Welcome to Speech and Language

Welcome to a new and exciting school year! For our new students and incoming 3rd graders and families, I am Michelle Strunk and I am the Speech Therapist at Torrey Hill Intermediate School. For my 4th and 5th graders and families, welcome back, I have missed you all so much!

As you all know, this year will look different than previous years but I know your children will make lots of progress on their goals and we will have lots of fun at the same time!

My name is Michelle Strunk and I have been a Speech Therapist for 13 years. I love everything about speech! I absolutely love working with children and watching them grow and learn. I am married and have a daughter in 7th grade, she attends Lake Fenton Middle School. I also have two dogs. I love to read and spend time with my family!

You will have three choices for speech this year, in person, virtual or both. Here is a breakdown of how speech will look:

-If your child is here for Face to Face learning, he/she will
receive their speech during the time they are here (this is how speech would be in a typical school year).

-If your child is virtual, you have three choices:

-He/she can receive their services 2x week online
(this will follow a similar format we had in the spring)

-You can bring them in for speech 2x week (they
would be seen 1:1 with me or possibly in a group with
another student)

-They can do one day virtual and one day in person

I am including a link to a Google Form in this letter. The form lets you choose how you want your child to receive speech services this year. Please let me know what you prefer. You can indicate your choice on the Google Form. If you choose online or if you will be bringing your child in for speech, we will have to agree on a day/time for your child. The time that you commit to will remain the same the entire school year.

Please click on the following link for the Google Form in order to select how you want your child to receive speech this year. If you have more than one speech student in your family that attends Torrey Hill only, please fill out the form for each student.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_iOridcuvvGwYQlAcUWceb31bWcTtY-klDaiboeDPDY/edit

I have created an individual Google Classroom for each speech student. 4th and 5th grade parents, this is the same Google Classroom your child had in the spring. 3rd grade parents, please have your child check their e-mail and join my classroom if they have not done so already. All parents, please have your child get into their classroom. I will be posting assignments for each of them.

One mask will be provided for each speech student. These masks are clear. I will be wearing a clear mask as well. This will allow for the student to see me (which is so important when looking for facial cues) and me to see them (which is just as important so I know they are practicing their sounds correctly). These masks will be stored individually, in a plastic baggie and cubby in the speech room. The masks will only be handled by the student.

We will also have barriers in speech. I have one large barrier that I will sit behind. Each student will have an individual barrier they will sit behind.

Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns. I would be more than happy to help in any way I can. I am so excited to see all the students again! I know we will have a great year and learn lots of new things!

Michelle Strunk, MA, CCC-SLP

810-591-3629

MStrunk@lakefentonschools.org