Nội dung bài viết
Tipton “Tippy” Roberts says she is happy to be teaching her Meadowbrook students life skills in a renovated classroom equipped with a kitchen and laundry area.
Roberts, an education specialist for the Poway Unified School District, said the class opens the door for students with disabilities to develop more skills that will support them later in life.
“It’s fantastic – it gives kids room to roam,” Roberts said during the opening of the Extensive Supports Special Day Class on the Meadowbrook Middle School campus in Poway on Sept. 2.
The remodeled educational space for a dozen moderate to severe students with disabilities has several sections. At the entry is a traditional instructional area connected to a sensory center and occupational therapy center.
A passageway into a separate but connected space features the kitchen, learning center, assessment office, restroom and storage area. The classroom is also equipped with a large-screen TV that can be moved around on wheels.
“I can build a sensory room for the students to go into to be calm and they can take breaks there,” Roberts said. During the Sept.
2 ribbon-cutting ceremony, Poway Unified School board members, educators and admini strators joined Superintendent Ben Churchill in celebrating the completed renovation. They touted opportunities for students to develop social and living skills as well as receive job training in the space.
“This is a space where students can learn, grow and be more independent,” said Churchill, adding that the environment will enable students to build real-world skills.
“It’s an investment in students and creating the conditions for them to thrive.” A similar Extensive Supports Special Day Class was remodeled at Black Mountain Middle School in Rancho Peñasquitos. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for that classroom was on Aug.
26. Jessica Kimbrell, the district’s director of Facilities Design and Construction, said the remodeling project started at Meadowbrook last spring and was substantially completed by mid-August when the school year began.
The innovative space was created by rearranging walls and combining two classrooms into a shared space. Upgraded features include new lighting and flooring, marker boards and a tack panel to display students’ projects or artwork.
“We stripped the rooms down to the studs and it gave us a new clean space,” Kimbrell said. “We didn’t add to the build ing in terms of square footage.
We just moved some walls around and added some walls.” Heather Schauder, executive director of special education at Poway Unified, said the new learning spaces accommodate the Extensive Supports Special Day Class program available at middle and high schools throughout the district.
The remodeled spaces at Meadowbrook and Black Mountain bring these students up to speed with the programs at other campuses, she said. “This supports our students who are able to access this specialized program at neighborhood schools with their peers,” Schauder said.
“Because Poway Unified School District has a good reputation for its special education program it attracts families to the PUSD boundaries.” Poway Unified Trustee Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff called it a great space for skills development with cooking and laundry facilities and a sensory room.
“This is literally everything kids need to learn and grow and to accommodate their additional needs,” O’Connor-Ratcliff said. “This is right in the middle of the campus so it makes it seem inclusive.
I love the flexible spaces and flexible furniture for kids with sensory needs.”
Gợi ý thực hành:
1. Theo dõi thông báo từ cơ quan địa phương tại California.
2. Kiểm tra nguồn chính thức trước khi chia sẻ lại thông tin.