The South River Advocate

Vol.4 Issue 3

The Newsletter of SEPTA of South River Holiday 2002
http://www.specialeducationpta.org email: info@specialeducationpta.org Information Line (732) 651-7157

Coming Events:

December 16: Board of Ed. Pre-Meeting Board Confrence Rm. 7 pm

December 19: Board of Ed. Meeting High School Library 7 pm.

2003

January 2: SEPTA Exec Board Meeting Elementary School Library 7-9 pm

January 8: New Jersey Bar Foundation Seminar on 'Special Needs Trust' New Jersey Law Center, New Brunswick 7-9 pm

January 15: SEPTA workshop Transition Planning South River Public Library 7-9 pm

February 6: SEPTA Exec Board Meeting Elementary School Library 6-7 pm

February 6: SEPTA workshop Least Restrictive Environment, Guest Speaker Penny Dragonets from SPAN. Teachers can earn continuing ed credits by attending. Please call to register, If enough people do not register this workshop will be canceled Elementary School Library 7-9 pm


For Your Information:

Need More Info?

SEPTA has several free copies of manuals for parents and teachers. If you would like a copy for yourself please call SEPTA's Information line.

The Right to Special Education in New Jersey, A Guide forAdvocates. Created by the Education Law Center and sponsored by the NJ State Bar Foundation. This manual is designed to help advocates, including parents, obtain special education for children with disabilities.

Tool for Teachers. Compiled by the NJ Developmental Disabilities Council. This provides basic information and guidance in best practices strategies for including students with disabilities in general education. While this was developed for teachers, parents will also find this very helpful

Parents Coffee

A support group for parents and guardians of special education students is sponsoring a morning coffee on November 12 from 9:30 to 11:30 am. Future coffees are set to take place once a month during the school year. This informal group meets monthly For more information and meeting locations call Vivian Paulus (732) 297-4028

Special Education PTA of South River Workshop

Transition Planning: Learning Tips, Strategies and Resources that can make your child's transition from school to "Life After School" a success
Wednesday, January 15, 2003

7-9 pm at the So.River Public Library 55 Appleby St., So.River

Special Guest Speaker: Alice Hunicut
From The Boggs Center of UMDNJ

This workshop is of interest to parents of classified and section 504 students of who are interested in learning about the resources and services available to ensure that all needs of a classified student is addresses to make life after "school" a successful one.

Parents of children ages 12 and up should be aware of the necessary steps and resources available to their child to ensure for an easy transition to community life, job/career or college life upon graduation from public school setting.
For more information visit our web site:
www.specialeducationpta.org or call the SEPTA Information Line at
(732)651-7157


Help Wanted:

Mothers and yes even Fathers and Grandparents who are concerned with their child's education are wanted and NEEDED by SEPTA to help-out on a variety of projects. We realize how crunched for time everyone is, especially parents of Special Needs children are so it does not matter how much or how little time you can help out, or when that time of day is. In as little as 1 hour a month you can help SEPTA, help you and other parents of Special Needs children.

Would you like to help with our Newsletter, or Website? Have you come across an interesting book, article or website that deals with education, special ed., disabilities, or parenting? that you would like to share with others. Write a short summary and we'll love to put it in newsletter and webpage. Are you interested in the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that is coming up in Washington next year? We'd love to have you help and the National PTA has a lot of resources and information available on IDEA, all you need to do is ask.

Is there some other project, that you would like to help SEPTA with, or some project that benefits special needs children that you'd like to see SEPTA involved it.

If you are interested, please come to one of our meetings, call our Information line or e-mail us. We would love to hear from you


SEPTA MEMBERSHIP

SEPTA needs you support to continue to provide you and your children with the programs, speakers, and activities you currently receive. Your support has allowed us to provide a Scholarship to a South River graduating Senior, a Music appreciation class to the Pre-School Handicapped class and speakers for parents and teacher.

Please Mail the below membership form to:
SEPTA of South River
81 Johnson Place
South River, NJ 08882

Membership Application
2002 - 2003

Name _________________________________________________ Membership Type
Address ________________________________________________ Parent ____
_________________________________________________ Faculty/Staff ____
City, State, ZIP _________________________________________________ Other ____
Phone No. _________________________________________________
E-Mail _________________________________________________
# of memberships . X $4.00 ____
One year MAILED subscription to the South River Advocate $4.00 (S&H) Faculty/Staff
NOTE: The South River Advocate is distributed FREE via backpack express, email and our website 		____
Tax Deductible Donation ____
GRAND TOTAL ____
Phone E-Mail In Order to serve you better please take a moment to fill out this questionnaire:

Dou you have a Special Needs Child/Children Yes ____ No____

If so what are their ages Do you have access to E-mail Yes ____ No____

Would you like information sent to you via E-mail Yes ____ No____

Do you have access to the World Wide Web? (Free access is available at most public libraries including South River Public Library Yes ____ No____

Would you be interested in information distributed over the Web? Yes ____ No____

What topic or subject would be of interest to you?

How can SEPTA help you and your child?

Would you be interested in being on one of these committees?

FundraisingOther__________ Refreshments____________
Membership______________ Special Events______________
Speakers______________ Legislative______________
Other________

SEPTA would like to thank The following organizations for their generous donations:

Laffin Chevrolet-Oldsmobile of South River

Magnifico's Ice Cream of East Brunswick

Thank you for your support.