
Greetings Parents, Students and Friends,
The expansion efforts in our secondary program the past two years
have been very successful. To make it happen we: informed schools we
were expanding, hired new staff in the secondary program and added four
support staff positions to the school team. We knocked down walls, added
splashes of color in our new spaces, bought new desks and chairs,
created a media lab that includes a Young Adult Library, computer
stations and a SMART board and brought in new students to fill the
secondary classrooms.
The 2006-2007 school year at The Providence Center School is
The Year of
Engagement. The idea is
to strengthen the Circle of Support initiative - to bring it up close
and personal and be more closely engaged with students in class, school,
home and the community.
This will mean a shift in support staff involvement moving from a
teaching-modeling approach to more observation, engagement and
recommendations. For instance, the speech pathologist might be in the
classroom during instruction during a particular subject. She would
observe seating, staff proximity, noise levels, materials etc.
Information and specific recommendations are then shared with the
classroom team about the findings during the observed period.
Suggestions might include moving a seat or seats, having the teacher
assistant in closer proximity and engaged with a particular student or
students or taking someone from the room to work quietly in a different
area, suggesting the teacher walk around the class while instructing, a
follow-up activity that might suit different learning styles, etc.
The Circle of Support
initiative will continue to focus on increasing attendance, improving
participation, building stronger connections to our students' home
schools and enhancing our academic and social/emotional program. The
Getting Ahead Period (GAP) and Alternate Learning Environment (ALE) and
Life Skills components will continue to develop. We remain committed to
improving connections to the sending school to develop and support
transition and inclusion opportunities from the first day of enrollment.
It’s going to be very busy at The Providence Center School this
year. We appreciate and recognize the positive impact of partnering with
colleagues, students, families, community agencies and local school
districts. We remain committed to improving the learning experience for
all students and look forward to working together during
The Year of Engagement.