Cherry Hill SEPAG is proving, however, that when both sides are
motivated
, and
truly understand and appreciate
the
importance, and benefits of parent/school partnerships
, then they will
find a way to make it work…for everyone.
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From a SEPAG Leader to a BOE Member:
Two Parent Leaders Share Their Stories
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A
parent leader is committed
to creating a more supportive community and school environment for all children. When a parent decides to take on a
leadership role
in their Special Education Parent Advisory Group (SEPAG), they are
providing direct input to their school
district about policies, programs, practices, and services that have an impact on students with disabilities and their families. Through their leadership, an effective SEPAG leader can
increase the proactive involvement of families
by inviting input that can be used to shape local special education policy.
In the last few years, we have seen parents
make the leap
from a SEPAG leader to a Board of Education (BOE) member. Many of these SEPAG leaders decide that they want to take their leadership skills to a level that will
have a broader impact on the children
in their school district. This past November, two parents from Monmouth County ran for the BOE and won their election.
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Patricia Olsen
, a Keyport parent and Co-Leader of the
Keyport SEPAG
, knew she wanted to
expand her role
in the district:
“Having a typical child and a special needs child, I had two very different experiences within our school district. Our typical son did not attend our high school, while our special needs son temporarily did and faced many challenges once he reached high school. My husband was a graduate from our district and the stigma unfortunately is still the same. I knew I wanted to be a part of the change and one way to do that was to become a part of the BOE.”
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Heather Elm
, a Hazlet parent and Co-Leader of the
Hazlet SEPAG
, has been active in the school district since 2010 and felt running for the BOE this year was
the right time
for her: “
I decided to pursue membership on our Board of Education because it felt like a natural progression to continue volunteering on a broader scope, not just advocating on behalf of the Special Education community, but advocating on behalf of the entire educational community, to help ensure that both our students and our teachers will continue to have access to the necessary resources and support in our schools, and in our classrooms, to foster the comprehensive and continuous development of our students, our teachers, and our entire school community.”
Patricia and Heather are hopeful that their
experience
working collaboratively
with the school district in their SEPAG roles has prepared them to
become effective BOE members
. Both Patricia and Heather will continue to be active members of their SEPAGs as new parents have stepped into the leadership team. In early January 2020, Patricia and Heather were sworn in as official BOE members, and
we wish them all the best!
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SURVEY: "How Can SEPAGs Use Technology to Strengthen Family Engagement?"
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The increased use of technology by families in their everyday lives creates a new opportunity for Special Education Parent Advisory Groups (SEPAGs) to use a variety of digital tools to outreach to, gather input from, and engage with more families of children receiving special education and related services. Effective use of technology can strengthen family engagement in special education as well as SEPAG’s impact.
Please respond to the five-question survey to share digital tools and resources your SEPAG uses. Provide a link to your SEPAG’s tools if available.
***
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Can't Make it to an in-person training session?
No problem! Browse our
Video & Webinar Archive
for information on special and general education, health advocacy, parent leadership, public policy, and much more.
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Positive School Climate Lunchtime Webinar
#InclusionMeansAll
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Date:
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Time:
12 Noon - 1 PM
Join us for a lunchtime webinar where we will:
- Discuss how school climate can impact Inclusive opportunities in your school
- Learn how a positive school climate can create positive outcomes for ALL students
- Share resources and information about our upcoming hands-on interactive 2-part Inclusion workshop series.
To register by phone or for more information, contact Brenda L. Figueroa, Inclusion Project Coordinator, by phone (862) 295-2484 or email
bfigueroa@spanadvocacy.org
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SPAN Parent Advocacy Network -
Our Vision
is that all families will have the resources and support they need to ensure that their children become fully participating and contributing members of our communities and society.
Our Mission i
s to empower and support families and inform and involve professionals interested in the healthy development and education of children and youth. Our foremost commitment is to children and families with the greatest need due to disability or special health/mental health needs; poverty; discrimination based on race, sex, language, immigrant or homeless status; involvement in the foster care, child welfare, or juvenile justice systems; geographic location; or other special circumstances.
Our Motto
is, "Empowered Parents: Educated, Engaged, Effective!"
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SPAN Parent Advocacy Network | 35 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ | 1-800-654-SPAN
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