SEPTA of Oldham County KY

SEPTA September Meeting

septaadmin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:39:06 +0000

Title: Septa Open House

Location: South Oldham High School Cafeteria

Description: Join us for our first meeting of the school year where you can meet ECS staff, SEPTA board members and other parents of children with special needs. Learn more about upcoming SEPTA programs. Hear what our teachers and staff members are learning in our Professional Development Update. We will provide contact information for ECS and SEPTA as well as a helpful handout about Special Education acronyms. You will have a chance to ask questions and network with parents and staff who understand the journey you are on. We will also have a short general meeting to approve our budget.
Start Time: 07:00 PM
Date: 2010-09-14

Welcome Back To School!

septaadmin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:14:38 +0000

Hello from SEPTA and welcome back to school! We hope you had a wonderful start to the 2010-2011 school year! Our first meeting is coming up soon. Please see the Next Meeting description for details. If you were a member last year, it is time to renew your membership for this new year. If you want to join SEPTA for the first time, it is time to do that too. You can download a membership form from here and mail it in or bring it to the first meeting. Hope to see you all there.

Senate Hearing on ESEA Reauthorization

septaadmin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 11:01:44 +0000

Family Engagement a Focus of Senate Hearing on ESEA Reauthorization

Family engagement was a major focus of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee at the April 22 roundtable hearing on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the committee, hopes to bring the bill, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, to the Senate floor this summer for full consideration.
Until the April 22 hearing, the Senate ESEA hearings have focused on the Administration’s core education reform areas such as school turnarounds and teachers and leaders. Harkin opened the Meeting the Needs of the Whole Student hearing by saying, “Research proves that students learn best when their academic, emotional, physical and social needs are all met… I believe it is essential that we support every aspect of the development of our students to maximize their chances at success.”
Ten panelists, including Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, spoke briefly about their programs and research before getting into a discussion with Senators on the issue. The panel also included Karen Pittman, President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment, and Anne Henderson, Senior Consultant on Community Organizing and Engagement at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
Henderson, a leading researcher in the field of family engagement, focused on the evidence and need for engaging parents to raise student achievement and improve struggling schools. Henderson’s testimony can be downloaded on the Senate HELP Committee website.
Henderson stated, “I am here to quell forever the misconception that family engagement is something soft or squishy with no hard data to back it up. I have been tracking the research for over 30 years and I can assure everybody in the room that engaging families raises student achievement, lowers the dropout rate, and it will help close our achievement gap.”
Henderson also described the urgent need to move beyond “random acts” of family engagement and compliance monitoring to provide incentives for schools and districts to implement meaningful research-based approaches that improve academic achievement—such as parent leadership academies and professional development for educators on how to partner with parents. Henderson also emphasized the critical role of the Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) in building the capacity of school, districts, and states to engage parents and urged Congress to strengthen and safeguard the program through reauthorization. “If families are not at the table,” she warned, “the whole child will be left behind.”
Henderson also pointed out that National PTA has developed research-based standards for parent engagement, which have been codified into law in several states to provide a clear picture of what effective family engagement looks like and build parent engagement into school improvement strategies.
Pittman also stressed the importance of supporting parents as partners, rather than recipients of services. “Their commitment and expertise has earned them a seat at the planning table,” she stated.
During the question and answer period following the panel’s statements, the discussion around parent engagement continued. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), emphasized that is critical to involve parents beginning at birth in order to support the development of the whole child.
Resources Full Committee Hearing – ESEA Reauthorization: Meeting the Needs of the Whole Student PTA National Standards Implementation Guide

SEPTA August Meeting

septaadmin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:07:42 +0000

Title: SEPTA August Meeting
Location: TBD
Description: SEPTA August Meeting
Start Time: 07L00
Date: 2010-08-10

KDE and DECS Survey

septaadmin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:37 +0000

Attention Parents!

If your child receives special education services, you can help the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Exceptional Children Services (KDE/DECS) improve parent involvement in your schools by completing a short survey. Data from the survey will be collected and analyzed by the Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky (HDI/UK). HDI/UK will then consult with KDE/DECS about improving services to parents with disabilities by identifying and targeting specific training, services and programs. A random sample of parents will receive the survey by mail, and parents also may complete the survey online by visiting this address: http://tinyurl.com/KYParent

May SEPTA Meeting

septaadmin — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:16:05 +0000

Title: May SEPTA Meeting
Location: Buckner Elementary School
Description: In February, our SEPTA meeting was cancelled due to snow. We had many people ask if we could reschedule the topic, Addressing Challenging Behavior. We are pleased to announce that we will offer it again at our May meeting. Here is the info about the workshop.
Many parents (and teachers) will find themselves struggling at times, to understand a child’s challenging behaviors! It’s not for lack of trying, it’s because you haven’t been given all the tools you need! If you are interested in learning new skills and strategies for addressing challenging behavior and minimizing meltdowns plan to attend a workshop given by G. Richmond Mancil, Ph.D. of the KY Autism Training Center. Everyone is welcome, your child does not have to be on the autism spectrum to benefit from this workshop!
We will have a short business meeting before the workshop to amend our bylaws to add two new Vice President position’s to our Board of Directors and vote those officers in. We will also have a SEPTA Celebration slide show, so if you have any photographs of your children, teachers, therapists, etc. (from this past year) that you would like to include, please email them with the person’s name and school to septainfo@septaofoldhamcounty.org or fill out the online form located here before May 5th. At the conclusion of our program, we will tour the new Snoozelin sensory room at Buckner Elementary and look at additions to their playground!!!

Start Time: 07:00 PM
Date: 2010-05-11

SEPTA Nomination Form for Educators

septaadmin — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:37:57 +0000

SEPTA wil be recognizing outstanding educators through a certificate of appreciation. Only SEPTA members may nominate educators for this honor. Educators must be professionals who work with children ages preschool through 12th grade. SEPTA members may nominate more than one educator. Nominations are due by May 7th so fill out one of the nomination forms today and mail it to SEPTA.
You can download the nomination form from these links.

Click here for pdf or Click here for word doc.

SEPTA Celebration Slide Show

septaadmin — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:18:46 +0000

For the May 11th SEPTA meeting we will be having an end of the year celebration slide show.

If you have any photographs of your children, teachers, or therapists (from this past year) that you would like to include in our first SEPTA slide show, please email them with the person’s name and school before May 5th.

Click here to submit photos.

Thank you for being part of SEPTA.

April 2010 Newsletter

septaadmin — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:45:08 +0000

The April 2010 edition of The SEPTA SCENE newsletter is now available for download. Click here to download newsletter. It was sent out earlier to our members but is now available for download. Check it out now!

April SEPTA Meeting

septaadmin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:44:28 +0000

Title: April SEPTA Meeting
Location: Centerfield Elementary
Topic: Sensory Strategies at Home
Presenter: Rada Walker, Occupational Therapist

Description: Rada will discuss easy sensory strategies to use with your child at home to either calm or stimulate your child when needed. Rada will discuss ways to help your child with things that are easily accessible at home as well as demonstrate some tools that are used by the therapists at school. Rada will also give an “Info-mercial” about the Snoozelin Room that is being created with all kinds of wonderful sensory items at Buckner Elementary per WHAS grant money. SEPTA members will have the opportunity to experience the room at the end of the May meeting. We will elect our officers for the 2010-2011 school year at this meeting and you will have an opportunity to let us know what type of programs you would like to have next year. We also want your input on what SEPTA did well this year and what we can improve on!
Start Time: 07:00PM
Date: 2010-04-13