This week, our school community is focusing on the following priorities:
PBIS: Classroom expectations
Behavior Focus: Reinforcing positive safe behavior around the school building
SEL Theme of the Month: Goal setting, self-control and being safe at school
Trauma-Informed: Belonging: Creating a safe, welcoming environment where every student can succeed.
Focus on Routine:
Greeting at the Door: Welcome students individually as they enter to gauge their mood and set a positive tone.
Do-Now / Bellringer: Have a clear, predictable task posted on the board (e.g., a short reflection, daily math problem, or quiet reading) so students immediately know what to work on without prompting and to avoid unstructured time.
Group: Have designated space for group and structured routine so students know what to expect. Having a rotation of group leaders helps students be involved.
2. Classroom Logistics & Transitions
Clear Signals for Attention: Use a consistent non-verbal or verbal cue (e.g., chime, rhythmic clap, countdown) to gather focus within seconds.
Structured Transitions: Give timed instructions before students move (e.g., "You have 30 seconds to clean up your desk and bring your notebook to the carpet—go"). Timers on board are helpful.
Visible Daily Agenda: Display a daily schedule with times or order of activities on the board to reduce anxiety about what comes next.
3. Academic & Instructional Routines
Standardized Station/Group Rules: Create a clear system for group work, including assigned roles (timekeeper, reader, recorder) and noise-level expectations.
Fast-Finisher Options: Provide a dedicated space or menu of meaningful tasks (reading, extension activities) for students who complete work early.
4. End-of-Day & Pack-Up Structure
Dedicated Reflection Time: Reserve the last 5 minutes for point sheet reflection, lesson recap, or gratitude sharing (highs and lows of day)
End of day Checklist: Assign rotating classroom jobs (board eraser, chair stacker, paper collector) to make end-of-day routines collective and efficient.
Support documents can be found here. Please also be sure to review the SEL Calendar.
- All IEPs must be timely and submitted within 3 days of completing the IEP. Please validate IEPs for accuracy and finalize before submitting them.
submit to Ariel Willliamson in the office
The case manager is responsible for the timely submission of the paperwork for the students on their caseload.
IEPs should be held at least 3 weeks in advance of the due date to ensure no late IEPs.
Parents should be given adequate notice to participate in IEPs. MiStar IEP invitations are required and should be updated and re-sent if the date/time/location/participants of the meeting changes. A google invite cannot replace a formal meeting invitation.
MiSTAR Meeting Invitations must be finalized prior to creating a new meeting invitation.
Only LP invitees should be included in the meeting invitation. Individuals invited by the parent should not be included in the meeting invitation (for example; advocate, BCBA, parent’s attorney, etc.).
Only people in attendance at the actual IEP meeting should sign the attendance page.
Case managers must coordinate with team members so all members of the IEP team are in attendance. It is the expectation that all team members attend IEPs. Do not send calendar invites without reaching out to the team about a date. (It is helpful to create a shared calendar so teams can easily coordinate meeting dates). Be considerate of team members who are in multiple locations.
If you are unable to attend the IEP, it is the responsibility of the service provider to contact the parent prior to the IEP to share PLAAFP information, baseline data, and draft goals and objectives. The service provider must ensure all of their information is up to date and entered in the IEP prior to the meeting.
Excusals for required team members of the IEP team must be done prior to the IEP. It is the responsibility of the caseload manager to make sure the parent has agreed to the excusal prior to the IEP meeting.
- All old information from the previous IEP should be removed prior to the start of the meeting. Update IEP with new data and PLAAFP information prior to the meeting.
Parent input into the IEP is required even if it is obtained by phone or in writing. Do NOT leave this section blank. If a parent does not participate in the IEP and you are unable to reach them for input please document something like “Multiple attempts were made to obtain parent input on (list dates). The district was unable to obtain input but will continue to make attempts and reopen the IEP at any time to include parent input.”
The duration boxes in the programs and services section of the IEP are only used when a program/service does not last the duration of the IEP.
District Rep - if an administrator is attending the meeting they should sign in as district rep and sign FAPE. If a special ed supervisor is attending the meeting, they would be district rep before gen ed administrator. Director of Special Ed will always be district rep if they are present at the meeting.
The same person who signs in as district rep on the IEP, should sign the Notice of FAPE.
Resident District Director - must be invited to IEP for students in center programs. If in attendance, they would sign in as a participant, not district rep. Please ensure you are reaching out to district reps well in advance and in multiple ways.
- Patterson and Ohlrich to RESA in AM
- Testing @ 9:00-11:00 (Burks)
- Castle to BOE @ 12:30
- Intake IEP @ 1:15 (Robinson)
- Student Planning Meeting @ 1:30 (Alderman and Deeter)
- Castle to BOE
- Doctor to RESA
- Early Release and Staff Meeting (Team Time and Domain 1 Training)
- COUNT DAY - NO IEP's
- Castle to BOE
- PIRM @ 12:30 (Bruckner)
- Intake Committee Mtg @ 8:00
- WAM @ 9:00 (Bruckner)
- IEP @ 9:15 (Wusthoff)
- WAM @ 10:30 (Burks)
- Parent Meeting @ 9:50 (Lucidi)
- Beacon Tour for LP Staff @ 1:00
