Hello! I hope this note finds everyone safe and well! We are plugging along in the Camp household and I know Ms. Cote is as well. Personally, I am trying to find the joy in the situation and I am so thankful to spend this time with my family. It’s time we would not have otherwise, and even though I don’t like the circumstances, I am thankful for the time. I hope you are able to find the positives that are there as well. I know some of you are in the medical field and/or are essential workers, please know that we are thinking about you and praying for your safety. Thank you for all that you do!

Progress reports will be mailed to homes this week. They are based off of the progress we had up until the school closure. In some cases, a student might have new goals and will be marked “NA” because there was not enough time to assess the goals prior to the closure. Please know this is not because your son/daughter was not doing well. In most cases, we anticipate progress towards goals once the school reopens.

IEP’s – upcoming IEP’s will either be held remotely or when we return to the school. If we can do them remotely, we will use Google Hangouts. You can either use your computer or call into the meeting on your phone. (We will walk you through the process when the time comes) All members from the IEP team must be present, so the process will be the same. If you do not wish to hold the IEP remotely, you can decline and we will hold the IEP when we return to school.

Zoom – Ms. Cote and I tried to hold a zoom meeting together – before we tried to do one with the students. There were some glitches we still need to work out before we attempt this with students. For now, we will continue to get in touch with everyone through a phone call or text. Please continue to follow Facebook for activities that the students can participate in . To date, we have posted 24 enrichment activities on our Facebook page since school closed on April 13! There’s something for everyone!

Technology Survey – Thank you to those of you who responded to our technology survey. We were asked by the district to have parents complete the survey in order for us to prepare how to provide instruction going forward. At the beginning of the day we had 7 replies, now we have over 20! So thank you for replying to that message!

That’s all for now – I hope everyone is well! Stay home and stay safe!

Good Morning Families!

Well, we made it through the first week! It’s been good hearing from some of you, either through email or our facebook page – please don’t hesitate to contact us, even if it’s just to say “hi”. I would also encourage you to keep in touch with each other. I know a few families are starting up group chats on messenger for their students, so that they can keep in touch with their friends. If you need help getting in touch with a parent, please reach out and let us know, we’d be happy to try to connect you!

If you are on Facebook, please make sure to follow our page “Dearborn Transition Program”. We are posting enrichment activities there and if your son/daughter has a facebook account they are welcome to interact with us there! In the coming week, I am going to figure out how to do a video group chat with our students if anyone is interested. It will most likely be through the zoom app, so go ahead and download that app on your phone or ipad and you’ll be one step ahead of the game! I will send the information once I get it set up.

If you are not on Facebook, there were a few posts this week you may want to know about:

1. Covid – 19 Emotional Support Hotline – 313-827-8500 or dss@dearbornschools.org To support families experiencing anxiety, fear and stress during this time of uncertainty. Families calling the hotline will receive a call from a school counselor, social worker or psychologist. (Please call 911 for emergencies)
2. Free Breakfast/Lunch pick up is being offered at Fordson, Edsel Ford, Dearborn High, Mccollough-Unis, Salina Intermediate and Woodworth Middle School from 10 am to noon. OL Smith will be added to the list beginning Monday, March 23rd

Activity:

While we are out, this is a great time to teach your son/daughter some Independent Living Skills. What will they need to know if they were to live on their own, or how would you like them to contribute at home when they are done with school? Everyone needs a sense of purpose and accomplishment in their life, and everyone should contribute to their family in some way. Here is the link to one of the assessments we consider when working with our students. Take a peek, and think about ways you can incorporate these into your daily routine during the school closure. If you are able, please print and fill out the assessment and turn it in when we return to school.

https://transitioncoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Independent-Living-Decision-Assistance-Form.pdf

Before I end, I’d like to leave you with the best quote I saw today. It said…

“I know this. When this ends – AND IT WILL – every game will sell out, every restaurant will have a 2 hour wait, every kid will be glad to be in school, everyone will love their job, the stock market will skyrocket, every other house will get TP’d, and we’ll all embrace and shake hands. That’s gonna be a pretty good day. Hang in there world!”

Stay well!

Good Morning Families! I hope this finds you well. As mentioned on Friday, work packets will be mailed out today. The work contained in these packets supports our students IEP goals and are an extension of what we work on in the classroom on a daily basis. Students are expected to complete the activities in one of the following manners and should be turned in when we return to school:

Guidelines for completing the activities:

Activities should be completed with the least amount of support required. This can look different for each student:

1. Student completes the activity on their own
2. Student needs help reading the activity, but then completes the activity on their own
3. Student needs help reading and completing the activity – by guiding the student. You can use questioning techniques to help the student figure out the answers on their own. For example: On the food storage activity, if the student is not able to determine where to store a certain food, they can look for it in your home, or you may ask “when we buy this in the store, do we buy it from the freezer or off the shelf?”
4. Students who need a lot of support may complete the activity verbally with a family member. Please sign and date the top of the activity when completed.

In addition, our healthy lunch options should not be forgotten! With your packet, please turn in a log with what you (the student) ate and the number of points your lunch was worth each day. (This can just be a dated log on a piece of paper – nothing fancy) As a reminder:

1. All main entrees (with the exception of fast food, pizza, hot dogs) = 1 point.
2. Veggies, either raw, cooked or a tossed salad = 1 point each (limit 2 points)
3. Fruits = 1 point each (limit 2 points)
4. Yogurt = 1 point.
5. Water = 1 point.
6. Example: 1 turkey sandwich, carrots w/ ranch, grapes, and a bottle of water = 4 points
7. Example 2: Fast food sandwich, fries, pop = 0 points
8. Example 3: Left over spaghetti from last nights dinner, green beans, applesauce and juice = 3 points (no points for the juice)

Lets also not forget our fitness! A few recommendations:

1. Beach Body on Demand is offering two free weeks right now. Select from hundreds of videos. I would recommend beginner level walking, yoga or dance.
2. Wii Fit or “Lets Dance” video games, Ring Fit Adventure for Nintendo Switch
3. Walking exercise video’s such as Leslie Sansone “Stat walking at home” (I’ve heard GREAT things about these videos!)
4. Get outside and go for a walk, or a bike ride with your family (away from other people)
5. Put on your favorite music and dance
6. If you have a basketball net at home, go out and shoot some hoops for a while.

We will continue to post activities on our Facebook page as well. Here are some of the “extras” you can think about:

1. Ms. Cote just posted a list of “Non Screen” activities to do with your student.
2. For enrichment activities, the Cincinatti Zoo will be going live on Facebook every day at 3 p.m. They will feature one animal a day and provide an activity for the student to complete at home
3. Mystery Science has a starter list of science lessons that are easy to do at home and are free. There is no sign up or log in required. mysteryscience.com

IEP’s – As of this time, we do not have any IEP’s scheduled during the closure. If for some reason the closure is extended, and we need to hold and IEP, we will contact you to complete the IEP over the phone.

This is uncharted territory for all of us. The most important thing is that everyone stays safe and healthy. If you need to contact either one of us, our email addresses are as follows:

campd@dearbornschools.org

cotem@dearbornschools.org

We will be checking emails daily.

Stay well!

Dear Families,

We had a brief meeting today regarding our school closure. School will be closed until April 12, 2020. We will reopen on April 13, 2020. As you know, this is a constantly changing situation and I will update you on this blog and/or remind if anything changes. Please plan on checking back every Friday for an update.

One of the things we discussed was distance learning for our students. If we move to distance learning, you will receive a packet in the mail with work for your son/daughter. (We are making the packets as we speak.) They are designed so that students will complete one activity a day. There will be a mix of difficulty levels, so that all students can participate. If the state decides that we will not move to distance learning – we will not be sending packets home.

At this point, this is all we know. Please stay safe and healthy! We will update you as we know more.

P.S. If you are not connected to our Remind System (or have changed phone numbers since joining, etc,) you can join our class after downloading the app using the code @k87kce

Dear Families,

We just wanted to update you on some of the precautions that have been put in to place regarding COVID19.

*CBI/Job Sites have been suspended until further notice (District Wide)

*Outside visitors are not allowed into special education classrooms until further notice (District Wide)

*Hype – Has cancelled all group and senior fitness classes, after school tutoring, art classes, Travel basketball, boxing, Taekwondo, etc in order to limit exposure. They are also cleaning regularly with a 10% bleach solution.

*If you are keeping your son/daughter home to limit exposure, please just let us know and we will make sure they are marked excused until they return. No need to call every day. We understand! Most likely we will be doing review work and trying to keep students minds off of what is going on. We will not be going out for CBI or job sites during this time.

**** If anyone in your family is experiencing symptoms, please keep your student home! It’s much better to be safe than sorry! ******

Hello! Just a few reminders for the week:

1. This Friday (March 13) is a half day – dismissal is at 11:00 a.m.
2. Illness policy – with everything going on in the world – it is more important than ever to keep students home if they are not feeling well. Be especially mindful if you have been traveling, or have had visitors who have traveled. Please be respectful of other students and staff by keeping sick students home.
3. Target/CBI – our Target location is remodeling and will be closing the cafe permanently. The cafe is an important part of our time there, as students learn and practice ordering from a menu, paying a cashier, learning to use the self-serve soda machines, etiquette and social skills. Due to the length of time we are at this location, we may have to postpone Target until the remodeling is complete. Tuesday, March 10th will be our last day unless we are able to reach a solution with transportation.

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a good weekend! Normally I try to get the blog published on Friday’s, but we were in a meeting that went right up until dismissal on Friday and I wanted to include information from that meeting in our blog post. We know that this year has not been ideal, we have had staff out on leaves, we’ve lost job sites, and bus routes have changed…all of these things have made a huge impact on our program. But don’t lose faith!!! On Friday, we met with our administrators and transition specialist, to try to make improvements to our program, for the current year as well as next year. We discussed adding more job sites, shortening the amount of time on CBI trips, adding new locations for CBI, etc. All these things take time, so please be patient with us. We will be having a parent orientation for new and current parents on May 13th at 1 p.m. We encourage you to attend so you can hear about the changes that have been made and know what to expect for next year. This is also a great time to bring up any questions or concerns you may have.

Upcoming dates:

March 8 – Spring Ahead! Turn clocks ahead by 1 hour!

March 13 – 1/2 Day – dismissal at 11:00 a.m.

March 18 – Late Start

April 3 – Bowling/Pizza Party

April 6-10 – No School Spring Break

April 22 – Late Start

SAVE THE DATE: May 13th Parent Meeting at Hype!

Just a few notes about Friday – Valentine’s Day!

• We have 23 total students in class – 13 boys and 10 girls
• Students may bring Valentines and/or individual treats for the students, but must be individually wrapped, and enough for every student. We will be making bags for the students to bring home their treats!
• Please do not send in cookies and/or cupcakes – we have a special dessert planned!
• We will be having chicken schwarma, fattoush and hummus for lunch. If your student does not eat or like these items, please send in something for them to eat at lunch time. Lunch is provided for the students thanks to the fundraising efforts of many parents in our class. There is no charge. THANK YOU!
• Students should bring something to drink (no pop)
• We will be eating lunch later than normal, we will give students a snack time around 10 a.m. if they would like to bring something in. Please try to make snacks healthy as much as possible! There will be enough treats in the afternoon.

Hello! It is with permission, that I share with you that a staff member has been diagnosed with viral pneumonia. As you know, our staff members work very closely with our students and germs are easily passed from one another. This is one reason why we have such a strict sick policy. Please watch closely for signs of illness, and please see a doctor right away for persistent or deep barking coughs, etc. It is very important that both students and staff members to stay home if they are sick in order to stop the spread of germs. (This staff member has been home for over a week).

That being said, we are running on a skeleton crew! We have some very nice subs that have been with us for a few weeks now – covering for both of our parapro’s on a extended leave. However, we will not/cannot send students into the community without a DPS employee. On occasion, we will have to reschedule certain things. Yesterday we had to cancel Target and the group of boys scheduled to go were not happy. So many life skills were taught in that moment: flexibility, making the best of a situation, handling disappointment, etc. The most important thing is that our students and staff are healthy and safe.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on our class phone. 313-701-7985

Good Morning,

The students have been doing a great job adjusting to the new “pay system”! Tomorrow the classroom store will open, but they will have to save their money to purchase most items. We’ve planned it so that everyone should be able to afford the Friday movie, but they will have to save for a few weeks to purchase the extras. Extras include items like: chips, candy, pencils, erasers, pencil cases, notebooks, adult coloring books, water bottles and even lunch bags. They can also save to purchase “privleges” such as: sitting with a friend for the day, skipping track, purchase ipad time, lunch with a friend in the classroom and lunch with the teachers. Students can also be charged $1 for things such as not following directions, refusing to go to work, inappropriate behavior, and not following classroom procedures. Everyone seems excited and motivated!

Blue Folders – Several students have either misplaced theirs, or they are not turning them in to their designated spot. Please take a look around this weekend to make sure you don’t have one laying around at home. Several students were directly asked to check their backpacks yesterday and they did not. This is a classroom procedure that works on responsibility. We are now in the second semester, students who do not turn in their blue folder will be “charged” $1 (Camp/Cote cash) If they are lost and need to be replaced, it will be $3. Students who do not have their blue folder in place when I am passing out notes, (example: Kerby’s menu) will not be able to participate in the activity. (Natural consequences) We’ve found this only takes a few times for the student(s) to understand the connection!

Valentine’s Day – Students may bring in Valentine’s Day cards and/or candy if they wish. We have 25 students in the class. It is not necessary to write the students names on the cards or candy. We will have a special time in the afternoon for them to pass out their treats. We will also be providing lunch that day – so students do not need to bring a lunch – only something to drink. More information will be coming home in the blue folders on Friday.

Room Temperature – COLD! Students may wish to dress in layers. Some are wearing their winter coats all day which is not healthy. Students should wear heavier clothing and may bring an extra sweater or sweatshirt to keep them warm. We are checking to see if there’s anything we can do to warm it up in here. We are trying to keep them moving to keep them warm!

Upcoming Dates:

Feb 5 – Late Start

Feb 14 – Valentine’s Lunch/Party

Feb 17-21 – No School Mid Winter Break

March 13 – Half Day – Dismissal at 11:00

March 18 – Late Start