Important AHA Info

Though the information below was disseminated to families through our Social Workers several weeks ago - thanks team! - we may have families or individuals who missed the information.  Just in case, please see the message below from the Atlanta Housing Authority.  I can't think of a better new year's gift than one of housing for a family or individual in need.   

"The Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) is pleased to announce that it's Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) - also known as Section 8 - waiting list will open Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 9:00 am and end Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 5:00 pm.  AHA is opening its HCVP Waiting List in an effort to serve more eligible families, as well as the elderly and individuals with a qualifying disability. 

When the waiting list opens January 6, those who submit an online application will NOT automatically become part of the waiting list.  Instead, a computerized, random selection process will select 10,000 registrants to establish the official waiting list.

Pre-applications will be taken online at www.atlantahousing.org."

For those who need assistance with the online process or more information please contact the AHA Waiting List Hotline at 1-800-603-9291.

Wrapping it up

There has been much first semester wrap up during this week before break.  Many good things to share, including the work our department has been doing around Positive Behavior Supports.  It's been very exciting work over the last few months as we planned, retreated, and put into motion our framework of supports for kids and families.  Special Education, Intervention & Support, as well as Discipline & Student Relations have pulled together as a cross-functional team to think through what we currently have in place, what our needs are, who we work with and who we should work with, and where we need to go based on the data and best practice research. We've got some solid supports happening already at schools - such as PBIS Cohort I schools, RTI/SST processes, new evaluation timeline procedures, cross trainings in varied departments, and more - but are also looking ahead to 15-16 and beyond.  Great teaming all the way around.  A productive first semester and more to be shared as we move into those second semester months.

I received the following good news note about Beecher Hills Elementary School from Nicole Spiller, Director of Intervention and Support.  According to an email sent to Principal Crystal Jones from Nathan Schult, Parent Engagement Program Manager at the Georgia Department of Education, Beecher Hills "has been selected to participate in the Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT) initiative Cohort II beginning in the 2015-2016 school year.  An additional nine school districts will be joining your school/district as part of Cohort II and the final group of ten will be announced later this year.  As shared in the initial interest form, you will receive detailed APTT training spring of 2015, along with ongoing support from WestEd and GaDOE throughout the implementation school year.  In addition, at no additional cost to you WestEd and GaDOE will also support you in the 2016-2017 school year using a modified support model as you continue to implement APTT in year two, but also take on the task of training/supporting at least one other Title I school in your District that year."  Congratulations Beecher Hills.

We also had a good planning meeting at Westside Works this Thursday.  Members of the Atlanta Promise Neighborhood advisory board, representatives from Morehouse School of Medicine, and most importantly, several Washington HS cluster principals and Associate Superintendents, met to discuss APN wrap-around initiatives and what those could mean for the schools, the students, and the community.  Working together for the common good.  More dialogue to come, but so enjoyed the conversation and deeper understanding of the APN focus.



As you can see to the right, we were in a holiday mood at the CLL this week, with each floor "adopting" current APS students and families in need.  Staff gifts and donations were on display on each floor, ready to be distributed by our dedicated social work team.  Good people who care and I was happy to be a part of the district's spirit of the season. 
 



Finally, we had another goodbye today on the 6th floor.  Cindy Davis, who has manned our front area desk ably the past few years, is retiring.  She has logged 40 years at Atlanta Public Schools (yep, you heard right, 40 years!) and is headed off for that next chapter in life.  Cindy began her "tenure with the Atlanta Public Schools in the month of June, 1974 at D.H. Stanton Elementary School under the leadership of Dr. Gwendolyn L. George, Principal."  She also tells me she worked in the Environmental Services Department, moved to the Department of Special Education, then to Human Resources, and finally, back to the Special Education department.  We thank her for her many years of service, the truly engaging humor and grace she has brought to the role, but most importantly, the many lives she has positively touched over the years. Thank you Cindy.  You'll be missed.

 

 



 
Happy Holidays to everyone in our APS community.  Much peace, love, and happiness to you all.





 

A week of kudos and one goodbye

We have had a couple of very busy weeks.  Lots of cool activities and happenings around special education, but so much more beyond that program as well.

Cohort I schools involved in the Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) program are wrapping up their first semester.  These 12 initial schools received summer training, have PBIS committees in place on their campuses, and now will engage in targeted support and training second semester.  We are very excited to kick this into high gear and give these schools the support they need to effectively implement the programming.  We like to say that PBIS is about changing "adult" behavior and their approaches to kids and discipline, and ideally should be a collaborative approach.  Of course, this Positive Behavior Intervention Support system cross functions with our RTI/SST processes and cross functions with our Dean of Discipline office, which makes all the work we do in Student Services truly connected - including special education.  Our joint planning is crucial to the work we do.

I received a very positive email last Wednesday from Dr. Darnell Logan, Psychology Coordinator and a co-supervisor of PBIS, regarding Brown Middle School staff and their initial work as part of APS's PBIS Cohort I.  Per Dr. Logan, "I have to give a Big Shout Out to Ms. Crooms (Principal) and Ms. Ragland (Teacher) of Brown Middle School for a dynamic presentation today (the room was packed!) at the Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support Conference. Ms. Crooms and Ms. Ragland delivered a presentation titled, One Size Does Not Fit All – Personalizing PBIS for your School. In their discussion they illustrated the challenges of working in an urban middle school, which has dealt with frequent leadership turnover, high mobility, and the merging of three different neighborhoods into one school.  They showed and discussed their suspension data both pre and post PBIS implementation and the data is very encouraging!  At Brown Middle School they have significantly decreased the number of suspensions within the first four months of implementing PBIS (Aug – Nov 2014) as compared to that same timeframe (Aug – Nov 2013) last year without PBIS. I salute the work of Ms. Crooms and her team at Brown Middle School!"  Thanks Dr. Logan for sharing.  We are very excited to see where Brown and other Cohort I schools take PBIS second semester.  On to Cohort II!

Speaking of Kudos, Dr. Charnita West, principal of Dobbs Elementary School, sent me a short note highlighting her appreciation for Nurse Managers Harriet Chaney and Jamil Wooldridge.  "I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Nurses Chaney and Woolridge for their assistance this week...these ladies empowered me with medical information that I can share with parents and our larger community, if needed..." Thanks Harriet and Jamil for your professional and responsive approach.



 

Of course, last week was a BIG week in special education as well. We celebrated, along with the entire district, all things Inclusion Week.  Vickie Cleveland, educational specialist Crystal Callaway, and special education staff had daily celebratory activities at schools, as well as at the CLL building.  I was able to catch the CLL presentation and the audience in attendance was very moved by the stories shared.  One of our students and two APS staff members related their personal journeys and it was good to hear of the life successes as each story unfolded.   Special Education has evolved so much in the past few years - especially from what many of us remember from our own school experiences.  Evolution for the good. Additionally, Vickie and Crystal facilitated a special viewing of the documentary Including Samuel and personal quests related to inclusion for people with disabilities. So glad I saw it and another affirmation for our continued work on inclusive practices in our schools and in our communities at large. 




Dr. Spiller in action

Special Education Parent Mentors

Very productive second Special Education Advisory meeting on Monday.  The group of community and staff members who comprise this new advisory are positive, engaging, and have some terrific ideas.  In fact, we wrote many down based on discussion from the evening's presentations.  Thanks to Dr. Nicole Spiller, Student Services Director of Intervention and Support, and to Special Education Parent Mentors Rose Calloway and Edith Abakare for sharing with us timely information on RTI/SST processes, as well as the roles of our parent mentors in the district.  We all determined that as RTI/SST is such a basic system of support for intervention in APS that we need to ensure there is a systemic and defined training for all staff and for all parents.  Think Back to School Night presentations and Pre-service trainings.  Good stuff.  Additionally, our parent mentors have 27 special education PTA committees, and because we had school staff with us, we were able to solidify a commitment for 3 more in January.  Certainly helps us in our goal to increase these PTA sub-committees by 25% this year.  Awesome!
 We also were able to sneak in a group photo of our advisory at evening's end, though not a full representation due to committee commitments elsewhere - busy members who give much of their time to APS.  So though our "official" advisory link photo will need to wait until another day, here's a sneak peak of our group.  Thanks all for your thoughtful comments and commitment to the work.  Appreciated. 

Finally, I leave you with a goodbye, " headed out the door" picture of Student Services staff member and attorney Lee Rideout.  She is headed to the west coast as I write this blog in order to be closer to family and begin her next chapter.  Though I didn't get to work with Lee for long this year, I know she will be missed by many on our floor (me included!) and other CLL floors as well.  Safe travels Lee and all the best!

Stylin' with the glasses to hide those goodbye tears