ELC at George Earle Weekly Update

Here is Kinderquest information and the application for families with kiddos who will start kindergarten in the fall but have never attended preschool. This is a great opportunity to introduce your kiddo to a classroom!

Did you know that all of the special education staff in the School City of Hobart are employed by both NISEC and SCOH? NISEC is a cooperative that serves 7 school districts across Lake County. Marsha Horn is the Executive Director of Special Education, servicing seven school districts in Northwest Indiana. NISEC services thirty-three public schools and thirteen private schools within those seven school districts. NISEC has close to four hundred staff members and is growing every day. Those 7 school districts include; Hanover Community School Corporation, School Town of Highland, School City of Hobart, Lake Ridge New Tech Schools, Lake Station Community Schools, River Forest Community School Corporation, and Tri-Creek School Corporation.

Here at the George Earle Early Learning Center we have 15 staff members that serve the special education community. Each week for the month of March (National Disability Awareness Month) we will introduce you to our special education staff in the ELC weekly newsletter.

What are related services? These services support students that have an IEP with speech and/or language impairments, fine/gross/visual motor skills, sensory needs and mobility needs. We have a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist that provide these services for our students.

• Emily Zahora - Speech and Language Pathologist

  • Years at ELC: 6

  • College attended: Purdue University West Lafayette

  • Degree: Bachelor’s of Health and Human Sciences, Master’s of Communication Disorders

  • Hobbies: baking, reading, writing

  • As the speech pathologist, I work with students who have difficulty articulating letter sounds, answering questions, following directions, socially interacting, speaking smoothly, and forming complete sentences. I create and implement IEP’s for speech services.

• Christina Johnston - Occupational Therapist

  • Years at ELC: 18

  • College attended: University of Indianapolis

  • Degree: Master’s in Occupational Therapy

  • Hobbies: paddleboarding, hiking, yoga

  • As the occupational therapist I help students who might have sensory needs, fine motor/visual challenges and help provide adaptations and equipment in the classroom.

• Jean Carlson - Physical Therapist

  • Years at ELC: School based physical therapist for the past 34 years

  • College attended: The Ohio State University

  • Degree obtained: Bachelor's Degree in Allied Health Professions with a certificate in Physical Therapy

  • Hobbies: Home improvement projects (never ending), Walking, playing with my 2 dogs. Game nights with friends

  • School-based physical therapists are related service providers that work with students, who have physical disabilities, in order to help them benefit from their special education program. The school-based physical therapist evaluates the child's strength, range of motion, balance, and mobility in order to assess their ability to move throughout the school environment and participate in classroom and recess activities to the greatest extent possible. They can also assist classroom teachers, staff, and parents with obtaining necessary adaptive equipment for appropriate positioning.

• Kriste Bell - IEP Facilitator

  • College attended: Indiana University Northwest

  • Degree obtained: Bachelor of Science in Education-Elementary Education, Learning Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities

  • Hobbies (3): I enjoy spending as much time as possible with my husband of 28 years, two grown children and their significant others, and most of all my 2 year old granddaughter. I am also one of the coaches for the Unified Track Team at Hobart High School, and I have a small crafting business I run with my best friend creating personalized shirts and tumblers-mostly for fun.

  • As the IEP facilitator, I work with special education teachers to schedule and oversee all of the annual IEP conferences for students with disabilities. I help the teachers to ensure that the IEP is compliant and support them with any questions they may have during the IEP process.

• Leah Senese - Diagnostician

  • Years at ELC: 2

  • College attended: Wittenberg University; Springfield, OH

  • Degree obtained: BA in Special and Elementary Education

  • Hobbies: hiking, traveling and spending time with my children

  • Position description: Case manage special education evaluations

• Joseph Morales - School Psychologist

  
  

  • Years at ELC: 1

  • College attended: Governors State University

  • Degree obtained: Masters, EdS

  • Hobbies: reading, golf and working out

  As a school psychologist I enjoy collaborating with teachers and parents to help students reach their potential at school and in life.

Vicki Killion - Behavior Consultant

• Years serving SCOH: Hobart School District since 2012

• College attended & Degree obtained: Purdue Calumet - Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Indiana University - Master of Social Work

• Hobbies: My hobbies include shopping, exercising, reading, catching up with friends, traveling when possible and most importantly, spending time with my husband and our amazing adult children every opportunity I can.

• As a behavior consultant I service all of the schools in the Hobart School District, with my office located in Hobart Middle School. I provide services to some of our special needs students to support their behavior plans and behavior goals. I also consult with our special education teachers regarding any and all things relating to student behavior. In my spare time (wink wink) I conduct multiple trainings throughout the year for our NISEC staff; these include Crisis Prevention Intervention (aka CPI), conducting Functional Behavior Assessments, developing and implementing Behavior Plans and Classroom and Behavior Management. I also serve as a member of the NISEC Autism Team.

Michaelene Hanley - Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Years at ELC: This is my first year at the ELC and my 29th year of teaching.

• College attended: Purdue

• Degree obtained: Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Master of Science.

• Hobbies: reading, coloring, crafting, animals

• As the Deaf and Hard of Hearing teacher I love working with my students and the other students in the classrooms I visit! Go Brickies!!

Michelle Mullins - School City of Hobart District Director

• Years at ELC: 4 years

• College attended: Purdue University

• Degree obtained: Masters in Education and Bachelors in Education

• Hobbies: I like to read and watch movies.

• As the district director I help work with teachers and parents to provide students with the support they need to help them be successful in school.

Dear Parents,

I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone about the importance of the safety drills we conduct each month. Last month, we completed our scheduled drills, which included practicing various emergency situations. As part of our ongoing commitment to student and staff safety, this month's drills were particularly important, especially after our recent instruction on A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate).

We ask that you please remind your children of the significance of paying attention and participating fully during these drills. These exercises are critical in preparing everyone for unexpected situations, ensuring that all students know what to do and how to respond.

Thank you for your continued support in making sure our school remains a safe environment for all. If you have any questions or concerns about the drills or the A.L.I.C.E. protocol, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank You.

Officer D

School Resource Officer, ELC

Did you know that you as parents can nominate a staff member to be recognized as someone who is Being Excellent On Purpose? Dr. Buffington LOVES to know about and celebrate the positive!

Click here to check out the March edition of Ms. Louie's Counselor's Corner newsletter!

Care for a young child?

Bright by Text is for anyone who cares for and loves a child, prenatally through age 11: parents, parents-to-be, grandparents, babysitters, aunties, uncles, neighbors, friends, teachers, and more.

Bright by Text can help!

We send free text messages with easy, practical tips and activities right to your cell phone. Our content comes from trusted partners like PBS and Sesame Street. Messages are targeted to your child’s age and include information on development, language and early literacy, health and safety, behavioral tips, and more.

If your child isn't feeling well, please keep him or her at home. You must report the absence IN SKYWARD before 10:00AM. There is no need to call the school to let us know. If there are any questions about the absence, we will reach out to you.

Brickies from the Start needs your help! We are a non-profit, self funded program that relies on donations to provide services like developmental screenings, parent support and Community Playroom to Brickie families. During our Month of Giving, you can create a team and collect donations to win a prize. Sign up here: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/monthofgiving/

The School City of Hobart Building Brickies' goal is to strengthen families by empowering parents as their child’s first and best teachers. Every day, we advocate for families so every child-in every neighborhood-can thrive.

School City of Hobart families with children under the age of 5 are invited to join Brickies from the Start for Cabin Fever Frenzy on Saturday, March 15th from 10:00 a.m.- noon. We will meet in the ELC cafeteria for active indoor play! Please RSVP at: https://forms.gle/RTfDBdnwGSxyfXYc6