November 2022 Update from Special Education

November 14, 2022

Dear North Andover Families: 

I can’t believe we have already completed one quarter of the 2022 – 2023 school year.  It has been a successful start in so many ways.  The focus of our work continues to be on student equity and inclusion for all learners. Some specific training that will be continuing for our educators includes the following:

Continuing to work with Emily Platt on Universal Design for Learning; 
Educators from each building attending Orthography: A Pathway to Literacy Conference sponsored by MGH; 
Continuing training and professional development for our new elementary ELA resource, Wit and Wisdom;  
Ongoing professional development for our speech and language pathologists with Pam Ely and her colleagues from the Ely Center to further develop the district’s capacity to integrate therapies into the classroom setting to ensure that our students are receiving the most robust services; and 
Collaborating with Lisa Deiker, our 2022-2023 district keynote speaker, who will be back to work with middle and high school teachers for the January professional development day.
 
Our SEPAC continues to be extremely active, providing the community with guidance to help families navigate the world of special education through their meetings and collaboration. Recent events included the Special Education Basic Rights presentation which occurred on October 25 with Holly Vietzke-Lynch. This was a very well-attended event and we appreciate Holly’s guidance.  

Upcoming events include the celebration of SEPAC Awareness on November 18.   We are asking students and families to help raise awareness about the importance of our SEPAC by wearing yellow on that day.  Also, on October 25, our SEPAC Chairperson, Courtney Pham, and Vice Chairperson, Sasha Weinreich, attended the Select Board Meeting where the Select Board proclaimed the third Friday of every month SEPAC Awareness Day.

The North Andover SEPAC has sent out a parent survey to special education families and families of students on 504 plans.  Please be on the lookout for that survey.  If you do not receive the survey, it can be found on the North Andover Special Education page linked here.

Our next virtual SEPAC meeting is scheduled for December 5th. Please go to the North Andover SEPAC Facebook Page for more information about any upcoming events.
 
We were fortunate to have all of our professional positions filled with exceptional staff.  North Andover continues to retain a high rate of teaching professionals year after year, and I am grateful to have such dedicated and remarkable special educators in our District who continue to provide quality services for your children. We are so lucky to have a dedicated group of paraprofessionals who show up consistently to help support our students. However, we still have a few paraprofessional position openings across the District with minimal applicants. Please continue to spread the word regarding these openings, and if you know anybody who would be interested in filling one of these positions, please refer them to the District's Human Resources page on the North Andover Public School’s website linked here.
  
I encourage you all to reach out to me, your building principal, or the building-based evaluation team leaders/administrator if you have any questions or concerns about your student’s special education services. I am so lucky to be a part of this community and appreciate being able to work on behalf of your children and with such amazing educators.

Thank you for your continued support.

Marci Boccuzzi
Executive Director of Special Education
North Andover Public Schools

 

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