October 2025 Outplacement News

Welcome to Outplacement News for Families, the latest resource for parents, guardians, and caregivers for students enrolled at LEARN's Outplacement programs. We are happy you are here, choosing a LEARN school education for your child.

This newsletter will be delivered electronically on the 1st Tuesday of the month and will include:

• Leadership Letter
• New & Noteworthy
• Celebration Station
• Counselor's Connection
• Resource Roundup
• Community Corner
• & more!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Back to School Night in September - this was a great opportunity for families to explore our schools, gather resources, and say hello!

The students and staff at LTA are enjoying cooler temperatures and a number of fall themed activities! Recently, our students worked together to make crockpot apple sauce, dipped apples, and sun butter and chip rice cakes. These creations were a team effort - some students made grocery lists and shopped for supplies, others organized ingredients, and many participated in the final snack assembly! These healthy snacks weren't just about a yummy treat - each recipe focused on safe food handling, cutting skills, and sanitation. We hope some of our students found a new healthy recipe to share with their families!

As usual, there is lots happening this month at OALA! Students in Ms. Megan's room have been partnering with Mystic Seaport to explore career paths including historic maritime trades, boat reconstruction and restoration, and making history fun for children. Each visit includes a hands-on experience and exploration of various parts of the seaport. We've continued partnering with Yellow Farmhouse - Ms. Libby's class has been working hard harvesting various crops to utilize for cooking class!

🚨 Important Reminders:

• No school for students on 10/10 for Staff PD
• No school on 10/13 in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day

We are planning to have four after school events this year that celebrate our students and deepen our families' connections to our programs at Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy and LEARN Transition Academy. If you would like to join the this planning team, please email Jean at jajordan@learn.k12.ct.us - planning meetings will be virtual on nights selected once a planning committee is identified.

We are committed to supporting the overall well-being of our students and believe mental health is an important part of overall health. We partner with Cartwheel to support the mental health needs of our students via virtual therapy with licensed clinicians.

Up until now, a student had to be identified and referred for these services by our school team. Now, parents/guardians can express interest directly in mental health services for their child by filling out this form bit.ly/LEARNCartwheel.

Our school staff can still refer a student to Cartwheel with parent/guardian consent. To learn more about this mental health program, check out this flyer.

Here are some signs to look for to determine if your child might benefit from mental health support:

• Changes in mood or behavior

• Changes in eating or sleeping patterns

• Declining academic performance

• Withdrawal from friends or activities

• Increased anxiety or stress

• Expressing feelings of sadness or hopelessness

• Experiencing transition (related to life, family, peers, school)

• Exposure to a traumatic event

For more information, please contact your students respective school clinician:

• Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy -
• Abby Houseknecht (860-510-6515)
• Amy Woodruff (860-235-4885)
• Lindsay Skinner (860-373-1785)

• LEARN Transition Academy -
• Lindsay Skinner (860-373-1785)

Ms. Amanda knows the importance of recognizing and celebrating their students special interests! One of her students recently celebrated a birthday, so as a belated classroom celebration, Ms. Amanda knew exactly what to do 🎂 Her classroom took time after a morning meeting to check out some pirate themed props and listen to a pirate birthday song to make a special moment for their classmate 🏴‍☠️🦜 Thanks Ms. Amanda for recognizing your students and making them feel special 💙

Ms. Becky has been with LEARN for a while now working with students at both OALA and LTA! We can always count on her to be a calming voice of reason and having a variety or resources available to help students. This team is lucky to have such a versatile team member like Ms. Becky to help support us day in and day out! Here's a few tidbits to learn more about the wonderful Ms. Becky:

• How would you describe our LEARN community?
• Everybody is working towards a common goal and is always willing to help each other out
• What is your favorite thing about working at LEARN?
• We have great collaboration between staff and I love working with transition age students
• What is a fun fact about you?
• I used to be a Marine Biologist and I previously worked at a yarn store where I was paid in yarn 🧶
• Finish this sentence, "outside of work you can find me..."
• Either walking my dogs or knitting 🐕
• What are you most looking forward to this school year?
• The fun after school events we have planned - come join me and be a part of the planning team 🎉
• Tell us your favorite local coffee or lunch spot!
• La Stella Pastry in Taftville 🥐

Our goal is to introduce vocational exploration at an earlier age—building confidence, job related skills, life skills, and allowing students to explore their strengths and interests. We believe this new Vocational Lab will better prepare our students for future vocational opportunities!

Stay tuned for photos, stories, and ways you can support this initiative. The lab will open to all students beginning October 14!

✉️ Need to get in touch with the Counselors? Here's their information:

• Gillian Nolan, gnolan@learn.k12.ct.us
• Wendy Gavin, wgavin@learn.k12.ct.us

Do you want to provide parents with easy, practical ways to practice speech and language skills "on the go?" Car rides to the grocery store or the morning commute to school provide many opportunities for parents and students to practice language and articulation skills in a fun and easy way.

This guide provides helps get you start in 10 skill areas to help engage your students speech. Help your student work on things like sequencing, recall, categorizing, and more!

Check out Cartwheel's 2025-26 Webinar Series for Parents, Caregivers, and School Staff. This free webinar series provides caregivers and school staff with practical tools to support student and family wellness and mental health. Can't attend live? Register to receive the replay!

October Webinar: From Conflict to Connection: How Families and Schools Can Work Together to Break the Cycle of Bullying

📆 Date: Wednesday, October 8th

⏰ Time: 12 PM

🎫 Register/RSVP: Register here to Join Virtually

Come experiment with a variety of art modalities including paper crafting, collage, painting, gluing and beads to make some cool Halloween and Autumn projects. Visit Niantic Children's Museum Halloween Art sensory-friendly evening designed to accommodate children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing challenges. This event is free to attend, but a pre-registration is required.

📆 Date: Friday, October 17th

⏰ Time: 5 PM - 7 PM

🎫 More Info: Register Here

📍 Location: Niantic Children's Museum - 409 Main St, Niantic, CT

Join Sun, Moon & Stars, Inc. for an Autism-Friendly event at the Pumpkin Patch Express! Tickets are on sale for $15.00 each and includes: a pumpkin from the patch, pumpkin ice cream, 1-hour train ride with a stop at the pumpkin patch! Visit Sun, Moon & Stars, Inc. Facebook page for more information.

📆 Date: Saturday, October 18th

⏰ Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

🎫 More Info: Register Here

📍 Location: Railroad Museum of New England - 242 East Main St, Thomaston, CT

The United Way Mobile Food Pantry is at Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy every 4th Wednesday of the month! This pantry is walk-up only and we strongly encourage folks to bring bags or a cart if able.

📆 Date: Wednesday, October 22nd

⏰ Time: 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

🎫 Register/RSVP: No registration required

📍 Location: Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy - 660 Ocean Ave, New London, CT

The United Way also hosts their Mobile Food Pantry at other locations throughout the month. Looking for more information? Visit their website here ⏩ https://www.uwsect.org/calendar

The Center of Excellence on ASD at SCSU has partnered with Southern PD, and local agencies to provide Fostering Positive Interactions Between Police Officers and Autistic Individuals. At this event, participants with autism will have the opportunity to review and practice the process of a routine traffic stop with local police. They will also learn how to use the DMV "Blue Envelope." Participants can be the driver or passenger in the vehicle, which includes student drivers. All ages are welcome.

📆 Date: Wednesday, November 8th

⏰ Time: 8 AM - 12 PM

🎫 More Info: Register Here

📍 Location: Southern Connecticut State University - 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT