East San Gabriel Valley SELPA News

With graduations, promotions, and other celebrations occurring in schools across the member districts of the East San Gabriel Valley SELPA, we are reminded that another amazing school year is coming to a close. This newsletter highlights just some of the countless events occurring across the SELPA. The SELPA would like to extend appreciation to the district leaders, staff, parents, students, and community partners for their efforts in making the 2023-2024 school year a success!

The SELPA will be open throughout the summer to support all member districts with Extended School Year and a smooth transition into the 2024-2025 school year. Any families seeking support throughout the summer are welcome to contact the SELPA office at 626-966-1679.

Editions of the East San Gabriel Valley SELPA Newsletter will be released in the fall, winter, and summer of each school year. For questions, assistance, to be featured in a future newsletter, or to notify us of any events or activities throughout the SELPA, please contact us at 626-966-1679.

The Project SEARCH Program at the Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center held its Inaugural Cohort Graduates Ceremony on Wednesday, May 29th, 2024. The Project SEARCH program offers unique opportunities for workplace immersion by providing a blend of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training for student interns in selected departments of the hospital.

The graduation was led by the student interns and was attended by families, district administration, SELPA administration, agency partners, and numerous Kaiser Permanente leaders and staff who shared of the immense impact of having interns at the hospital this year.

For information about the Project Search Program please contact Sarah Ammon, Senior Director of Special Education at Baldwin Park USD, at sammon263@bpusd.net or 626-962-3311 extension 87596.

On Wednesday, May 29th, 2024, the SELPA Executive Director was honored to attend the Hockwalt Adult Resource and Transition Training Center (HARTT) Commencement Ceremony. The event was heavily attended with attendees from Walnut Valley Unified School District's Governing Board, Executive Cabinet, families, community members and partners to celebrate the graduates of an amazing group of students. The ceremony included student speeches, presentations, remarks from HARTT teachers, leadership, and Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor. We look forward to hearing about the future successes of this amazing cohort of students!

The Coalition for Adequate Funding for Special Education (CAFSE) 2024 Federal Advocacy Trip was held the week of May 6, 2024 in Washington D.C. to support issues related to special education.

This year, CAFSE sponsored our Community Advisory Committee Chair Tavia Lorese Lawson to attend along with Dr. Turner, SELPA Executive Director who was sponsored by the SELPA Administrators of California. Ms. Lawson and Dr. Turner were part of a group 12 representatives from all parts of California, including lobbyist Michelle McKay Underwood of School Services of California. This multi-day event provided participants the opportunity to meet with Senators, members of Congress, and their respective staff to advocate on issues related to special education. The trip was successful in getting multiple California representatives to Co-Sponsor legislation around full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and we look forward to further progress as we prepare for the 50th Anniversary of the enactment of IDEA next year.

In the spring of 2024, the SELPA Executive Director, Special Education Directors and Community Advisory Committee (CAC) parents joined other SELPA leaders, parents and various organizations in Sacramento and Washington D.C. to advocate for increased funding for federally mandated special education programs. They met with legislators and staffers to discuss key funding issues relating to Special Education. Advocacy efforts such as these have resulted in some form of increased funding, including increased AB 602 funding rates and additional Alternative Dispute Resolution grant funds. Our SELPA will continue to actively participate in these advocacy efforts to ensure our students are served and provided quality education.

CDE has released the Federal Mental Health Grant Award Notifications and sent directly to each LEA across California. A Padlet was created by CDE specific to the Federal Mental Health grant where LEAs can find the guidance with helpful resources to assist LEAs in completing the required reports and ensuring that funds are used appropriately.

Locally at the SELPA, Business Administrators from all our member LEAs gather three to four times throughout the year to discuss fiscal related topics. Updates are provided by the SELPA Executive Director and Financial Operations Analyst on various Special Education funding and local SELPA revenue and expenditure allocations. Input is gathered from the group on various SELPA procedures and documents which includes the Annual Budget Plan, SELPA Operational Budget, Revenue Allocation Plan, Agreement for Special Education Local Plan Administration and Transportation agreement, to name a few.

Please contact the SELPA Financial Operations Analyst Michelle Dela Cruz at mdelacruz@esgvselpa.org for any fiscal-related questions.

The 2023−2024 End-of-Year (EOY) submission window opened on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The certification deadline is July 26, 2024. Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) are strongly recommended to resolve all fatal errors by July 12th so there is enough time to review and certify accurate data for the California School Dashboard (Dashboard). LEAs are expected to approve their EOY 1 - 4 submissions by the certification deadline, and Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) are strongly encouraged to approve the EOY 3 and 4 submissions by this date. LEAs and SELPAs must approve and certify all EOY submissions by the final amendment deadline of August 16, 2024.

For technical support or assistance with CALPADS, please contact Lucky Do at ldo@esgvselpa.org.

The SELPA ASD Program has adopted the element "GOLD" as our symbol. Not only does the AU represent Autism, but it also represents the fact that our students, families, and staff are precious, rare, and highly valued.

We are proud to announce the addition of a new ASD-Intermediate continuum of TK - 6th grade classrooms! Thanks to the partnership with Charter Oak Unified School District, we are adding 4 new classrooms to our program, effective Fall, 2024. Special thanks to our ESGV SELPA District Directors and Superintendents' Council who have supported the growth of our program over the years. We appreciate the opportunity to implement evidence-based practices in 35 classes across 5 member districts to support students with Autism and their families!

Our Autism Teams would like to do a very special “Shout Out” to our amazing school psychologists who support our programs. This year we have leaned heavily on the support of these amazing professionals and their expertise, guidance, professionalism, and partnership. Our school psychologists are not only expert assessors, but they are truly gifted with their ability to provide social and emotional support to our students and families. Special thanks to the following incredible people:

From ESGV SELPA: Bobby Antillon: SELPA School Psych supporting our

classes in Glendora USD and Charter Oak USD & SELPA CPI Trainer

From ESGV SELPA: Trina Guillen: SELPA BCBA and CPI Trainer

From Bonita USD: Dr. Angela Davis, Chris Holloway, and Dr. Erin Ramirez

From Covina-Valley USD: Elizabeth Leeper

From Glendora USD: Jada Richards

From Charter Oak USD: Greg Palatto, Lori Hidalgo, and Megan Wiard

From Walnut Valley USD: Christy Tien, Cindy Hsaio, Vanessa Cisneros, and Mary Aizumi

Thank you for your care, guidance and dedication to our students, families, and teams! We are incredibly grateful for you!

Ausome Eagles is an inclusive club at Evergreen Elementary in Walnut Valley USD dedicated to promoting understanding and interaction among all students. This club provides a welcoming environment where children of all abilities can play, interact, and learn together. Through diverse activities and events, Ausome Eagles fosters friendships, encourages mutual respect, and helps bridge the gap between students with autism and their peers. By participating in this club, students gain valuable experiences in empathy, teamwork, and community building, making Evergreen a more inclusive and supportive school for everyone. Thank you to Principal Dr. Cardenas, Autism Program Specialist Jen Martinez, and teachers Brittany Saucedo and Cassandra Loyd for supporting inclusive practices!

Best Buddies is off to a “Au”some start at Badillo Elementary School in Charter Oak USD!! In collaboration with our site Principal Mrs. Connie Monroe, our teacher Ms. Janet Lee, and our Program Specialist Heidi Torres, our 3rd Grade ASD-I classes have been facilitating cooking, playing and art projects with their peer partners in order to increase social skills and communication opportunities. Great work, Badillo Team!

Our wonderful Speech and Language Pathologist, Sydney Preston, was able to bring her families’ therapy dog to campus last month! The students enjoyed taking time to get to know “Ellie” while sharing stories about their own pets. They also practiced using adjectives, reciprocating conversational turn taking skills, and simply enjoyed spending time with this new little friend! Thank you for sharing Ellie with us, Sydney!

CAPTAIN (California Autism Professional Training and Information Network) and SIP (Supporting Inclusive Practices) present: “Building Your Toolbox to Support Inclusive Practices”.

We are thrilled to announce the CAPTAIN CLIC 7th Annual EBP (Evidence-Based Practices) Conference! This year’s event is dedicated to empowering educators with practical EBPs that can be integrated into the General Education setting to support students with diverse needs. Join us for a day filled with insightful sessions and collaborative learning. Bring your General Ed staff, MTSS teams, Special Education Specialists, parents, and friends to discover strategies that foster inclusive practices for all students.

We are especially excited to feature Kevin Schaefer from SIP as our keynote speaker, who will share his invaluable expertise and insights with our attendees.

A special thank you to Hacienda-LaPuente USD/SELPA for graciously providing their stunning facilities, making this remarkable event possible!

If you have further questions, please contact Jennifer Wolfe at jwolfe@esgvselpa.org or feel free to reach out to your CLIC Cadre members within your SELPA for more information.

February was a special month for us as we celebrated “Love the Bus", a time to express our gratitude to the dedicated school bus driver professionals. Their commitment to safety makes the journey to and from school possible for our students. The East San Gabriel Valley SELPA Transportation Office, in partnership with Durham School Services, commemorated this initiative with delicious Chick-fil-A sandwiches, celebrating the hard work of our drivers.

In recognition of having an impeccable safety track record, Durham proudly awarded safety jackets to drivers Rosita Herrera, Roxanne Montoya, and Ray Diaz. These jackets symbolize their remarkable achievement of three consecutive full years with zero accidents and injuries. Congratulations!

Introducing CC the Bear - short for Child Check, the newest member of our safety team! CC has an important role in promoting awareness among bus drivers to conduct thorough inspections, making sure no student is left behind. CC is randomly placed in various school buses, and drivers who successfully locate CC are rewarded with an award from the management team. This initiative has proven to be a fantastic method of maintaining a laser focus on student safety.

On April 23, 2024, we celebrated School Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Our school bus drivers were treated to sweet candy apples and refreshing ice cream as a token of our appreciation. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our school bus driver professionals who safely transport our students each day.

The SELPA Transportation office had the privilege of transporting over 80 students from Sumner Danbury Elementary School, Claremont Unified School District, to the LA County Fair on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Sumner Danbury Elementary School operates a highly supportive SELPA program for students with needs related to orthopedic impairments and medical fragility, with students attending the program from throughout all member districts of the SELPA. On this particular day, the usually lively fair observed "Quiet for Thoughtful Thursday", establishing a "sensory-inclusive" environment for all attendees. All carnival noises were minimized, and the lighting was adjusted to accommodate individuals with special needs or neurological or developmental conditions such as autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Seeing the students' joy as they enjoyed a day full of activities with their classmates was heartwarming.

Thank you for your continued support of the East San Gabriel Valley SELPA Transportation Department. We look forward to another successful year in 2024-2025! For transportation related questions please contact 626-966-1670, option 2.

The ESGV SELPA currently provides consultation services to 22 Private Schools in the East San Gabriel Valley. Our Annual Timely and Meaningful Consult Meeting is coming up in September. Representatives from each private school are invited to attend and learn how SELPA can help support parentally placed private school students as well as share their consultation preferences and concerns.

For the 2023-2024 school year, school visits, observations, and consultations were conducted during the Fall months. In February, the ESGV SELPA hosted an exciting Professional Learning opportunity by Flipp the Switch authors Carol Burmeister and Dr. Sheri Wilkins. Individual consultations continued through Spring with some private schools opting for whole school consultation meetings or setting up consultation meetings with both the current teacher of a student with a service plan, as well as the teacher the student will have in the Fall to support transitions.

For information about private school consultation please contact Nassim Saeedy, Private School Consultant/Special Education Teacher, at 626-966-1679.

With the dedicated support of our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) members, workshops and other events will be made available to families throughout the SELPA and can be found on our website or our social media page linktr.ee.

This year's Legislative Sharing Day was held on May 1, 2024 at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The event is organized by SELPA Administrators of California. SELPA leaders, special education leaders, and parents met with legislators and staffers to discuss key special education issues. A huge thank you to three of our Community Advisory Committee representatives Marine Harper, Raquel Worley, Gloria Clark, student Christopher Clark, and our two Special Education Directors Brian Murray and Sarah Estrada for attending this year's event and meeting with 7 representatives from the California Assembly and Senate to support issues related to special education!

For questions, assistance, or to receive information on upcoming CAC events please email the East San Gabriel Valley SELPA Community Advisory Committee (ESGV SELPA CAC) at cac@esgvselpa.org or visit our social media page linktr.ee.

The Walnut Valley Unified School District is proud to acknowledge the hard work and dedication from our Adult Transition Program and the collaboration with our Career and Vocational Assistant, Patricia Velazquez and her team of Job Coaches. Over the past two years Mrs. Velazquez has taken the initiative to work with our small business community partners to provide work experience and competitive integrated employment for our students. On May 8th, the City of Walnut recognized our work experience program offered at the HARTT Center for our adult transition students. The City of Walnut also honored and recognized the four small businesses that we are currently partnering with through Workability, which include Puffect Bakery, Friends Fur Ever, Common Corners, and Little Elephants Kids Place.

On May 13th one of our small business partners hosted a Tea Party with our adult transition students working the event to showcase the Employment Initiative Grant received through the Department of Rehabilitation. Puffect Bakery owner, Cherie Liu, has created a strong partnership with our district and has supported our students with providing opportunities to work events. The tea was attended by the Department of Rehabilitation, Executive Director of the ESGV SELPA, Superintendent of the Walnut Valley Unified School District, City Representatives, Parents, Director of Special Education, and District Staff. The event brought everyone together and created that sense of community and showed why these partnerships are so valuable for our students as well as for the small businesses.

The Tea Party is a collaborative event planned by ATP students, teachers Ellen Lopez & Rudi Aguilar, Job Coach Desiree Thompson, Puffect Bakery Cafe Owner Cherie Liu, and the WCUSD Work Experience Program.

This event serves multiple objectives. The WCUSD WorkAbility I and We Can Work grants enable students with disabilities to gain work experience and competitive integrated employment. The work experience project is a true partnership established at the state level through nonfinancial agency agreements between the State Department of Education, the Department of Employment Development, and the Department of Rehabilitation, and elevates awareness in the private sector of the employment potential of individuals with exceptional needs. Engaging in these events provides our students access to a range of services from our program, such as cultivating work readiness, work-based learning, self-advocacy, transition support, family participation, life-skills development and fostering partnerships & collaboration. Thank you to all that attended the event!

In March, Bonita USD hosted their annual Bonita Sports Festival for Students with Disabilities. Students from across the District congregated at the San Dimas High School Football field for a day filled with fun activities that included modified track and field events. Students participated in modified versions of sprints, javelin throws, long jump and shot put. A great time was had by all! Special thanks to Andrea Castaneda for her exceptional organization of the event and to Jason Sandoval for his photography.

The ESGV SELPA is composed of 16 Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) with a combined average daily attendance of approximately 86,000 students. Member LEAs include Azusa USD, Baldwin Park USD, Bassett USD, Bonita USD, Charter Oak USD, Claremont USD, Covina-Valley USD, Glendora USD, Walnut Valley USD, West Covina USD, San Jose Charter Academy, California Virtual Academy @ LA, iQ Academy, Opportunities for Learning-Baldwin Park, Options for Youth-San Bernardino, and Options for Youth-Duarte.

Email: sturner@esgvselpa.org
Website: www.esgvselpa.org
Location: 1400 Ranger Drive, Covina, CA, USA
Phone: (626) 966-1679