Together We Can

October has been a busy month, and November is shaping up to be the same. Thank you to all our preschool families and teachers who came out for our Preschool Fall Family Night. We had more than 80 families attend The department is hosting a parent literacy night and a postsecondary neurodiversity panel in November. I hope that you can attend one of those workshops. More information is provided below.

I also want to thank our schools and PTAs who helped to support and celebrate our paraeducators during our GPS paraeducator week. There were wonderful celebrations throughout the district.

Best,

Stacey

Stacey Heiligenthaler, Ph.D.

Chief Officer of Special Education and Student Supports

stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us

Classrooms and programs portrayed in these summaries and photographs

represent the district as a whole, including students in

general education and special education settings.

GPS Thank Paraeducators Week was filled with special appreciation and fun activities to celebrate our amazing paraeducators and show them how valued they are. We are so grateful for the dedication, care, and support they provide to our students each day and for the important role they play in making GPS a wonderful place to learn and grow.

Preschool families from across the District came together to spend a night filled with fun, laughter, and special memories. Students and their families enjoyed spending time together participating in fall themed activities and connecting with teachers and friends. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our preschool community and strengthen the relationships between home and school. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and watching families enjoy time together made the event truly special.

Riverside School Assistant Principal Larissa Weir facilitated an engaging “Alphabet Soup” activity for Riverside families, helping parents navigate the many acronyms commonly used in Special Education and Section 504. The activity went beyond simply defining each acronym to explain its meaning and significance in the educational setting. The Riverside SESS (Special Education and Student Supports) team did a wonderful job explaining concepts such as LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) and how they translate into practice to support students’ individual needs. This valuable opportunity helped empower parents with the knowledge and understanding to participate more confidently in conversations and decisions about their children’s education.

In the Cos Cob School kindergarten co-taught classroom, students explored the concept of “What Makes a Good Citizen?” by listening to scenarios based on everyday situations within their school environment and discussing how to respond in ways that demonstrate responsible and respectful behavior. Students then illustrated the appropriate actions they could take in each scenario, connecting the concept of good citizenship to real-life experiences. This engaging, hands-on activity encouraged students to develop their social-emotional skills, practice perspective-taking, and recognize the importance of kindness, responsibility, and respect for others. By combining listening, discussion, and visual expression, the activity provided meaningful opportunities for all learners to participate, share their ideas, and build a stronger understanding of how their choices contribute to a positive and inclusive school community.

Riverside School’s Speech and Language Pathologist Ms. Bailey delivered speech and language services in the natural, high-interest setting of recess, using balloons to encourage social engagement and peer interaction. When a balloon unexpectedly popped, she skillfully leveraged the spontaneous moment to create a meaningful opportunity for expressive language, conversational turn-taking, and accountable talk by encouraging conversation among the peers about blowing up a new balloon. This creative, student-centered approach embedded communication goals into authentic social experiences, allowing the student to practice language skills in a meaningful and engaging context. Ms. Bailey’s work highlights the value of integrating speech and language services into everyday school routines to strengthen communication, foster peer connections, and promote greater inclusion and participation within the school community.

During Academic Lab with Mrs. Cheney at Eastern Middle School, students will follow a written visual to-do list to stay on track while working toward their individual goals. For science, a student will access Google Classroom to watch an instructional video on energy and complete the corresponding StudyJams activity. In literacy, a student will sort key terms into land vocabulary and map vocabulary. Another student will practice identifying and dividing closed syllables, while another student will review prefix definitions using target words such as tripod, misleading, submerged, midterm, unfriendly, and prepay. For math, small-group instruction will focus on two students working on multiplying and dividing fractions, with a multiplication chart available for reference. The session will feature modeled and guided practice on cross-canceling and checking solutions, using fractions.

Through active discussion and questions, Mrs. Pontieri and Mrs. Ford co-taught a lesson examining the poem's stances, tone, and uncomfortable mood at Western Middle School. The co-teachers used the tag team teaching model which means both instructors take turns leading the class. While the angry, devastated narrator expresses intense emotions, the reader feels sympathy despite initial confusion about what he is talking about. The poem emphasizes these feelings using alliteration, which is the repetition of initial consonant sounds. Ultimately, the narrator claims that their love is stronger than that of older, wiser couples and firmly believes that nothing can ever break them apart.

At Eastern Middle School, sixth graders participated in a lesson on fractions. Both the general education and special education teachers, Mrs. Cheney and Mrs. Fitzgerald, supports learning by explicitly talking through each step of the problem-solving process. To differentiate instruction, the special education teacher leads targeted learning with a small group of three students, while the general education teacher works individually with students across the room. Throughout independent practice, students focus on finding the product for multiplication problems and the quotient for division problems. They utilize multiplication charts as visual reference tools, apply cross-canceling techniques to simplify their calculations, and ensure every final answer is written in simplest form.

Dr. Fabian Agiurgioaei Boie, psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with the GPS Behavior Support Team, facilitated a professional development session for PreK–5th grade Special Education and Student Supports (SESS) staff focused on From Silos to Solutions: The Collaborative Behavior Support Process. The session emphasized a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and addressing challenging behaviors through Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs), Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs), and the use of data to identify behavioral patterns, underlying needs, and effective interventions. Staff explored how factors such as anxiety, executive functioning, communication difficulties, and emotional regulation can influence student behavior, along with practical strategies to support students through visual scaffolds, self-regulation tools, proactive accommodations, and coordinated de-escalation plans. This training provided SESS staff with practical tools and a shared framework to strengthen behavior support practices, promote consistency across settings, and improve student engagement, regulation, and overall success.

Psychologists, social workers and school counselors came together for training in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT supports students in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

With Rachel Rubin

October is AAC Awareness Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the many ways individuals communicate. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) includes tools and strategies that support individuals who communicate in ways other than or in addition to spoken language.

This might include communication devices, picture symbols, communication boards, or switch-activated buttons. Others may communicate using American Sign Language (ASL), gestures, facial expressions, or body language.

As Halloween approaches, it is a great opportunity to remember that not every child will say "Trick or Treat!" in the same way, and that is okay. Some children may use a communication device, sign "thank you," press a button with a prerecorded message, point to a picture, or simply smile or gesture. Others may not communicate a greeting at all, but that does not mean they are not excited to participate.

Whether we are welcoming trick-or-treaters at our doors, celebrating in classrooms, or participating in community events, we can help make Halloween more inclusive by recognizing and respecting all forms of communication. Something as simple as allowing extra wait time, acknowledging a gesture or button press, or offering a friendly smile without expecting a verbal response can make a meaningful difference. We can also help our own children understand that everyone communicates differently and that there is no one "right" way to say hello, ask for candy, or express gratitude.

Check out this “trick or treat” communication board made by the website Glint. Feel free to print it out and use it this weekend.

SEAC builds partnerships between families, the school district, and community partners, and advises the Board of Education on the education and safety of students with disabilities.

SEAC meetings are open to the public and held on Zoom at 7pm on November 17, January 12, March 30, and May 11.

If you have any questions, please email: greenwichseac@gmail.com or visit the SEAC website.

Charlie Del Santo earned a Master’s degree in Psychology at Pepperdine University. She is a certified special education teacher with 15+ years of experience working with neurodiverse learners. She has served as Head of School for two private schools. Charlie is the founder of All Ways Be, a Fairfield County program offering tutoring and interventions for neurodiverse children.

Presented by SPED*NET in partnership with Wilton Library, Wilton Public Schools, Wilton Youth Council, Easton CT SEPTA, Newtown Sped PTA and United SEPTSA of Stratford.

Registration required. Walk-ins welcome as space allows. Register & See Details

Please visit the new Special Education and Student Supports Department webpage on the Greenwich Public School Website. Information about Special Education supports and services as well as contact information is provided

Email: stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/teaching-learning/special-education
Location: 290 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 625-7493