Bridgman Public Schools
"Together, challenging our children to succeed."

Welcome to the Bridgman Special Education Website.

It is my intention to provide you with additional information that you might find helpful. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as this is a work in progress.

Upcoming workshops:

2/29/08 Improve Your Leadership Skills 6-9 p.m. @ the Park Inn in Stevensville. Improve education for students with disabilities along with your role as a comunicator and problem solver.

3/1/08 Cont. of workshop from 9 a.m. -12 p.m.

4/18 6-9 p.m.

4/19 9 a.m.-12 p.m. All 4 workshops are being sponsored by the Michigan Alliance for Families and more info. can be obtained by contacting Michelle Miller at 925-6422. RSVP by 2/22/08. Space is limited.

For other Michigan Alliance for Family workshops, see the main Bridgman Special Education home page.

FREE Parent-Child activity materials are availbable for downoading at the following website: www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education handouts" on the home page. These materials include forty-six home and community activites for adults and preschool children that encourage early language and literacy development in young children. They are appropriate for children with disabilites as well as children who are developing typically.

Each activity includes 1) an activity description, 2) hints for making the activity fun and developmentally appropriate and 3) a brief self-evaluation form that cues parents and other caregivers to notice their children's skills.

The files are in both English and Spanish.  This is being sponsored through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education.

I will add more workshops as they become available. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you know of a good one that I should share. Don't forget about our own monthly county Parents Advisory Committee meetings (PAC) held at the ISD on Tues. in Berrien Springs. Contact the ISD for more info. @ 471-7725.

EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AWARD NOMINATIONS are now available. Persons deserving of this prestigious award have gone "above and beyond the call of duty" to contribute to the success of the students with disabilities. Nominees may include:

*Special Education & General Education Teachers,

*Administrators,

*Ancillary Staff,

*Support Staff,

*Volunteers, etc.

Contact Mary Ducshek at 473-6063 for more info. on PAC (Parents Advisory Committee) or info. on the above award. A few nomination forms are available at each Bridgman school building. So share the love, and nominate a deserving Bridgman person. :)

6/07:Looking for something to keep your child's skills sharpened during the summer months? Check out summerskills.com or 1-800-411-8186. This company has developed single subject books for everything from Language Arts to Foreign Language. They are priced from $15-$18 each and are portable and include the answers, solutions, and manipulatives. I am not endorsing this company, but rather providing yet another option for summer scholastic skills review.

Happy reading, Cathy :)