Dear Parents and Guardians,
Happy December! I
would like to begin by reminding everyone that the December Parent Coffee
is scheduled for this Wednesday from 9:00-10:00 am. Our topic for this session will be Special
Education at the Middle School, and I have invited Ms. Mary Ellen Madden, the
Middle School Special Education Supervisor to join us. We are planning to discuss the following:
- · What are some of the special education services that the middle school provides?
- · How does a student qualify for special education services?
- · What does an IEP (individualized Education Plan) do or do not do for a student?
- · What are the differences between an IEP and a 504 accommodation plan?
- · What are the differences between an accommodation and a modification?
- · How does the school work collaboratively with parents and guardians when a student continues to struggle while he or she is on an IEP?
I welcome all parents and guardians who are interested in
this discussion – regardless whether their students are currently receiving
special education services – to join us.
Please note that we will not be discussing specific cases,
families, or students during this session.
I also like to thank the McCall Parent Association for sponsoring the Parent Coffees.
Secondly, I would like to let everyone know that every day
our main office staff receives quite a lot of requests from parents to pass
along messages to their students or to remind their students to pick up items
such as lunches, music instruments, cell phones, or assignments that the family
members have dropped off for them.
Please know that the office staff works very hard not to interrupt the
class time, so we work to minimize the amount of PA announcements or calls into the classrooms. With that being said, we also
understand there are circumstances when parents need to pass along important
messages during the day or give students items they may not be expecting. In order to meet both demands, the office
staff will be making “call down” announcements during morning announcements at
8:30 am, right before the first lunch at 11:10 am, and at dismissal time which
is 3:07 pm. We will refrain from interrupting
instructions by making PA announcements or calls into classrooms in between
those three times unless extremely urgent matters arise.
I also hope I can count on everyone to help the school create
an disruption-free learning environment by asking our main office staff to call
down students only for urgent matters. As for forgotten lunches, please note that our
food services staff will always provide students with nutritious lunches if
they do not have one for any reason. Thank
you for your cooperation with this matter.
Lastly, I would like to remind all parents that we have
created a Quiet Lunch space in the library for all students who would like to
eat lunch in a calmer and less energetic environment. If you feel your students can benefit from
this resource, please encourage them to see Ms. Henchey, the librarian, and she
will help them access the Quiet Lunch space.
Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week,
James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School
