Cooperative Corner
August 2024
Happy New Year!
Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful holiday break, filled with time to recharge and enjoy the season. As we start the new year, let’s bring that energy and enthusiasm back with us into our work. I’m excited to see the amazing things we’ll accomplish together in the coming months.
I want to officially welcome Claire Smith to the SASED Administrative Team. Many of you know Claire by her outstanding work she performs as a member of our SIIS team. Claire will be serving in the role of the Assistant Program Administrator of Curriculum and Instruction. This is a newly created position designed to support the staff and students at Southeast. Be sure to extend your congratulations to Claire next time you see her. Welcome Claire to your new role!
As we move forward into this new year, I want to wish each of you a year full of success, growth, and fulfillment. Let’s continue to support one another, stay inspired, and work together to achieve great things. I’m confident that with our collective effort, we’ll make this year truly outstanding.
Warm regards,
Dr. Kim Dryier
This link provides a comprehensive Midterm Update for our Strategic Plan. This is the same update that was provided to our Board last Wednesday. Please take some time to review the progress we are making. The Survey data is also included.
It was an absolute delight to share our data with our Board. We have much work to do, but we are on the right path. Thank you to everyone for a fabulous first semester!
There is still time to sign up for bowling. And, we are still looking for volunteers to assist with our first ever 5K and Special Olympics. Click below to learn more.
MVE- MOST VALUABLE EMPLOYEE
MVE Program Returns for Second Semester – Nominate an Exceptional Staff Member!
We are excited to bring back the MVE (Most Valuable Employee) program for the second semester! This initiative gives us the opportunity to continue recognizing the outstanding staff members who contribute so much to the success of our organization.
You can recommend a staff member from any role: teacher, teacher assistant, nurse, administrator, bus driver, OT/PT, technology staff, and more. Each MVE recipient will be honored with a special gift and acknowledged at the Board of Directors meeting.
Criteria for Nomination: When nominating someone, consider the following:
- Recognizing employees who exhibit exemplary achievement, performance, and contributions beyond their usual duties.
- Acknowledging those who inspire and support others in achieving success.
- Highlighting individuals who demonstrate a positive attitude, professionalism, and commitment to their responsibilities.
- Recognizing staff who show servant leadership and take initiative to benefit the organization as a whole.
Second Semester Focus:
- Focus 1 (January 1 - March 13): Excellent Teamwork
- Focus 2 (March 16 - May 15): Innovation and Creativity
Recognition Dates: MVE winners will be honored at the March 19 and May 21 Board of Directors meetings.
To nominate an outstanding staff member, please complete the Google Form. We can’t wait to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our incredible team!
Our Board of Directors met on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Remember-our Board of Directors Meetings are now recorded. You can find the posting of the recording on our website on the Board of Directors tab. It will be posted the Friday after every Board of Directors Meeting. A summary of this month’s Board Meeting includes:
Our Board Meeting was hosted at Southeast this month. Prior to the start of our Board Meeting, Board Members were led on a tour of our Southeast. Next month our meeting will be held at Lisle South. Tours will be offered to Board Members at Lisle South.
Our Board approved the consent agenda, including our personnel recommendations-including Claire Smith in the new position of Assistant Program Administrator of Curriculum and Instruction, and additional SIP day in February, and our financial reports.
Room assignments for ESY were finalized. Classroom assignments for the 2024/2025 school year will be finalized at the February Board Meeting.
A Memorandum of Agreement was approved between our Board and the SASED Education Association, IEA-NEA to amend the last sentence in Article V, Section 5.1, Subsection C of the CBA to the following:
In no event will an employee’s total annual year to year creditable earnings
increase exceed six percent (6%), except that this limit shall not apply with
respect to payments made in accordance with approved timesheets for the
following:
Voluntary extra duties pursuant to Section 5.11 of the CBA;
Bus duty pursuant to Section 5.15 of the CBA;
Set up days pursuant to Section 5.16 of the CBA;
Missed plan time pursuant to Section 7.6 of the CBA;
Internal substitution pursuant to Section 7.7 of the CBA;
Stipend work identified in Appendix E of the CBA; and
Work in an extended school year (ESY) position during summer 2025
or summer 2026.
A contract was approved to work with PMA Securities to assist identifying financial options to support our facility planning.
SASED Enrollment report was reviewed. Our program enrollment is holding strong between 380-390 students.
The HR report identified 28.5 unfilled positions, an increase of 13.5 since last month.
VP Trinh from ARCON met with 7 focus groups prior to our holiday break. He will provide a report to the Facility Planning Committee on January 23, 2025.
The following presentation was shared with the Board offering a Midterm Update to our Strategic Plan.
The ESY Classroom Projections were shared.
SASED is applying for the Separate Public Special Education Day School Reimbursement. Recently, legislation was amended to allow free standing cooperative schools to be included in the public day reimbursement formula.
We currently have 625 participants signed up for the February 28 Spring Institute Day.
NAMI resources for parents to support students over long breaks.
“Guide to PUNS.” You can find it here.
Shared Journeys: Staff and Parent Experiences at SASED Video988
Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH)
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program has had a great first semester. Our hearing itinerants and audiology department are continuing to help districts and students navigate Central Auditory Processing cases as well as handle all of our typical referrals, consult minutes and direct minutes with students. In our self-contained program, classes have been targeting specific language structures to work on as a whole team across grade levels which has encouraged a more comprehensive approach and great discussion between collaborators. Multiple early childhood and elementary classes have started predictable chart writing and students have shown improvement in related reading and writing skills. Special activities throughout the program have included dog therapy visits, community trips, a viewing of Hinsdale South's Deaf Drama performance, a field trip to NSSEO's Sunrise Lake Outdoor Education Center and a picnic with NSSEO's middle school program. Creating opportunities for students to interact with Deaf and Hard of Hearing peers from other programs has helped the team work on social skills and pragmatic language.
Pathways @ Southeast
As the semester concluded at Pathways, just before winter break, the team took a moment to reflect on some of the outstanding achievements this fall. As we wrap up the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, we're proud to announce that six students have successfully transitioned back to their home schools, now attending full-time. Additionally, eight students have begun their part-time transition back to their home schools. The team is also thrilled to celebrate the graduation of two students who have completed all their high school requirements.We look forward to even more success in the second half of the year.
Structured Learning Environment (SLE)
SLE has had a wonderful start to the school year. Our classrooms ventured out on community trips to places like Bass Pro Shop, Yorktown Mall, Denny’s, and Dollar Tree. The students enjoyed making shopping lists, planning menu choices, and paying for their items.
We welcomed a new teacher, Jasmine Simpson, to our K-3 staff at the start of 2025. She completed her student teaching with us this fall and is eager to have her own classroom.
We are excited for an eventful spring and continuing to see our students grow!
Lisle South (SMNP)
SMNP has had a fantastic start to the year. In November, the students voted for their school mascot and school colors. We are the SASED Lisle South Linx, home of the blue and black! We had our very first picture day in December. Our students invited their parents in to participate in 6 stations of winter activities. We also practiced being an audience member for Chesterton Academy choir. We have also welcomed 4 volunteers into our classrooms from Chesterton to engage with our students within the classroom.
The classrooms continue to work on ELA and Math lessons, while incorporating any chance to socialize with each other. The Lisle library is a favorite spot for the students to practice independence, decision making, and recreation skills.
We welcome 2 new students to our program, and look forward to 4 more joining us soon.
Transition
Transition has been attending our monthly bowling trips, learning vocational skills, and practicing their independence and decision making skills during community instruction.
Our students hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for their families in November. The student’s worked hard learning about food prep and handling, shopping and budgeting for the ingredients, and social skills to carry over into similar events.
The next workplace topic will focus greatly on the soft skills needed for successful employment and integration.
The team is scheduling monthly day programming tours and our vision classrooms within Transition is working hard on advocacy and independence. Our students in Transition will be selling program made materials in the vendor hall of the Illinois AER Vision Conference.
The Program participated in a group recreational activity to the movies and our vision students were offered Audio Description, which allowed for participation.
Later in the Spring, the program will attend a swimming day!
Vision
Project SEARCH
In November, interns applied and interviewed for two internship departments. We practiced and put our interviewing skills to the test. Interns received one offer letter. To wrap up Round 1, interns chose a mentor who impacted them most during the first 10 weeks. These influential mentors received a certificate of appreciation from interns!
In December, we celebrated with a potluck- style party in the Project Search classroom. The group played holiday games and participated in team-building activities. We were able to practice work- party etiquette and most importantly, have fun after all the interns’ hard work in their departments.
OT/PT Highlights
Exciting things have been happening in OT and PT here at SASED and across the cooperative!!
Elmhurst OTs are using a new assistive device as part of a grant to help facilitate independence with coloring, drawing and painting!
OTs in SASED Transition are supporting self-regulation for students throughout the day!
OTs and PTs have been engaging in PD topics/activities to stay on top of best practices in our work with students. Topics include:
Neurodiversity Affirming Practices: Applications for School-Based OT and PT Practitioners
PDMS-3 (new edition): Administration, Scoring, and Guidance for OTPT’s.
OT & PT Fall Conference at NIU in October.
Our OTs and PTs have also provided SASED program and member district trainings for staff including:
Creating Supportive Environments for School Success to SASED DHH North staff (Sherilyn Genin, OTPT Coord. & Greg Tomita, OT Presenters)
Handwriting: Strategies and Support for Students in D45 (Maria Bettler, Lead OT, Natasha Omel-Edwards, OT & Jen Elias OT presenters)
Parent training in Elmhurst schools for Sensory Regulation (Kelly Krueger, OT presenter).
Emergency evacuation training for school staff in Elmhurst building (Colleen Peterson, Lead PT presenter)
SIIS Program Highlights
The School Improvement, Instructional Support, Professional Development, and Assistive Technology (SIIS) team has been busy providing individual student instructional / behavioral support services, assistive technology evaluations and consultations, professional learning opportunities for our program staff and member districts, coaching services on team projects with SASED and member districts, and training our member districts’ and SASED faculty in the Crisis Prevention Institute’s Nonviolent Crisis Intervention.
During the 24-25 school year the SIIS team / instructional coaches have provided instructional / behavioral coaching services for 96 individual student cases, 68 team requests for assistive technology services, 62 team projects, and 47 requests for professional development.
We are expanding our professional learning repertoire and actively participating in our own continued professional development through several reputable organizations including but not limited to FTF Consultants, Crisis Prevention Institute, Institute for Brain Potential, Kagan, the Illinois Council of Instructional Coaching, the Dupage Regional Office of Education, Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Digital Educators Alliance, University of North Carolina TEACCH Autism Program, and Closing the Gap.
Your Thoughts and Ideas Truly Matter
At SASED, we are united in our mission to enhance communication across our cooperative. We deeply value each and every opinion and encourage all stakeholders to share their thoughts and ideas. Your suggestions are not only welcomed but are essential in helping us reach our shared goals. By working together, we can build a vibrant and supportive culture that enriches the everyday experiences of both our students and staff! Please share your thoughts and suggestions here or click on the suggestion box. Please know, your email address is being collected to allow for potential further dialogue regarding your idea/suggestion.
The End of Windows 10
If you own an older Windows computer, you have most likely been heavily encouraged by Microsoft to update to Windows 11 before it's too late. However, your computer might be too old to be compliant with Windows 11 without a fast enough processor or a TPM security chip installed. While you could continue using an old unsupported version, you risk being susceptible to malware or other attacks without continued Windows updates. Some apps like Office 365 might also not be compatible with Windows 10 soon. If you haven't yet checked to see if you can upgrade, you should do that. You might need to budget for a new computer. One free alternative to bring an old computer some new life would be to install ChromeOS Flex which turns an old Windows computer into a chromebook. We are exploring those options here to find ways to reuse old devices and keep them safe!
Here are some articles discussing the national teacher shortage:
What Will Teacher Shortages Look Like in 2024 and Beyond?
Illinois Teacher Shortage Persists, Survey Finds
Previous Readings:
Supporting Student Behavior After Breaks
Helping Students Cope With Returning to School After Winter Break
“How to Slow Down and Savor the Holidays”
“Six Ways to Keep Your Cool During the Holidays”
10 Evidence-based instructional strategies for the classroom
COVID-19 Pandemic triggers 25% increase in prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide
"Trauma Informed Teaching Strategies"
"Why Teachers Should Be Trauma Informed"
"How to Practice Self Compassion: 8 Technique and Tips"
What does a drummer name his twin daughters?
Anna 1 Anna 2
Submitted by Joan Burger
How does the moon cut his hair?
Eclipse it
Submitted my Nicole Nunziato
Thank you Joan and Nicole for bringing a little laughter to our day!
Please continue to submit your jokes to Dr. Dryier at kdryier@sased.org.
Send a Little Sunshine
Please continue to send in your requests for a sunshine! The committee has received over 45 sunshine requests since we started at the end of September. The "You've Been Sunshined" program is a place where all staff can recognize and celebrate other staff, send a word of encouragement, or just celebrate them for a job well done. If you know of a staff member who could use a little sunshine and would like a little note of encouragement or celebration sent, please complete this form.