ANNUAL REPORT TOWN OF GRANBY MASSACHUSETTS FOR ...

� The varsity baseball team returned to the MIAA Western
Mass. Tournament after a 3-year absence.
� The varsity girls’ softball team qualified for the MIAA
Western Mass. Tournament. Megan Maska, Jenna Maska and
Kat Morgan were named as first team all scholastic softball
players by the Springfield Republican newspaper.
� Andrew Letendre and Samantha Dickson were selected as
Pathfinder’s outstanding male and female senior athletes for the
2010-2011 school year
� Varsity football players Greg Pobieglo and Trystan Davis
ranked in the top two performers of Western Mass. football.
Pobieglo was second ranked for passing yardage as a
quarterback, and Davis was number one in receiving yardage and
touchdown receptions.
SPECIAL SERVICES
During 2011, Special Education Director JoAnn Fitzpatrick,
retired after many years in the Pathfinder Regional School
District. Nicole Heroux, replaced her as the new Director in the
Special Education Department. Nicole had experience as a past
Director of Student Support Services, working for the
Department of Education in the Program Quality Assurance
Department, and being both a Vice Principal and Principal.
Nicole and her staff are currently in the process of evaluating all
current programs and services. The goal is to demonstrate its
responsibility to provide a continuum of special education and
related services for eligible students in accordance with the
provisions of state and federal regulations. The Department
continues to be committed to finding opportunities to offer
different pathways to learning so that the diverse ability levels of
the students might be accommodated.
The Special Education Department strives to address the needs
of all learners in grades 9-12 and to the students previously
enrolled in the Modified Vocational Instruction Program
(MVIP). Given the results of the District’s Coordinated Program
Review, the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is now fully
implemented. Pathfinder no longer has a formalized program
called MVIP. Through continued integrated efforts with students,
parents, and other student support services, the Department
focuses on promoting each student’s self-awareness, ability to
self-advocate, and sense of self sufficiency. All students
admitted to Pathfinder are expected to fulfill the same
requirements to receive a high school diploma, and all students
must have access to all academic and vocational programs. The
staff at Pathfinder is working to develop a program for the
students who were previously in an MVIP program to insure their
success at the school.
Team chairpersons conducted Team evaluations, annual
reviews and re-evaluations for over two hundred and four (204)
special needs students. The Department continued to be
responsible for approximately fifty (50) students who have 504
Accommodation Plans. Section 504 is a federal civil rights law
which requires the provision of reasonable accommodations to
students and staff who qualify as disabled under the law.
The Department includes fifteen (15) academic or vocational
professionally licensed instructors, nine (9) paraprofessionals,
and one full-time secretary. Licensed specialists include a
Speech and Language Pathologist, School Adjustment
Counselor, and Occupational Therapist.
Work continues on the collaboration between special and
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general educators.
GRANTS, DONATIONS AND CONTRACTS
Source Amount Acquisitions/ Products
ARRA Emergency
Stimulus Funds
$ 84,765 Replenish shortfall
Pathfinder Booster Club $ 6,000 Vertimax Machine
Special Education Grant $230,248 1 Math, 1 ELA inclusion model
teacher, evals, ESPED.
Title I – ARRA $ 64,342
Materials, 5 Alpha Smarts
Quadrant D Staff Training,
Summer Transition Program,
Further BC Collaboration, Smart
Boards
Special Ed – ARRA $ 25,626 Pilot Understanding Your
Disability and Taking
Responsibility for Your Own
Education project – Fund
SPED position, Diagnostic
Software
Title I
ELA and Math Inclusion
$131,105 instructor. Shop week tutor
Teacher Quality $ 27,690 Retain highly qualified Staff
Member, tutoring for 2 not yet
HQ Teachers
Anti -Bullying $ 650 Teacher training
Title I Carry-over $ 56,066 System 44 Reading Lab
Multiple Smart Boards
WIA – Year Round $ 70,000 Provide meaningful summer
jobs for 32 participants and
year round jobs for 4.
Academic Support $ 23,600 MCAS PREP and remediation
for 22 Pathfinder 9th Graders
Carl Perkins Funds $ 91,028 Retain Drafting/CAD Teacher,
Project Lead the Way,
Professional Development,
Smart Board 3 Credit Class,
Fully operational Career Center
EduJobs $113,364 Partially pay teachers’ Health
Insurance
Total $924,484
The major portion of one- time or last- time funding went to
upgrading technology.
Pathfinder now boasts a Smart Board in every academic
classroom where requested by the teacher.
Additionally, Apperson Data Collection machines have been
purchased, strategically located, and teachers have been trained
in the technology.
A fully operational Career Center employing the MASS Model
has been installed in Room 223.
A 10 -Station Math Computer lab was installed in Room 224.
A two -year school- wide site license (Study Island - entire
Curriculum) was purchased for remediation, enrichment and
credit recovery.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
The Summer Youth Enrichment Program served over 120
children between the ages of 9 and 13. The program ran for three
one-week sessions between July 11 th and July 29 th . Participants
had the opportunity to select from the following options: