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From the Director
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Extended Summer Session 2013 closed with reconfigured classes, some new staffing, visiting new students, one whole newly built classroom, and the satisfaction of a very successful 4 weeks together in our perfect weather. We swam, hiked, picnicked, ferried, discovered, cooked, gardened and, of course, learned together.
 Newly built classroom? Yes! Next time you visit campus, come see the new Giant Redwoods home. It's probably 6 times bigger than their former cramped quarters, and now walled into the multi-purpose room, now  truly "multi-purposed." With two windows and a door opening out from the sunny classroom onto the front pine grove, lunches are now enjoyed outdoors at the shaded picnic table daily.
Yoga has proceeded on the new deck, as has Liz McDonough's drama class.
 Thanks must go to Redwoods Lead Teacher, Lori Calzaretta for her driving force and creative interior planning behind the new room, endless appreciation to Friend-of-Oak Hill Geoff Butler AIA, who donated his services to design the addition and shepherd it through the planning department.. Kelly Day and his crew constructed the room in record time. Lastly, thank you to the Allen family for making
the construction possible.
Our classroom staff openings were filled over the summer session. Jill Nakagawa performed an expert and very generous professional service for Oak Hill by taking over the Laurel classroom for the summer. Jill drove 2 hours each way from her new home in San Jose, so you can understand why this was a temporary gift to us for which we will always be grateful. The new Laurel teacher, Kathy Steinbach, comes to us with four years experience as an autism special day class teacher in San Francisco, and she and her husband have a grown child with autism at home. We are delighted to welcome Kathy into the Oak Hill community; you will be hearing more about her in future newsletters.
 The Oak Hill Garden displayed its glory in abundance this summer, with garden teacher Arriel Adler using it as a classroom for students. Students and teachers enjoyed summer squash,  artichokes, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, herbs and flowers all month. The tomatoes will greet the students returning from break.
left Derrick digs into the primo soil donated by Fairfax Lumber.
8 Special Needs Apps
Friendship Circle Blog has forwarded some apps to check out for our kids. We thought you might want to see them.
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Oak Hill Prep Drama Program - Taking on the Perspective of Another
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Liz McDonough's Drama Program, begun with a grant from the Living History Centre Fund of the Marin Community Foundation, continued through the summer session. An application for the continuation of these wonderful classes has gone to MCF and we are hopeful that we can continue to build upon the successful foundation built this season. "Stepping into somebody else's shoes" is often described as a core deficit of ASD kids. Our vision for the Drama Program at Oak Hill, for teens and young adults, has been to provide a pathway for students to expand their vision of both themselves, their community, and ultimately the culture in which they live: to take on the perspective of another.
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Drama class under the pines
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 Expanding their vision of themselves has also been a curricular theme, developmentally tailored, for the Giant Redwoods class. With activities that began in the summer, Lori will continue through yearlong activities. What are their choices? What do they look like and how are they different? What work do they do? What are their likes and dislikes?
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Pilot Lunch Program Comes to Oak Hill
Oak Hill is trying out an organic hot lunch program, provided by Good Earth Foods in Fairfax, for two days a week starting the second week of the fall semester. This is particularly tricky for our families, we realize, due to finicky eaters, special diets and established eating routines. We figure it's worth a try. Gluten and casein free food choices are part of every meal, and meal choices will be served separately, buffet style, so that choices can be made without food items being pre-mixed (heaven forbid). Tuesdays will be Fiesta Day (burrito and fajita ingredients) and Thursday will be for Pasta choices. If it works out, we can make adjustments and restart in January. If you chose not to sign up for fall, you will have another opportunity for the winter months.
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Oak Hill Teachers Play at last Summer Meeting
Artist mentor and Oak Hill's founding Creative Arts Therapist, Lizzie Domash, led our last staff meeting of the summer and we had a great time playing together in activities as appropriate for us as they can be for our students.
(L to R Mike McDonald, Cathy Ainsworth, Emily Carambat, & Michael Breard)
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Oak Hill Wish List...
What follows are a few items that we've identified over the summer session that would enhance our program if we had them. If you have extras lying around the house, if you see them at a garage sale, or if you just want to buy them for the school, they would be put to good use. Thank you!
iPad 2 power adapters
These items often get left at home, or go missing at school, or simply disappear. We could use extras!
STUKKE adjustable chairs
These adjustable chairs accommodate young people of all sizes, providing foot support for smaller students. The foot support helps kids stay centered and organized while sitting at adult sized tables. We already use one in Laurel, but could use 1-2 more in different classrooms. They are expensive new, but show up frequently on craigslist or at garage sales.
Exercise ball chairs
Sitting on an exercise ball is good for your back, helps build core strength, and enables movement. These chairs do all of that and keep the exercise ball stable. We could use a number of these.
Laminator
Is your industrial strength, large-scale laminator taking up space in your home, gathering dust? Oak Hill's large-scale laminator went bust over a year ago, and we've replaced it with several smaller-sized laminators that are limited to 8.5" x 11" pages. We will be investing in a big one this year. Laminators are used daily at Oak Hill for visual schedules, picture exchange systems, job boards, wall decorations, etc. While we need a large one, we can always use the desktop size as well.
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Oak Hill School...
Where relationships are the gateway to social, emotional, and intellectual growth in children with autism and other developmental differences.
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Oak Hill School
300 Sunny Hills Drive
Building #6
San Anselmo, CA 94960
Front office: 415-457-7601
Fax: 415-457-7620
Any photographs of Oak Hill students included in this newsletter are used with the permission of parents or guardians. |
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