Greetings from Westervelt Hall!

Dear RSD Families,

Happy New Year! I love how January always brings a sense of reflection and hope for what is to come. Welcoming a new year causes many of us to feel renewed and re-energized about the changes we can make, since there is always room for improvement.

As we start the new year, I am grateful for the progress we have made, and I am looking forward to achieving more of our goals. We have increased our communication with families, made progress towards several of our Strategic Plan items, and we are well on our way to establishing a new ELA curriculum in the Elementary school. We are continuing to provide training for teachers in reading curriculum and approaches, instructional planning and assessments, IEP writing, social-emotional learning, and behavior management. I hope that you will talk with your child’s teachers about our current work and the positive impact on student learning. No matter what we are working on at RSD, its success is always measured in student learning outcomes and a positive school climate!

We have wanted to provide more information regarding healthy relationships and sexual health to our families and our students because it is a critical component in a child’s development and overall well-being. We also recognize that it can be difficult for parents and guardians to know how to talk with their children about this important topic. I am thrilled to let you know that we have established a partnership with jooux, Deaf Sexual Wellness Center, that will begin next month. Bee Gehman, the CEO/Founder of Jooux, will be at RSD on February 1 and 2. She will meet our students, present to our staff, and work with specific teachers. Additional information will be sent to families regarding which classes will work with Bee this spring. On February 1, from 6:30-7:30 pm, Bee will present to our families. The presentation will be in the Auditorium, or families can attend on Zoom. Please consider attending this event to learn how all of us can better support our students.

I hope that your start to the new year has been a good one! Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

With kind regards,

Susan

Susan Q. Ogden, Principal

Announcements

Welcome Sascha Gutierrez

We are pleased to introduce Sascha Gutierrez, the new secretary for the middle and high schools. Sascha joins Karen Segala in providing professional support to families and staff to keep things running smoothly in Westervelt Hall. Karen will continue to manage attendance for all students. Sascha will be the contact person for middle and high school families on other issues. She will coordinate our academic probation system and help with planning events for middle and high school students, including graduation and awards ceremonies. She will also help with scheduling and managing transcripts.

Sascha is trilingual in English, Spanish, and ASL and loves baking. She grew up in New York City and just moved to Rochester from Pennsylvania. She is excited to join the RSD community. Her cousin is middle school teacher Keith Bonilla.

She can be reached at sgutierrez@rsdeaf.org or 585-336-5827 (voice).

Newsletter Archive

To access past issues of this newsletter and to see what's happening at the ECC, check out our Newsletter Archive on the RSD Website.

Parent-Staff Association Meetings

The RSD Parent-Staff Association (PSA) will meet on the following Mondays from 7:30 to 8:30 pm in the Learning Resource Center (LRC): January 23, February 13, March 20, April 10, May 8, and June 12. Meetings may also be attended by Zoom; the link is shared via email with families. An interpreter will be provided.

Official Facebook Page for RSD Athletics

You can now follow RSD Athletics on Facebook. You can watch live streams there as well as more. Let's go, Wildcats!

Rudy's Adventure

Many thanks to our elementary students for the holiday play "Rudy's Adventure", as well as our guest director Shannon Ogden and the many teachers and staff who helped to bring this adventure to life for our community. This journey highlighted the different winter holidays that are celebrated in our community and around the world.

Special thanks to the Parent-Staff Association for the cookies!

News & Notes

The I-90 Classic

The I-90 Classic, an annual match between RSD and St. Mary's School for the Deaf, games on December 21 were terrific, and all teams performed well. On the same day, three basketball games were played - Middle School, Girls, and Boys Varsity teams. It was a welcome sight to see a lot of familiar faces there as well as some new ones.

Congratulations to Arwyn and Lilly on their Nutcracker performances

RSD elementary students and "dancing queens" Arwyn and Lilly joined the Rochester City Ballet and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for six performances of the Nutcracker in November. Way to go!

See News10NBC story

Workshop Description

Honest, accurate information about sexuality – particularly from parents and caregivers – is the first step toward raising healthy children who make responsible decisions about their

sexuality. Understanding when and how to discuss sexual health can be a daunting task for parents/caregivers. Developing healthy sexuality is a key developmental milestone for all children and adolescents that depends on acquiring information and forming attitudes,

beliefs, and values about consent, sexual orientation, gender identity, relationships, and

intimacy. This workshop will cover the importance of teaching children/ adolescents about

sexuality & healthy relationships and how to teach the key concepts of privacy, consent, and boundaries. Strategies for communication are discussed to help parents gain confidence in discussing sexuality with their children.

In this workshop, you will have an opportunity to learn more about jooux's workshops for RSD students. Bee will answer any of your questions regarding the student workshops jooux is providing at Rochester School for the Deaf.