Special Education PTA of South River

	The South River Advocate
Vol.4 Issue 6	The Newsletter of SEPTA of South River	April 2003
http://www.specialeducationpta.org	email: info@specialeducationpta.org	Information Line (732) 651-7157

Our Thoughts and Prayers

are with our troops in the Gulf. May they all come home safe and sound.
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Coming Events:

April 1: SEPTA Workshop Dr Stephen Gordon What You Need To Know About Functional Behavior Assessment and Behavioral Intervention Plans

April 2: Board of Education Candidates Night Middle School Cafetorium 7 pm

Aril 8: Special Education Parents Coffee

April 9: SEPTA Board Meeting SR Elementary School Library 7-9 pm

April 10 NJ Bar Foundation Seminar on 'Law and Disability Conference' 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

April 11-13: Abilities Expo NJ Convention & Expo Center Edison 7 pm

April 15: School Budget & Board of Education Election

April 17: Deadline for SEPTA Scholarship Application

April 18- 27: Spring Recess - School Closed

SEPTA to add to
Parent Resource Library

The Special Education PTA of South River will be donating several books and videos to the South River Public Library on various topics of interest to parents of children with special needs. If any parents would like to make a suggestion please contact SEPTA These books / videos will be available to parents in the next few months. For more information, please visit our web site: www.specialeducationpta.org

For Your Information:

Parents Coffee

A support group for parents and guardians of special education students is sponsoring monthly morning coffees 9:30 - 11:30 during the school year. This informal group meets monthly. For more information and meeting locations call Vivian Paulus (732) 297-4028.

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

Governor's Teacher of the Year

SEPTA would like to congratulate Mrs. Downey, Mrs. Nole and Mrs Grimm for being selected as Teacher of the Year

We would also like to congratulate Mrs. Morgenstern, Mrs. Zambrotta and Mrs. Rose. These three Special Education teachers were nominated for the Teacher of the Year. These six teachers were among the 25 South River teachers who were nominated by their peers. All those nominated go well above and beyond what is required, and really make a difference in the lives of their students.

SEPTA 2003 Scholarship:

The Special Education PTA of South River is once again offering a $250.00 scholarship to a special education student of South river who will be continuing their education upon graduation. Interested students can receive an application from their special education teacher or contact Dr. Marciante, Director of Special Education, South River Public Schools at (743) 613-4073.

*Applications must be received by April 17, 2003
Winner will be notified in early May
Good luck to all applicants!

Help Wanted:

Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents and Guardians 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.

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

Abilities Expo

Providing Unique Solutions to Life's Everyday Challenges

New Jersey Convention & Expo Center
Edison, NJ

Friday April 11 10 am - 5 pm
Saturday, April 12 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday, April 13 11 am - 5 pm

This is one show where you can gather all the information you need to expand your capabilities and, most importantly, improve the quality of the life of your child.

Over 60 Exhibitors
Hands-On Exhibits!
Free Educational Workshops & Professional Education Sessions

Preparing for a seamless transition to adult life
Using computers to increase participation in meaningful activities
Encouraging communication at home and at school with augmentative and alternative communication
Assistive technology and your child's IEP
Vocational assessment methods: Selection and application
Health Care Consumer Assistance Program (HCCAP). How to maximize your health care
People First! The time for self empowerment is now!
Self Determination: What's it about, anyway?
Brain-based education research and its implication for the child with severe disabilities
Low cost computer accessibility
Accessible information technology in education
Buying transition services from adult service providers
Advocacy Working your way around the system
Planning for your child's future quality of life and yours as well

SEPTA has Coupons for free Admission to the Expo.
If you need one or more please Call Bill Sellar at ( 732)613-5144

For more information check out their website:

www.abilitiesexpo.com

Ever "Been There...Done That?"

Now how about putting it to some good use!

The Special Education PTA is asking for parent volunteers to help other parents in special education. We would like to set up a program were parents can contact other parents who have "Been there...and done that" with questions concerning special education and related issues.

We would like to set up a contact for each grade level (ex. Parents of children who have recently completed Pre-school, Elementary, Middle, and High School) in which parents with children entering that level of education could contact the "tier parent(s)" by either telephone or email during hours set by the" tier parent".
Remember when you and your child started out in each stage of the special education process; the uncertainty requarding procedures, tests, where to get information, and just plain where do you start in all this ... Help put your experiences to good use and help someone else benefit from what you've learned.
Tier parent support would be kept confidential and would be up to the tier parent how much time they could volunteer. If you are interested please contact

SEPTA by email at infor@specialeducationpta.org or
Call SEPTA at (732) 651-7157.

Help us make the phrase "Been there...done that" mean more that learning by trial and error... Let it be a way of offering knowledge and guidance to someone who could use it the most.

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.