The Special Edition, vol 1 issue 2

Welcome back to SFUSD for the 2011-2012 school year! We are thrilled to have you on board with us this year as we continue to make significant progress in our Special Education Redesign and in improving outcomes for students receiving special education services.

We are pleased to bring you the second issue of "The Special Edition," where you will find exciting information and tips on topics like specially designed instruction, disproportionality, inclusive practices and compliance.

Read more here!

Announcements

Handle With Care Is Coming Your Way!

Handle With Care is a two-day workshop providing a comprehensive and systematic approach to predicting, understanding and managing aggressive/assaultive behavior.

For more information, including training dates and times, please click here.

Parent Engagement

Parents with students receiving special education services from SFUSD will have a chance to share their experiences with the California Department of Education (CDE) through both completing a survey and attending a parent input meeting on September 22nd at 6:00 PM at Mission High School. Find out more here.

Help John Muir Elementary School Win $20,000 to Secure a Playground!

John Muir Elementary School preschool general and special education classrooms do not have a play structure; children run out and play on a bare patch of asphalt surrounded by chain link fence. We're one of the only schools in San Francisco without a play structure. This is very inequitable; our children deserve a place to play!

We're in the Pepsi Refresh Contest, and if we're one of the top 15 vote recipients between September 1-31, we'll win $20,000 to win a playground, but we need your help! We need everyone to vote every day for us -- votes are cumulative and we need every vote! Here's how you can help:

· Vote via Facebook: go to www.refresheverything.com/muirautismplayground and log in using Facebook. Vote every day!

· Vote with a Pepsi Refresh account: go to www.refresheverything.com/muirautismplayground and create a Pepsi account. Vote every day!

· Vote via text: Text 108702 to 73774 every day!

· Or...do all three, every day! Every vote counts!

· You can also enter codes on specially marked Pepsi bottles ("Refresh Everything" with a yellow cap) to win up to 100 extra votes!

Share with friends, students' parents, other teachers, and ask them to support us as well. Thanks for your support!

If you have an announcement that you would like to see included in future issues, please send them to Newsletter Editors Julianne Fylstra (fylstraj@sfusd.edu) or Kristen Devine (devinek@sfusd.edu).

School Spotlight

As SFUSD moves towards implementing more inclusive practices in the 2011/2012 school year, Downtown Continuation High School has elected to institute a collaborative co-teaching model to educate their students. For years Downtown has successfully educated students with low credits by offering a project-based learning curriculum. This year, Downtown has taken project-based learning to a deeper, more inclusive level.

Procedural Handbook

After much hard work by Education Pioneer Intern Mercedes Biggs and special education staff this summer, our new Procedural Handbook is now available on our website and SFUSD Intranet! Some sections of the Handbook are currently under construction and revision. Given that this is a 'living,' working document, we advise that hard copies not be printed. The Procedural Handbook posted on the SFUSD Intranet will be reviewed and updated on an on-going basis. We find that navigating and searching the Handbook provides a comprehensive reference, surpassing the value of a printed copy.

This newsletter is for SFUSD employees and community partners. If you do not have an SFUSD e-mail address and would like to receive this newsletter, please join our mailing list.