Hello! Conferences are coming up and the link to sign up was sent on Remind a few weeks ago. Please don’t forget to sign up if you would like to meet with us. I will resend the link before the end of the day for those that missed it.

We are now into the second card marking and expectations have increased in the classroom. Responsibilities have increased as well as expectations in the classroom and at job sites. What that means is that there will be less reminders/warnings and more consequences.

One overall theme in the classroom has been making sure students come to school “ready” to work, whether it is in the classroom or at a job site. The first step to being “ready” means demonstrating good personal hygiene. Good personal hygiene means students are coming to school showered, with clean clothes, deodorant and no body odor. This is the first step in finding and keeping employment.

Upcoming Dates:

Nov 7 – No School – Professional Development

Nov 22-24 – No School – Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

~Camp and Cote

Please consider attending as these are some of the things we get asked about every day!

Good Morning! I always love when we get close Halloween – for me it means we are settled into a routine and everythign is in place. Everything is moving right along! Here is an update of what is happening in the classroom:

• Students are making breakfast for themselves every Friday. In October, students had cereal and milk. November we will have bagels and cream cheese.

• Students are making lunch for themelves once a week – Thursday or Friday depending on when we receive our grocery order. In October they made chicken wraps. In November they will make tortilla pizzas. You will receive a note in your student’s folder if they are scheduled to make lunch.

• Popcorn Sale on Friday’s for $1. This is part of a program we developed with Mrs. King’s classroom. Each week we take turns hosting a movie day. The students make the popcorn, measure, package, and deliver the popcorn to the students. They also help set up the banquet room with chairs, and set up the equipment to show the movie. We also work on appropriate social skills for a movie theater.

• In curriculum, we continue to work on using a planner, looking at the weather to determine what to wear, using a time card, manners and food groups.

• October 24 and 31st will be going to Leo’s Coney Island for breakfast. The class is broken into two groups for this activity, so one group will be going on the 24th and the other on the 31st. Information will come home in their folders on Monday of the week your student is scheduled to attend. While there, we work on: ordering from a menu, paying a cashier, leaving a tip, manners, etiquette and social skills.

Reminders:

• A sign up for parent-teacher conferences was sent out last week through Remind. Please sign up through the link if you would like to meet with us.

• Monday Oct 30th is our bowling party. The cost is $11 and will include cheese pizza, pop, bowling and shoes. Money is due Friday October 27th. Most students have paid, just waiting on a few others. Don’t want anyone to miss out! (Please no costumes)

Upcoming Dates:

October 27th – Half day – dismissal at 11:30

November 7 – No School – Professional Development

November 22-24 – No School – Thanksgiving Break

**Every Tuesday is Early Release – Dismissal at 1:50

Students will be bringing home a lot of information today! The most important thing is an amendment to their IEP that changes the number of hours from 32 to 30.5 to account for the redistribution of instructional time and early release days. Students who are their own guardians will sign the paperwork themselves, if we are unsure of guardianship or know that the parent is the guardian, the paperwork will be in their folders when they get home today. Please be sure to sign and return by tomorrow. The change in hours is effective beginning 10/9/23.

Other information to look for:

• Halloween Bowling Party on 10/30/23

• Lunch at Hype on 10/5/23

Also, on 10/6/23 we will begin our Friday breakfast program at Hype. Students will have cereal (cheerios) and bananas for breakfast. We will work on skills such as measuring, pouring, setting the table, cleaning up, food groups, manners and social skills. We have enough supplies for the first week. If anyone would like to donate items we can always use the following:

• Plastic silverwear – forks, spoons, knives
• Napkins
• Paper plates
• Paper bowls (big enough for cereal and milk)

That’s it for now! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time!

~Camp and Cote

Hello! Permission slips and schedules for student job sites will be coming home today. There is a lot of infomation on that page so please make sure you look it over carefully. Some things have changed since last year and we want to make sure everyone is on the same page before we begin. Please return the permission slips tomorrow, Friday Sept. 29th. Job sites begin Monday, October 2nd.

Highlights:

• All students will bring a lunch to school this year regardless of work location.

• Students are expected to come to school with good personal hygiene, as this is part of being a responsible employee and member of the community.

• Students must be present in school by 9 a.m. or a substitue will be assigned to their work location.

• CBI (Target, Leo’s Coney Island, Meijer, etc) will be on Tuesday’s. We are working on creating a schedule and a calendar, more information will be available and sent home on Monday. Our first CBI trip will be Tuesday, October 3.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us. Our classroom phone is 313-701-7985.

~Camp and Cote

Hello! Just a few quick updates for you as we are crusing through September!

Job Sites/CBI – We just received our schedule from transportation and we will be working on putting groups together this week. We will begin going out into the community October 2. We will send your students schedule home with them. As you know, some job sites provided lunch last year. At this time, I do not know if that will be the same this year or not, we will let you know.

Phone calls/texts – Thank you so much to those of you who are texing us with your students’ absences. It is so helpful. Just a reminder, if you do need to speak with us, please leave a message. If we are unable to answer that means we are working with the students. Unless there is an emergency, please only call one time. Calling multiple times in a row will not allow us to respond any quicker. We will get back to you within 24 hours, but most likely, within the same day. If there is an emergency, please text the classroom phone when possible (we will see it faster).

Illness – There seems to be a little bug or maybe some allergies going around. Please keep students home if they are sick and we will mark them excused. Students are never penalized for missing school due to illness. Aside from the obvious signs of illness (fever, vomiting, etc.) if your student is too sick to complete classwork or attend a job site, they should stay home. If students are in school, they will be expected to participate in all the activities their peers are participating in.

Upcoming Dates:

October 3 – No School, Professional Development

October 10, 17, 24, 31 – Early Release, dismissal 1:50 p.m.

October 27 – 1/2 Day – Dismissal 11:30 a.m.

October 30 – Field Trip to Ford Lanes Bowling Alley – details will be provided later

We are already at the end of the first week! Even if it is a short week, we feel accomplished! If you have a new student in our class, they have made a great adjustment into their new classroom. We are so happy to have them here. Our returning students have jumped back in like they never left. In addition, we have two new paraprofessionals in our room, Mrs. Beydoun and Ms. Maha. They are a wonderful addition to our class already. Overall, it has been one of the best first weeks of school we’ve ever had!

That being said, I know busing has been troublesome. We are in constant communication with transportation, informing them on things that are happening on our end. We are hoping things will be ironed out quickly. If you have any issues, please contact transportation at 313-827-3300. The only way they can help is by knowing what is going on!

On Tuesday, we will begin our healthy lunch program. Students will be competing for points and prizes. Points are awarded for bringing in fruits, vegetables, water, etc. A further explanation will be sent home today. In addition, you will also be receiving a “student snapshot”. This is just to give you an idea of where your student should be, or what they should be working towards, upon completing our program. It does not mean they need to be there NOW – but this will give you a good feel of what we are working towards and what you can work on at home as well.

As always if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Have a great weekend!

~Camp and Cote

Upcoming Dates:

September 1-4 – No School, Labor Day Weekend

October 3 – No School

October 10, 17, 24, 31 – Early Release, students dismissed at 1:50 p.m.

October 27 – Half Day – Students dismissed at 11:30 a.m.

It has been great welcoming back the students today! It sounds like everyone had a great summer and are ready to be back! Since our new families are not signed up for the blog yet, I will be sending home a paper note today with a few reminders as well as supplies the students will need. Please have supplies to school by next Tuesday at the latest.

Please be patient with phone calls and texts, as we both have a full caseload this year. We will return messages within the school day, but we may not be immediately available if we are teaching or in the community.

Early releases will begin in October. Students will be dismissed at 1:50. For those of you who have outside appointments/therapies, this is a great time to schedule those appointments so that your student is not missing instructional time.

If you have any issues regarding busing – please call the transportation department at 313-827-3300.

On a final note, for the safety of all, visitors are asked to check in at the front desk before proceeding up to our rooms. Thank you for your understanding.

We are looking forward to a great year!

Another great school year is almost complete! Thank you for the support you give to the students and to us as their teachers. The students have done an amazing job, and we’ve seen a lot of maturity and growth throughout the year.

Thank you for your generosity in donating to our different programs, and most recently, the class picnic. It was a huge success. We had beautiful weather, good food, and good music! Look for pictures on our Facebook page later today. (Dearborn Transition Program)

We’d also like to thank our wonderful parapro’s, we couldn’t do it without them. They are often the ones “in the trenches” with the students, at the job sites and in the community. They care for our students, keep up with their birthdays, and special needs. They help them develop independence and create successes in all that they do. We are very fortunate to have two of the best, Ms. Khadija and Ms. Samia, as well as a wonderful sub, Ms. Sabah.

Congratulations to our students who are exiting this year – Zeinab, Munasar and Aisha. I’ve known most of you since you were in preschool!!! It’s hard to believe! We will miss you so much! Please keep in touch and visit us when you can! We wish you the very best!

Before we go, we want to wish all of you a wonderful summer! We hope you are able to enjoy time with your families and just relax! It’s time to recharge our batteries so we can do it all over again next year. See you in the fall!

~Mrs. Camp

~Ms.Cote

So far the weather looks good for our class picnic next week! Of course, we could not do it without your help! Donation forms are coming home today for those who are willing and able to contribute. If your student does not like hot dogs, they are welcome to bring their lunch that day and still participate in all the fun. They can have all the other things we will have – chips, pop and cake! Please review the donation form, select a 1st and 2nd choice, and send back to school by Wednesday. We will send you a confirmation of your donation by Thusday. If you are unable to donate at this time, there are no worries. All students will be included in our picnic regardless!

As a reminder – this is the last full week of school. Next Thursday, June 15th, is our last day of school, dismissal is at 11:30.