

*
*
*
*
*
*
Updated 8/31/11
NEW

*
*
*

*
*


*

*

*

*
*

*
*
*

*
Updated 1/26/11
*
*



New

*
*
Updated 8/7/11


* Music on Page

Visitors since 11/8/07


 |

Welcome to the
East Islip Septa Website
This website has been
created in order to
provide information and support to parents of Special
Education students in the East Islip School District and
to help all parents and Education
professionals understand
Special Education issues. Our hope is that this site becomes known as a reliable
source for up to date information, as well as a valuable resource for
assisting parents in successfully advocating for the educational needs of
their children.
|
East Islip
Septa

Snowflake
Fundraiser
Please join us on Friday, February 3rd at 7 pm at the Ancient Order of
Hibernians Hall, 65 Champlin Avenue East Islip for our annual Snowflake
Fundraiser. Enjoy an evening of good food ( prepared by the members of
the Middle School Family and Consumer Science Club) , adult beverages (available
for purchase), music and
dancing. We will be raising money through raffles and the auctioning of
baskets. Admission is $30 per person. Donations are still being
graciously accepted. Please contact Tracy Rice @ 224-1411 or traco533@aol.com
|
|
Change the
Conversation
Our
choice of language frames how we think about others.
It is time to respect and value people with intellectual disabilities.
It is time to accept and welcome us as your friends and neighbors.

Stop Using the R-Word


"It is
often easier to become outraged by injustice half a world away than by
oppression and discrimination half a block from home."

|
Letter from your
Child's former Teacher
Dear Parents of Special-Needs Children I’ve
Taught In the Past,
I need to make a big apology. You see, I’ve been
teaching now for fourteen years, but I have only just recently joined
your ranks.
I didn’t know. Not even a clue. I thought,
mistakenly, that having two special-needs children in my family made me
more sensitive to your needs as a parent. It didn’t. And I’m
so sorry for operating under the assumption that it did. I’m not
attempting verbal self-flagellation here. I meant well. I knew a lot
about autism and some about other special-needs conditions. I did care
about your child. And I did want to do right by him. But, like a lot
of teachers who just don’t get it, I thought doing right by him meant
giving him extra time on assignments and not allowing him to fail my
class. I thought being extra nice and seating her at the front of the
room was what you needed from me.
But you needed more. And I didn’t understand that.
You needed communication. A lot of it. You needed me to
understand your depth of worry. You needed me to understand that, if
you’ve met one special-needs child, you’ve met one special-needs
child. You needed me to understand that I was teaching your child,
not an I.E.P. You needed to know, not assume, that I would go
out on a limb to make sure your child’s needs were met all over the
school and not just in my classroom. You needed to not worry that, when
your back was turned, I was still doing everything that I promised as
well as thinking of better ways to meet your child’s needs. You needed
to talk about your child in meetings and not worry about the clock.
I know better now. In just a few months, I am
going to be placing my special little boy into the hands of the public
school system. Because he is non-verbal, I will have no way of
literally knowing how his day went, if he is being treated well, and if
those to whom I am entrusting his care really do care about him. This
kind of fear is paralyzing. And more so because I know just how little
training (read almost none) that most of the staff in a public
school have in dealing with children like my son. They, too, will mean
well. But they won’t know. They won’t get it. I now know why
you carry The Binder of Epic Proportions to every meeting. Mine is
getting bigger by the day.
I look back now at all of your children and wish
that I had picked up the phone more, written quick notes home more
often, challenged your child more often rather than less, and made you
feel certain that someone else loved your baby in your absence. For
that, I’m sorry. I promise to do better for those kids in the future.
I promise to not assume anything about your child’s unique situation
and needs. I won’t just react to bullying of your very different child.
I will actively be on the lookout for it. I will remember your child
and her possible confusion on activity bell schedule days. I will take
more time each day to get to know her. I promise to do my best to push,
cajole, educate, and even take to task my colleagues who don’t get it in
the years to come. I pray that teacher training will improve in the
future and that my son will reap the rewards of that. And I hope that I
am just as patient, kind, and understanding with his teachers and
schools as most of you were with us.
And those of you who weren’t? I get you too.
Sincerely,
Your Child’s Former Teacher
Thanks to Kelly Pipitone for
submitting this |
|
Did
you know?
Fast facts about . . . Special
education
-
Special education is the education of children with disabilities
-
Schools are required to provide special education services to every
eligible child and must provide the needed accommodations, no matter
the cost.
-
When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed in
1975, the law included a commitment to pay 40% of the average
per-student cost for every special education student. That
commitment has never been met.
-
Congress currently funds IDEA at less than 18%. Since 1975, the
unfunded federal portion has cost local schools and taxpayers more
than $300 billion.
-

|

PTA Vision
Making every child's potential a reality.
PTA Mission
-
A powerful voice for all children,
-
A relevant resource for families and communities,
-
A strong advocate for the education and well-being of
every child
|
|
Do not train children in learning by force and harshness, but
direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be
better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the
genius of each.
~Plato~
|
|
This website is a work in progress, and belongs to the entire
East Islip Special Education community. Please feel free to send any
questions, suggestions, information, or links to other Special Education
associations or disabilities, which you would like to
have
included on the site, to:
eisepta@Hotmail.com
Site Last Updated on 1/24/12 |