Welcome!
Our department encourages students to self-advocate their strengths, needs and accommodations to their teachers at HHS. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask our staff or myself. We will be posting newsletters, resources and information on this page to keep parents and students informed.
Looking forward to a successful 2020-2021 school year,
Jill Klodnicki
Head of Specialized Services, HHS
705.789.5594, Ext. #35027
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Specialized Services Department:
We have been busy looking at Activated Learning as a skill to be directly used in many classes across HHS. This learning involves supporting students with strategies for executive functioning skills – 10 Essential Skills. Laurie Faith has been working with our school board, and our school is involved. Check our her website to see the creative and innovative ideas around increasing executive functioning:
We are supporting students with:
-Working Memory – holding in information while completing complex tasks
-Metacognition – noticing how you are doing, thinking about your thinking
-Sustained Attention – paying attention, even if you aren’t interested
-Organization
-Response Inhibition – Thinking before you act
-Flexibility – seeing many sides, adapting to change
-Emotional control – managing feelings
-Time management
-Planning and prioritizing
– Task Initiation
-Goal directed Persistence
The team works with students to learn effective strategies. Fixed mindsets, helplessness, and hopelessness simply have no chance in a classroom focused on self-understanding, self-compassion, resilience, and solving problems together.
http://activatedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Activated-Learning-Teacher-Look-Fors.pdf
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Test Strategies
Technology
Supports
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IEP’s:
Individual Education Plans are read by teachers the first week of school and are completed with school staff as well as students and available for pick-up at Parent Interview Night in October 2019. If they are not picked up then they will be mailed home. We encourage your feedback and your families as knowledge of your own/son/daughter’s IEP is paramount in order to make it a successful and individualized document. Please return the IEP or call with any concerns, questions or changes to the document. An IEP only works well if the student is involved and understands why it is needed or helpful.
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Are you in grade 12 and hoping to take your IEP to College or University?
Please visit the following sites and resources to support your goals.
http://www.transitionresourceguide.ca
Financial Aid presentation for students (and their parents) heading to Post Secondary School are usually held in May.
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IPRC’s:
Individual Placement and Review Committee meetings take place for grade 8 feeder schools between February and March 2021 at the feeder schools and in the Spring 2021 for students of HHS. Please email or call if you have any questions or if you have missed making your appointment. An identification from another board does not follow a student and is not always necessary to provide accommodations. We must refer them to the IPRC in TLDSB, to see if a student meets criteria. We can always arrange a meeting with families, Case Conference, to discuss student need, transitioning as well as post-secondary options.
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Cheers to 2020-2021 School Year!
Every few months we post a newsletters for students and families. We have these resources as part of our MailChimp newsletter. If you wish to subscribe, please click the following link.
Or if you would like to view our recent newsletters, please click:
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Huntsville High School Specialized Services Staff:
Academic Resource Room:
Lead Teacher – Jennifer Cooper
Learning Strategies:
Block 1,2 – GLS1OR, GLE1OR and GLE2OR – Erin Potts
Block 4 – GLE10R
Life Skills:
Life Skills – Room 318
Lead Special Education Teacher – Teresa Patterson
Life Skills – Room 207
Lead Special Education Teacher – Breandan Roche
Our Exceptional Group of Educational Assistants – Chris Embury, Laurie Clarke, Jennie Exell, Drew Fenwick, Emily Loosely, Dina Dowle and Colleen Fraser.
Other Seminars, Workshops, Information…
I’ve come across a great resource from our feeder school Riverside PS. I’ve linked some of the information below regarding Sara Dimerman. She has been a Therapist for over twenty years. She is one of North America’s most trusted parenting and relationship experts. Visit HelpMeSara.com and follow Sara on Twitter. She has numerous links that are helpful for families:
Screen Time:
https://www.parentscanada.com/preschool/help-me-sara-why-screen-time-needs-to-be-screened/
https://www.verywellfamily.com/strategies-limit-your-teens-screen-time-2608915
Exam Stress:
http://www.helpmesara.com/2019/06/exam-stress/
Holiday Stress:
https://www.parentscanada.com/family-life/how-to-get-a-handle-on-holiday-stress/
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Other information that may be helpful for families with links below:
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Our Community Partners:
Muskoka Family Network:
The Muskoka Family Network is for families and friends touched by a differing ability to come together. It is all about connecting with other families. As a Family Network they can encourage family to family learning, enhance community relationships, deepen their own relationships, build leadership capacity, create a mentorship between families, create a hub where all communication flows, share resources, create lasting connections with other families as the students age as well as create new relationships as they help each other. They have a great facebook page that lists workshops, community events, etc. This network is not to replace therapists, doctor diagnosis, etc. but a parental and family learning hub. Our hope is to have a parent session where they come and let you know more about the links that the families are making and their goals.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/877110265707993/members/ – Muskoka Family Network Facebook Page
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One Kids Place:
One Kids Place is a fabulous community partner that is offering workshops for families. The transitioning to school and school advocacy looks like a unique workshop. However, I am unsure if it is at the high school level or for elementary. I have contacted One Kids Place to get more information. Please see the list of workshops below on our website as well as their website.
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Community Living Huntsville:
Community Living Huntsville provides supports and advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities. These include assistance in preparing for and securing employment, assistance with living independently in one’s own home, Resource Teacher Program which provides assistance to families with children between the ages of 2-6, supports to families with children age 6-18, promoting community participation by assisting with skill building, continued learning, volunteering or leisure time pursuits. They can also assist with coordinating respite services and have four residential group homes.
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