SSD Lindbergh Schools
August 2023 Community Engagement Newsletter
Back to School Bash Welcomes Families to the 23-24 School Year!
Partnering with families is crucial to promote our students' success. We encourage you to stay connected with your student's case manager, special education coordinator, other families, and myself, your special education director for Lindbergh Schools, Dr. Joyce Doyle. The names of your SSD administrators and our contact information can always be found at the end of this monthly newsletter.
Your first chance to connect this year is by joining us at our Back to School Bash, hosted by LPAC, especially for our families of students who receive services. The Kona Ice truck will be back with a Klassic ice cup free to each family member (yes, you too Mom & Dad!) courtesy of Lindbergh Schools. And a new feature this year: the Mehlville Fire Department will be there with their truck and information about the STAR program. Helping our students not to fear a firefighter, decked out in special equipment, is vital to protecting children if an emergency ever actually occurs.
Where: Watson Trails Park - Sunset Hills
Shelter B & the accessible playground
When: Thursday, August 10th
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM
Other important dates to note on your calendar:
August 14 SSD staff return
August 16 Lindbergh staff return
August 14 - 25 SSD service providers will contact families
August 22 First day of school for students
September 4 Labor Day - no school
STAFF SPOTLIGHT FEATURING BRITTANY ZIMPFER
By Faith Rose, Ed.S.
INTRODUCTION
Brittany Zimpfer is a resource and social emotional learning teacher at Sperreng Middle School. She has been a teacher with The Special School District for 7 years. Brittany teaches reading, social, emotional, and behavioral skills to students in grades 6-8.
EDUCATION
Brittany attended Missouri State and received her bachelor’s degree in criminology with a minor in sociology and psychology before receiving her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Missouri Baptist University and her certification in Special Education Cross-Categorial K-12 for mild to moderate disabilities.
CAREER
Before coming to Sperreng, Brittany was a resource teacher at Kennerly Elementary. There she taught reading, math, writing, social, emotional, and behavioral skills to students in grades K-5. She was also named the Kennerly Teacher of the Year for the 21-22 school year. Brittany's colleagues were impressed with her ability to work with all students to help them reach their goals and to also work so closely with general education staff and parents to ensure students are exceeding expectations.
FAMILY
Brittany has been married for 5 years to her amazing husband, Jeremy. They have a 4 year old daughter, Rhylee who keeps them very busy.
WHAT IS BRITTANY UP TO NOW?
Brittany worked this past summer as the special education teacher in a Kindergarten Readiness Classroom. This is the first year Lindbergh and SSD piloted a co-taught summer warm-up for students with and without disabilities that might prepare them for Kindergarten experiences.
The goal for the program was to help students prepare for the general education classroom environment. The staff wanted to help students understand the expectations as a Kindergarten student. With Brittany’s extensive background, she and the co-teacher were able to help students master the skills of attending to an academic task, having a quiet voice, keeping hands to themselves, sharing, following directions, and controlling their body and emotions in order to sustain a task and get along well with others.
Brittany and her colleagues were able to present cooperative learning lessons that gave students the opportunity to practice the skills they were learning. Brittany said, “It gave the students the opportunity to fail in a safe place and learn what strategies worked best for them. It gave them more tools in their toolbox.”
Brittany felt the program benefited students 100%. She shared, “We also gave parents tools to help them work with their students at home.” Brittany believes the program helped to ease the tensions and nervousness about Kindergarten in a general education setting.
Brittany is excited for what this new school year will bring. She is one of many dedicated, hardworking special education teachers in the Lindbergh School District. She puts kids first and truly cares about not only the academic successes, but also the personal successes and well-being of her students and colleagues.
Thank you, Brittany, for all that you do for SSD-Lindbergh!
Favorite Quote: “You cannot cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”----- Rabindranath Tagore
Calming Corner
Rhylee
Summer Warm-Up Schedule
THINGS TO DO IN AUGUST
Back to School Bash!
Especially for Lindbergh families with children who receive services
Date:
08/10/23
Time:
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Watson Trails Park
Craftibility Inclusion Craft Class
Dates:
08/11/2023
Time:
10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m
Brentwood Community Center
Dates:
08/04/2023
Time:
10am
Community Partner Highlight
PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) is a 12-16 week social skills program for children, teens or young adults with autism. In this program, individuals are engaged in learning real-life skills for connecting with others, as well as building and maintaining friendships. Parents/Caregivers will also participate in the program and will be taught how to support and assist their child/young adult in making and keeping friends by coaching and providing feedback during weekly homework assignments.
This program is offered to three age groups:
Children’s Friendship Training: 3rd-5th graders
PEERS: Middle and high school aged students
PEERS for Young Adults: Individuals ages 18+ who are no longer in high school
New sessions will begin in August 2023.
A pre-program assessment to determine eligibility is required. Funding options include DDRB, DMH and Private Pay.
For more information and to see if you qualify, please contact our Admissions
Department at 314-394-7100 or via email info@esmw.org.
Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Workshops
Parent/Family Workshops
All of the workshops offered by FACE are provided free of charge and are open to all parents, families and community members.
After registering, participants will be provided with information about the platform that will be used for the workshop.
If you are unable to attend the live workshop, please still register so that we can send you the link to the recording a day or two after the workshop.
The workshops will be set up as webinars, so you will be able to see the panelists but not other attendees. Your confirmation and reminder email will contain information about how to submit questions to the panelists in advance, or you can use the chat and Q&A features during the workshop. If you have any questions, please let us know.
If you need more information, or if you require an alternative format as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, contact face@ssdmo.org, 314.989.8460 or 711 (Deaf/HOH).
Registration Options
To register for a workshop, please email face@ssdmo.org or call 314.989.8460.
The Family Resource Hub
The Family Resource Hub is where families and educators develop effective partnerships to improve student outcomes.
For more information visit the The Family Resource Hub.
The Family Resource Hub Satellite Food Pantry is located at North Tech High School which supports families with access to non-perishable food items and household supplies.
Lindbergh Special Education Coordinator Team
Shannon Jeralds
Special Education Coordinator - Truman Middle, Crestwood Elementary, Long Elementary & Sappington Elementary
314-989-8680
Special Education Coordinator - Sperreng Middle, Concord Elementary, Dressel Elementary & Kennerly Elementary
314-989-8202
Amanda Smith
Special Education Coordinator - Lindbergh High School
314-989-8381
Special School District of St. Louis County - Director Dr. Joy Doyle
Email: jmdoyle@ssdmo.org
Website: ssdmo.org
Phone: 314-989-8463