Building Out That Better World

I think it's safe to say we hit the ground running on the first day back to school after break.  2015 started off with an all staff event headlined by our own Dr. Carstarphen and her message connected to our strengths and how we build upon those for ourselves and others was very well received in my department.  Simply said, she is inspiring.


As you know our Positive Behavior Support Planning is well under way. One piece of that is with our Positive Discipline Committee and the work they have been doing.  This group meets bi-monthly and really has put rubber to the road on moving forward.  At Tuesday night's small work group, we discussed data points.  What should this look like in APS?  Internally and externally?  Our chair Chantel Mullen shared samples from other districts - we've been looking quite a bit at LAUSD and BCPS, as well as others who have rethought their traditional approaches to discipline - and all of us agreed we found value in the models of annual detailed discipline reports for external publication.  Much to do still in streamlining some of our discipline categories, working with our policy and accountability offices as we go, and participating in presentations on research based approaches that could hold real promise for APS - Restorative Justice presentations are tentatively slated for our committee on January 20 - but this committee is getting there.  Bright, thoughtful members who bring both APS and other district experiences to the table.  Listening in, I get the sense they truly want to make a difference.  A positive difference.  Concrete recommendations are beginning to take shape and we'll keep you posted on any and all final recommendations when complete.

We moved up our monthly Special Education Advisory meeting and held our third meeting together on Thursday evening.  Bylaws were voted in - check out our special education advisory link on the
APS student services webpage for bylaws, presentations, and more - and we had two terrific presentations.  Though it was a very cold evening, many members made it to the meeting; even though we thought we'd shorten the meeting length, we didn't 'cause the presentations were just too "meaty" with good stuff that generated more "good stuff".  Tosha Mobley, one of Student Service's Assistant Technology Specialists, provided information for accessing AT supports, an overview of available technology for specific needs, as well as news on the pilots being done this year.  There are some exciting tools in the pilot related to our autism programming and core academic programming that we hope to expand for next school year.  These supports are research based and are designed to "fill the gap" for our students as they still access the core curriculum that other students receive.  Loved Tosha's energy and her passion for the job at hand.  Her presentation is also on our website so check it out if you are interested in what's happening in the APS AT world.  Thanks Tosha!  Good stuff!

 

 

The second presentation was given by Cassandra Holified, North Metro GNETS Director and the North Metro GNETS Assistant Principal Jodi Lovett.  GNETS, as you may or may not know, stands for The Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support and serves our students who have significant emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) or due to "frequency, intensity, and duration of behaviors is such that placement is deemed...appropriate."  I've enjoyed the collaboration with them this year as they build out their North Metro Oglethorpe site, trying to ensure that our students who attend the school not only receive the specialized therapeutic intervention they need, but also can access quality traditional school curriculum, instruction, and those intangibles that make a school experience a school experience.  Those kids above all need those intangibles.  We were so impressed with the presentation - especially the discussion around conduct disorders versus mental health issues - that we honestly did lose track of time.  I look forward to our future collaboration with GNETS staff around more proactive supports we can jointly develop for those students who need something between the traditional school supports we offer and GNETS supports, as well as what we in APS can do to help those kids reach their full potential - we were talking the arts and beyond! Thanks ladies for coming out to deliver a presentation that warmed hearts on such a cold night.  Appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 

A quick introduction to two of our newest members in Student Services.  We are very happy to have

Deanna Rogers (pronounced "Dina") on board as our RTI/SST coordinator, she's also hit the ground running getting to know individual schools, conducting visits to fact find and meet our specialists, facilitating trainings, problem solving at campuses, and providing oversight on Child Find.  She's a highly qualified, knowledgeable individual who will bring much to our team.

Just starting this week is our new Family Engagement Manager Tracy Alladice.  Tracy has done this work in Georgia, knows her stuff, and already has some great ideas on how to refine, grow, and utilize this program to its max potential.  I am also very glad she is finally on board.  Moving forward in a very good way!










Finally, Chantel and I had a very meaningful visit with the Anti-Defamation League staff earlier in the week.  ADL's No Place for Hate initiative is currently being implemented in several APS schools and Student Services is exploring taking it system wide for next school year.  Through the campus committees formed - I love the student led aspect to this work - and the activities then generated from that campus committee planning, adopting a No Place for Hate initiative throughout APS can provide a ground level framework for who we are, what we believe, and what we stand for in APS.  A culture of respect, a celebration of diversity, a stand against hate, bullying, and bias.  In light of this week's news, now more than ever do we need education initiatives to do the kind of work ADL supports.  To build that better world we all dream about for our kids.