Town of Lenox, Massachusetts

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Town of Lenox Annual Town Report - 2008 teacher has dual certification in early childhood and special education. The teacher works closely with the speech and language pathologist, school adjustment counselor, physical therapist, occupational therapist and paraprofessional to provide all children an individualized education program within the regular education classroom. The team of professionals continues to utilize the Creative Curriculum, a developmental curriculum aligned with the Massachusetts state frameworks for preschool. Special education teachers in grades kindergarten through grade five continue to use a varied approach in providing services to students. The type of programming chosen depends on the individual needs of the student on an individualized education program. All of our classes are inclusive; all children are included in the regular education curriculum for part or all of the day. Some of our SPED teachers co-teach with regular educators in math and English language arts. This depends on the needs of the individual child and the type of specially designed instruction specified on the individualized education program. At the middle school level, we continue to offer traditional resource room services. Based on individual student need, there are highly specialized reading programs and basic math classes offered. Our focus has been on providing these special education classes in conjunction with regular education programming. Therefore, students continue to have access to instruction in the Curriculum Framework areas. Team-teaching occurs in several sections of math and English at LMMHS. In addition, individual student assistance is provided in regular education classes based on student needs. We continue to support team teaching efforts at the high school level as a way to provide fully integrated programming for our students. In order to foster greater integration and reduce the potential stigma of the resource room, we no longer run a traditional resource room program for grades 9 - 12. Instead, the Learning Lab is open to non-special education students as well as to special education students. The Learning Lab is equipped with computers and assistive technology for student use. Typical students may arrange either to go to the Learning Lab for extra help or to use a computer during their guided-study periods. The Learning Lab teachers report that these students not only use the Learning Lab for its computers and assistive technology, but also to participate in reviews for tests in other classes. Frequently, classroom teachers send students to the Learning Lab to complete or make up missed tests and quizzes. In addition, regular education students may use the room as a place to work on independent study or VHS classes. The Learning Lab is a place that all students have come to recognize as a resource for everyone, which is the desired result. The Life Skills Program at LMMHS continues to support the more significantly involved students. The goal of the program is to provide each student with greater self-sufficiency upon completion of the program. The program focuses on pre-vocational and vocational skills, social skills, functional language, functional mathematics, recreation and leisure opportunities, and community integration skills. Skills are developed both on campus and within the community through such activities as assisting in 92
Town of Lenox Annual Town Report - 2008 the cafeteria and riding the “B Bus.” Students may have internships in the community, including in the Morris preschool. Students from the general population volunteer in the program as peer mentors and teacher assistants in the Life Skills Program. This arrangement not only allows for modeling of positive social skills and interactions, it also helps to foster friendships, and decrease stigma for all involved. The Life Skills Program is involved with Community Access to the Arts (CATA) in Great Barrington. Our Life Skills teacher also serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors for this organization. Each year, the culmination of this experience is a gala performance, which is held at Founder’s Theatre in May and is typically sold out. This program encourages participants to develop their artistic skills, self-confidence, communication skills and teamwork while allowing our students to interact and socialize with others from various schools and group homes. We also have one student involved with a dance class one day per week and another student who is part of CATA direct, an employment opportunity. We are fortunate that we have been able to have our students involved with CATA. The special education department continues to support in-service training to all faculty members. Staff training and consultation is designed to assist all personnel in programming for students with various learning styles and needs. Over the summer, members of the Lenox special needs department and several regular education teachers participated in training that focused on new state procedures regarding identification of students with specific learning disabilities. We have continued training in curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and using general outcome measurement (GOM) to write measurable IEP goals and objectives. There has also been an emphasis on working with students who fall on the autism spectrum with staff members as well as with outside consultants. Training is made possible through the use of state and federal grant funds in addition to local funds. LENOX PUBLIC SCHOOLS Financial Expenditures The following is a summary of the actual appropriation and expenditures for 2007-2008: Program Budget Actual Expenditures Elementary Education 2,012,510 2,020,713 Secondary Education 3,741,887 3,680,773 Special Education 1,303,526 1,404,358 Other School Services 13,375 11,281 Administration/Support Services 780,035 662,563 Operations/Maintenance 958,458 979,742 8,809,791 8,759,430 93
Page 1 and 2:
Town of Lenox, Massachusetts Annual
Page 3 and 4:
ANNUAL TOWN REPORT of the TOWN OFFI
Page 5 and 6:
TABLE of CONTENTS Town of Lenox Ann
Page 7 and 8:
Town of Lenox Annual Town Report -
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
TOWN OF LENOX Governmental Structur
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44: Town of Lenox Annual Town Report -
Page 77 and 78: LENOX SCHOLARSHIP List of Donors To
Page 93: Town of Lenox Annual Town Report -
Page 105 and 106: LENOX PUBLIC SCHOOLS Support/Servic
show all

Town of Lenox, Massachusetts

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?