Sharing best practices and promoting inclusive opportunities for students with special needs
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Executive Director's
Message
Dear LABBB Colleagues and Families,
As I write this, we are in the midst of a summer whose weather has been less than desirable for those of us that enjoy sunshine and warmth ( not downpours or oppressive heat) and despite the calendar showing August 1, Target has all the back to school gear out! I am always excited to kick off another school year - for me, it’s the happiest of New Years! This quote from Dana Perino, resonated with me, “It’s one of my favorite seasons of the year: Back to school.” Albeit, it seems early to be thinking about the next year, it is only the beginning of August after all. While I love the return to school, establishing routines and learning new environments can have big emotions tied to it! Recognizing our emotions and developing systems to support ourselves and our students is important; a possible resource Young Minds.
We look forward to welcoming back our students, colleagues, friends, and families on September 5th for our students’ first day of school.
A few need -to -knows:
Our nursing department and administration continue to closely monitor the guidance from DESE and the plans put in place by our member districts, as well as the latest protocols from the CDC and Department of Public Health (DPH). We will update you with any changes as they occur. Please make sure that your child’s health records are up to date and on file with our nursing staff.
PLEASE ensure that they are completed and RETURNED BY August 30, 2023.
Watertown is joining LABBB as a member district. We are very excited about this new partnership! We will be working with Watertown to support programming and experiences for our secondary students developing career, vocational and technical education opportunities.
LABBB Evening Parent Meetings will continue on the same evenings as our monthly dances (Thursday evenings). This allows parents of middle and high school students to drop off their daughter or son at the Lexington Community Center (39 Marrett Rd., Lexington, MA) then attend the meetings upstairs. We also encourage our parents of elementary school students to attend the parent nights. These informative meetings provide time to discuss and learn about a variety of topics related to programming, special needs planning, recreation, transition, post -22 planning, supplemental security income (SSI), financial planning and many other important topics. Keep your eyes open for a survey regarding parent night topics that are of interest to you. We want to hear from you!
Parent meetings for 2023-2024 will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. on the following dates:
October 26, 2023
November 16, 2023
December 7, 2023
January 18, 2024
February 1, 2024
March 7, 2024
April 25, 2024 (Annual Transition Fair Speaker Series)
May 30, 2024
We look forward to seeing you!
Please do not hesitate to contact me directly at pgirouard@labbb.net with any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Pam Girouard
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Summer Fun at Fox Hill!
By: Jeanne Micalizzi
This summer, the students at Fox Hill have had a lot of fun going on a variety of field trips. These field trips have included trips to Kimstead Farm, the Museum of Science, and Nahant Beach. These trips have given the students opportunities to generalize the social skills they have been learning in the community.
At Kimstead Farm, students got to see and pet goats, feed koi fish, pick raspberries, and go for a ride on the Gator. Students enjoyed walking around and exploring the farm!
At the Museum of Science, students got to see a lot of different science exhibits. They especially enjoyed seeing the different animal exhibits including the fish and birds.
At Nahant Beach, students enjoyed swimming and playing in the sand. We had a lot of fun jumping over the waves!
All the students at Fox Hill had a great summer!
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Summer Reading
By: Katrina Wright
Summer is a wonderful time for reading and as always, teachers encourage students to read all year round. Families are encouraged to help students develop a lifelong love of reading by establishing a reading routine. The most important thing is to read anything and everything!
The Importance of Successful Reading Experiences (from the National Education Association):
A successful reading experience, which may include voluntary, self-selected, and high-interest books, can help develop reading proficiency. Providing high-interest reading material and reading opportunities is an especially important aspect of increasing reading proficiency among lower-income students (McGaha, 2012). Additionally, research suggests students should practice reading at home with family members and use comprehension strategies during independent, silent reading. This is an effective strategy for improving reading achievement among lower performing students (Kim, 2006). Participating in summer reading activities can result in improved reading skills, motivation, confidence, and enjoyment (Roman, Carran & Fiore, 2010).
Parents can Establish a Love for Reading by:
*Create a reading environment in your home.
*Model reading - let your children see how much you enjoy reading!
*Read aloud!
*Read or listen to a book as a family.
*Ask questions while you read.
*Identify the setting,characters, problems and solutions.
*Look at pictures and discuss vocabulary terms.
*Play reading games.
*Take turns reading.
*Discuss characters' feelings.
*Identify the theme.
*Establish a reading time and routine.
*Visit your local library regularly.
Have a wonderful August and happy reading!
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LABBB Adapted Physical Education, Recreation and Social Opportunities
Summer Fun
By: APE Staff
What a fantastic July it's been! First of all, we would like to thank all the staff and students from LHS Rooms 821 and 825 that stepped up to help with the Wednesday car washes. Our students did such a great job that word spread fast around town, and the line of cars got longer every week—lots of repeat customers, including the entire fleet of Lexington PD cars and trucks.
We also swam at the Lexington outdoor pool and the Underwood pool in Belmont. We had 40 students attempt and pass the swim test to use the diving boards. We had great summer weather and the students enjoyed swimming and diving with their peers and summer staff.
Thank you to Jack James for helping get the talent show up and running again. Our students and a few staff displayed their amazing and unique talents for almost two hours! We had singers, musicians, a few stand up comedians, and dance routines. We will definitely be doing a talent show again next Summer!
We were so thrilled to be able to provide some fun and entertainment on Fridays! Thank you to our resident DJ, Conor O’Leary, for providing the music.
We hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer and we will see you in September!
Remember to follow @LABBBREC on Twitter
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LABBB Parent Resources
Interested in fitness or arts programs for your child? Check out these resources.
Many families ask for ways to help their children be active and healthy at home. One family recently shared a program that they found for their son. It is called Inclusive Fitness and it is a program that helps to create healthy lifestyles for neurodiverse people, their families and communities. For more information, you can check out their website at https://inclusivefitness.com/.
This information is offered as community resources that may be of interest to our families. LABBB does not have any specific affiliations to these programs.
Greater Massachusetts Special Needs Events
Family Support Center Directory by Town
Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress
20 Burlington Mall Road, Suite 261
Burlington, MA 01803
781-221-0024
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Families with MassHealth Need to Renew Coverage:
Families with MassHealth need to renew their coverage this year in order to maintain coverage. Coverage protections put in place during the pandemic will end soon, and MassHealth will return to standard annual eligibility renewal processes. Please help inform MassHealth families that they need to take the following steps:
- Update contact information – make sure MassHealth has their most up-to-date address, phone number, and email so that they do not miss important information and notices about what else is needed.
- Report household changes to make sure MassHealth knows about any changes in their household, like a new job, address, changes to income, disability status, or pregnancy.
MassHealth Eligibility Redeterminations Information
Merrimack Valley Disability Transition Fair: Virtual Event with the Lawrence Public Schools. https://bit.ly/3Mo8Lmq
• Visual Impairment “Early Connections” Conference: w/ Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown https://bit.ly/41mrOCJ
• The Inevitable Aging Process for Special-Needs Caregivers & Their Loved Ones: Webinar with the MinuteMan Arc https://bit.ly/3KqQkvX
• Higher Education for Those with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities in Massachusetts https://bit.ly/3KjDzCd
Special Needs Art Programs Inc.
Registration for the Fall 2023 through Summer 2024 program year will
begin on August 1st. SNAP will have a new registration platform for
signing up singers and artists. This new platform will offer many more
features to make the sign-up process more efficient and let you check
on payments and registrations easily!
Registration is on a first come, first serve basis and enrollment is
limited. Please register early to secure your spot.
Riverside Family Support
Extra Steps Launches Innovative Programs
Wilderness skill building can be a thrilling and empowering adventure for school age kids. A new program called Kids in the Wild is being offered through Extra Steps Pediatric Therapies. The first session will take place on December 10th in Sudbury for children ages 7-12.
Additionally, Extra Steps is offering Caregiver Workshops to help families build connections with one another and promote skill development in their loved one. An example is a workshop held on Nov. 2nd that focused on holiday stress.
For more information, contact Director Sherry Kenin.
Asperger/Autism Network (AANE) provides individuals, families and professionals with information, education. Community, support and advocacy is offering free community connection sessions .Our.Free Online Community Connection Sessions are single-session discussion groups and a great way to meet our staff and connect with the community for the first time. All times listed are in the Eastern Time Zone. Please click the date for more info and to register.
Housing Navigator Massachusetts
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Discovery Museum Announces 2023 Series of Free Events for Families of Children with Disabilities
Discovery Museum is ADA-compliant and all exhibits are accessible, designed according to Universal Design principles to be both aesthetically pleasing and useable by the widest possible range of people, without regard to age or ability.
Special resources are available to families including noise-reducing headphones, a sensory guide to the Museum, sensory-based programming, and American Sign Language (ASL) language facilitators at some events. Additionally, dinner, including a gluten-free option, is provided at all evening events.
All Especially for Me events are free to attend for all family members, but preregistration is required. Dates and registration links can be found online at http://bit.ly/EspeciallyforMe.
2023 Event Schedule
Sensory-Friendly Afternoons (open to the public, but no group visits are scheduled):
Tuesdays 1:30 to 4:30pm | August 1, October 3, November 7, December 5
Evenings for Families with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, & KODA Children (closed to the public):
Saturdays 5:00 to 8:00pm |
Autism-Friendly Evenings (closed to the public):
Saturdays 5:00 to 8:00pm | September 16, October 21, December 16
All-Access Evenings (closed to the public):
Saturdays 5:00 to 8:00pm | November 18
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A LABBB PODCAST
Patric Barbieri, Hosts a Podcast talking about special needs planning and resources related to our community
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In episode #22 we talk about our journey in building a mindful culture in LABBB. It is one of our core values that is posted throughout our collaborative. There is a significant difference between just talking about these practices and actually doing them. We made a commitment to offering mindful practices for all students in all our classrooms every single day. We also believe for us to be successful we need to offer and teach this to our staff as well. We are a community practicing together and this is the only way to get the true benefits. We have been fortunate to have many staff persons who have a myriad of unique mind-body skills to bring into our environments for both students and staff.
This initiative started organically back in the early '90s. We realized that these practices have a significant impact on managing the pervasive anxiety symptoms that people are feeling. Our mission was to bring these practices directly into our schools and for staff and students to know they have permission to practice at any time. When one individual is practicing it is benefiting their entire community!
Rayne Pratt and Lisa Poirier, LABBB Occupational therapists, join me in this podcast. They are members of our LABBB Mind/Body team and they are also the creators and facilitators of our all-day staff retreat that we offer.
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LABBB Collaborative
123 Cambridge Street, Burlington MA. 01803| LABBB.com
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