Family Action Needed!

Dear Families,

I just received this email below in regards to the proposed changes for how the school gradings will be done. Please read below and if you feel that this is something that you should respond to, please do!

Dear Bright Feats,

This email is to ask you to forward this information to your families and encourage them to contact the State Board.  If anyone has any questions regarding this matter, they may contact myself via sarah.sequenzia@ocps.net , or my cell (321) 228-9772, or OCCPTA ESE Chair Patrice Byerly via patrice.byerly@ocps.net, or her cell (407) 421-2393.

Summary:  While most involved families are concentrating on budgets and legislative session, the FLDOE is promulgating rule changes to the school grade system.  Some of these changes will have a negative impact on our current school grades.  The State Board of Education votes on February 28th, 2012 to approve or deny these rule changes.  We are asking that  parents from each organization contact the Board now to request that the Board does not vote for changes that will negatively impact our schools.

Attached please find:

the proposed changes  to 6A-1.09981: Implementation of Florida's System of School Improvement and Accountability as recorded in the Florida Administrative Weekly;

a spreadsheet from the OCPS ESE department detailing parts of the current rule, the correlating proposed changes, and the department’s support for or against the change;

talking points for families regarding the information listed in the spreadsheet;

and contact information for the State Board of Education members.

Also, for your convenience we have listed below links to two YouTube videos posted by parents to get the message out to members of the State board, and particularly, how this affects their family on a personal level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV39W5te6q4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf_PhoZTGDI

We encourage families to take action now!  If some choose to make and upload their own YouTube video, please forward the link back to us so we can promote it.

Thank you,

Sarah :o)

Sarah Lopez Sequenzia

ESE Parent Liaison

cell: 321/228-9772

Orange County Public Schools

Exceptional Student Education

ELC 6th Floor

445 West Amelia Street

Orlando, Florida 32801

407/317-3200 x2614

Patrice Byerly

Parent Ambassador

Director of Training

Orange County Public Schools

Exceptional Student Education

ELC 6th Floor

445 West Amelia Street

Orlando, Florida 32801

407/317-3200 x 4628

 407/421-2393 cell

Confident Parenting Class!

Please Join LifeSkills for…  
 CONFIDENT PARENTING

 a supportive group for parents and guardians of SPD/special needs children

                            

Have you signed up yet? Call now and reserve your place!

Improve your parenting skills and improve this New Year!!        

Share what you know and help others

 Day: Tuesday evenings

 New Dates: February 21, 28   March 6, 13, 20, and 27  

(different parenting-related discussions each week)         

 Time: 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

 Location: 1935 State Road 436 (between Howell Branch & Aloma)   Winter Park, FL 32792

 Cost:  $30/individual, $50/couple for the series

Whether you are a parent or a guardian of an SPD/special needs child, more than likely you are stressed. This group, led by Marriage and Family Therapist Dr. Richard Horn, is designed to diminish stress and to increase confidence, clarity, authority, and success in parenting.

    Please call the office to register:      4407-629-9455

********************************************************************************************************************         www.lifeskillscenter.com

7th Annual Autism Walk and Family Fun Day!

I received the following email below from ASGO (Autism Society of Greater Orlando announcing their 7th Annual Autism Walk and Family Fun Day. 

I have attended this event for the past 5-6 years and love it!! It is a very worthwhile event and resource fair!! The money raised goes back to our familes  with autism via programs, classes, support groups, Transitional programs and much, much more! Thank you ASGO for all you do for our Central Florida Families!!!

 Donna Lormans letter;

The Autism Society of Greater Orlando would like to invite you to participate in our 7^th Annual Autism Walk & Family Fun Day to be held INSIDE the Orange County Convention Center’s South Concourse on Saturday, June 30, 2012 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. 100% of all funds raised at this event stay right here in Central Florida to support our local families living with autism. ASGO used a large portion of money raised at last year’s walk to provided autism awareness training to our local law enforcement officers, emergency room staff at local hospitals, and established social skills groups for individuals with autism ages 2-24. You can see learn more about ASGO and the programs that we are involved with by visiting our website at http://www.asgo.org.

This year’s Autism Walk & Family Fun Day will be bigger and better than last year’s event. This year, ASGO has confirmed the following:

Massages

Games/Prizes

Moon Bouncers

Clowns

Balloon Artists

Lots of Great Family Fun

Entertainment Area will include:

Orange County Honor Guard

Star Wars Characters

Ronald McDonald

DJ

Others to come

Vendor Booth Area - we will also have our vendor’s area which is projected to have over 75 booths which will feature a kid friendly activity at each station. We are looking for vendor booth sponsors, so if you or your business is interested in getting a booth, please visit our website at www.asgo.org and download the forms.

Raffle & Silent Auction Area – we have some really fabulous prizes to be won in the silent auction and raffle this year. Some of the items include autographed sports memorabilia gift cards, theme park admissions, gift baskets, and other great items.

As you can see, this is an event that you don’t want to miss.

I have attached the event flyer, as well as, the participation information to this e-mail. Please feel free to distribute this information to all your staff and students. We hope that you will put a team together and come out and support your local autism support organization.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you in advance for your support.

We hope to see you on June 30^th

Thanks for your support.

Donna Lorman, President

Autism Society of Greater Orlando

12720 S. Orange Blossom Trail Suite 8

Orlando, FL 32837

407-855-0235- phone

407-855-5129 - fax

www.asgo.org

DLorman@asgo.org

LifeSkills Academy of Orlando's Open House

LifeSkills Academy of Orlando's Open House on March 8, 2012 from 5-7 pm.

They are now offering:
Academic School Year and Summer Enrichment Camp- Each program includes: academic support, speech therapy, art, science, music therapy, social skills training, field trips and more. They are also now offering Fast Forward.

Educating students with Autism, Aspergers, Sensory Processing Disorder, Down Syndrome, Speech/Language Delays, Developmental Delays

Location: 1010 Spring Villas Pointe
                Winter Springs, FL 32708
Phone: 407-388-1808
Website

The Providence Foundation

The Center for Health Learning and Achievement and The Providence Academy are joining forces and coming together as The Providence Foundation!

The Foundation offers:

-          Multi-Disciplinary Assessment and Therapy Team with Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Behaviorists, Neurotherapy and Brainmapping Practitioners and Exceptional Student Education Teachers.

-          K-12 School for Children with Learning Differences including Dyslexia, ADHD, High Functioning Autism, Aspergers Syndrome, Language Impaired, Dual Exceptional, etc. 

-          Parent and Professional Training Department with parenting seminars, staff development opportunities, professional development, etc.

Advocacy and Research Facility- promoting the rights of individuals with disabilities, providing Transition Services and conducting research to facilitate 

Contact Alicia Braccia

www.learningandachievement.com

Executive Director- Providence Academy

www.theprovidenceacademy.com

 

Dr. Fred Volkmar presents, "Autism Across the Lifespan"

Dr. Fred Volkmar, Director of The Yale Child Study Center and Chief of Child Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital, will share his research findings for practical application by parents, educators, therapists and medical professionals who seek to further their own knowledge in the treatment of individuals with autism. Event price of $45.00 includes boxed lunch. Autographed copies of Dr.
Volkmar's most recent book: "A Practical Guide to Autism" will be available for additional purchase at the event.


Event Title: Dr. Fred Volkmar presents, "Autism Across the Lifespan"
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012
Time: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Location: The Rachel D. Murrah Winter Park Civic Center; 1050 W. Morse
Blvd. Winter Park, FL 32789
Contact Information: For registration online, please go to:
www.theparagonschool.org
Questions? Call Donna Briggs at The Paragon School; (407) 644-1546

SI 101 Class (Sensory Integration)

 Check out this blog written by Carmen McGuiness Health, Education and Nutrition for Special Children and Their Families 

The current topic on their blog is about Fibromyalgia. It is a very informative and educational read.

Here are their bio's taken from their website:

Carmen McGuinness is a 27 year veteran Montessori teacher. During the 1990s Carmen dedicated her work to the study of dyslexia; researching and developing the Phono-Graphix® reading method and authoring Simon & Shuster’s best-selling Reading Reflex. Since 2004 Carmen has focused on nutritional and mind-body treatment for developmental disorders. Carmen holds a graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis, and is currently completing two masters degrees in: Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine and Holistic Nutrition Education.

Geoffrey McGuinness co-teaches with Carmen. Geoffrey is a veteran teacher, teaching grades one through twelve in private and public schools since 1992. Geoffrey is the co-author of Reading Reflex and How to Increase Your Child's Verbal Intelligence.  He has trained thousands of teachers in the Phono-Graphix and Language Wise methods in the US, Canada, and Great Britain. Geoffrey has taught hundreds of children to read in weekly and intensive reading therapy since 1994.