We have hit the ground running this school year, Positive energy is flowing throughout the building, and students and staff are engaged in learning in a multitude of implementation of accommodations, after intensive training many Lower/Middle School teachers have been certified in Orton-Gillingham reading techniques. In addition, the High School staff spent an afternoon experiencing what it is like to have their students’ learning challenges. Best of all, students’ creativity and curiosity are out in full bloom. We are excited to share some of the awesome hands-on projects and experiences completed in the first quarter of the school year.
C E N T E R S
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KTS STUDENTS ARE CREATIVE THINKERS
art traditions like basket weaving and quilting patterns. The big project last quarter was to collaboratively create a crankie theater scroll (a form of historic shadow puppetry) based on a choice of theme. Sample themes included Halloween stories, space adventures, and one class wrote a narrative about the extinction of the dinosaurs! In addition, students recently had the opportunity to reflect on gratitude when they made thank you cards and turkey puppets for the Thanksgiving holiday.
About the Art Teacher
Chris Ousley embraces creativity through his numerous art projects and varied professional pursuits. A former neuropsychology research assistant, touring country musician, EMT, and private autism therapist, he's left in his wake various performance art pieces, sculptures, dioramas, albums, murals, gardens and functional items of woodworking. Chris is looking forward to inspiring KTS students in their own artistic independence by building confidence, responsibility, and problem solving strategies. He'll be guiding this year's classes through rich folk art traditions, playful process art activities, and exciting collaborative long form projects.
BY KTS ART TEACHER CHRIS OUSLEY
P A G E 3 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
ALL ABOUT THE KTS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
By Shelley McGinness,
Picture clockwise:
Top: Student is working at Comfort Cases. In this photo, she is creating dental kits that will go into the cases packed and distributed to children going into foster care across the United States.
R and L: Students stocking shelves and fronting and facing items at CVS.
The Katherine Thomas School’s (KTS) internship program is a unique aspect of our school curriculum that integrates study with career related work experience. Students receive academic credit for their work experiences, but more importantly, they can see how their strengths and skills translate to the working world. The purpose of the program is to develop and strengthen student’s educational and career preparation, as well as teach them transferable work skills skills they can use in any job. Students also walk away with a better understanding of the pragmatics of a workplace, as they practice the communication skills necessary to working with a boss and co workers.
P A G E 4 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
MA Job Internship and Parent Education Coordinator The Katherine Thomas School
ALL ABOUT THE KTS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (CONTINUED)
Internships enable employers to assist the high school in preparing students to work in today’s business environment. Our internship class is two periods long, allowing time for the students to have at least an hour a day at their job sites. We are fortunate at KTS to have developed wonderful partnerships with many businesses in our community.
CVS, Academy Preschools, DuFief Elementary School, Kentlands Veterinary Hospital and Ledo Pizza are just a few of the sites that have worked with our students for many years and continue to do so This school year, we added Shady Grove Hospital, Kentlands Manor Senior Apartments, Charm City Run, Victor Wear and Comfort Cases to our list of internship partners. Our students are given meaningful tasks at every site. Some of their jobs include assisting students with math and writing, supervising dogs on the underwater treadmill, helping customers with shoe purchases, stocking shelves and medical supply closets, preparing and delivering flyers to senior residents, and even helping with social media marketing for a new business! Each partner worksite embraces our students and treats them as a valued member of their team.
KTS students have the opportunity to participate in the internship class during their junior and/or senior year. Students in their first year of internship learn in the classroom two days per week and work at their job sites the other three days/week for the entire school year. Their classroom time is spent learning about a variety of topics as they plan for postsecondary life. Students explore careers of interest and examine how their learning style, personality and strengths match these goals
Theinternshipclassalsofocuses onskillsforindependentliving. Learningaboutgross/netpay, budgetingandhowtofindan apartmentandgetalongwitha roommatealwaysspark interestingdiscussions!
Wewantourstudentstoleavethe internshipclassasmoreself determinedindividualsandthe classroomtimecoupledwiththe jobsiteexperiencehelpsusto accomplishthisgoal.
All interns craft a working resume, write a cover letter and complete a practice job application. Interviewing skills are a major focus for our students during the first and third quarters and their work culminates in mock interviews with KTS staff and employment specialists. Developing stronger communication skills is one of the main goals of our internship program Through class discussions, role play and interactive games, students practice perspective taking, teamwork and decision making.
Studentswhoareluckyenoughto haveroomintheirschedulefor twoyearsofinternshipcangoout totheirjobsitesfivedaysper weekduringtheirsecondyear. Thisopportunityoftenallowsthem toworkatmorethanonejobsite overthecourseofeachweek,thus exposingthemtoavarietyofskills andmanagerialstyles.
Allourinternshipstudentsfeela senseofprideandsuccess throughthesejobexperiences. Someofourstudentshaveeven beenhiredbythesebusinesses aftergraduation!Withoutadoubt, ourKTSinternshipstudents emergefromourprogramwitha greatersenseofself awareness andincreasedlevelofconfidence Wearealwayslookingfornew internshippartnersandare inspiredbythebusinesseswho takethetimetoprovidesuchan amazinglearningopportunityfor ourstudents.
P A G E 5 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
Meet Sophie the Certified Therapy Dog
Hello there! My name is Rebecca Green. I have been working as a social worker at KTHS since 2015. This year, I am super excited to introduce Sophie to you. Sophie is my golden retriever who I rescued in 2019. She was raised in Turkey and moved here with her family. When they moved back overseas, Sophie's family was unable to take her so she was placed in the rescue, and eventually was welcomed into our home. We hit the jackpot with Sophie. She has the perfect personality. In school she is calm, relaxed, quiet, follows all directions, and is patient. At home, she runs circles around her fur brother (literally and figuratively) and catches toys with her paws (don’t most dogs catch with their mouths?). She is quite the character.
Last June, I had Sophie trained and certified as a therapy dog with Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Before I knew it, we were visiting patients in the hospital together. Sophie is my fourth dog, and my first who has the qualities to be a therapy dog (while all my other ones are/were MY therapy dogs ��)
Sophie has had a very warm welcome from our students and staff. They love when she is in school. Sophie has spent time in classes, as well as individual, and group sessions. She creates a relaxing environment that allows students to engage more with both their peers and staff. I also plan on having her join small reading groups for students to practice their reading skills on her.
Please know that students who do not wish to spend time with Sophie do not have to. Some have told me they have allergies but want to see her from afar. Another student expressed his slight fear of dogs but he has been proudly petting her and increasing his comfort level. Sophie is here for the students who wish to interact. No one is being forced to be with her and I respect anyone who says they need space.
For the time being, Sophie will be coming to school once a week. Which day she comes will change each week depending on my schedule (she has a calendar too!). If I had a dollar for every time a student pokes their head in my office and asks when Sophie is coming next, I could retire. Don’t worry, I am not going anywhere. We are very excited to have Sophie as part of our social work team this year.
If you have any questions about her, feel free to email me at rgreen@ttlc.org
P A G E 6 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
P A G E 7 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM UPDATES
Recently, Ms. Austein’s physics classes have been focusing on studying pressure and the of surface area o pressure. To lear about these conc students perform experiment. Stud wanted to partici attempted to com egg walk challeng walked on 3 open of raw eggs and o student even ma complete their w without breaking egg!
PHYSICS IS FUN IN MS. AUSTEIN’S CLASS
P A G E 8 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM UPDATES
ECOSYSTEM IN A JAR
Biology students made mini ecosystems, bringing to life lessons learned in science books. Ms. Zangwill, Ms. Wheeler, and Mr. Moreno provided wonderful contributions to this hands-on project.
P A G E 9 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
LOWER MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM UPDATE
KTS Awarded With 3 Recognition Badges for PBIS Efforts
KTS uses schoolwide PBIS behavioral management systems. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and is an evidence based, three tiered framework that involves explicitly teaching expected behaviors and reinforcing engagement in those expected behaviors throughout the day. Data tracking is utilized to inform the increase or reduction in behavioral supports needed to ensure student success.
In the lower/middle school, our students are working every day to be kind, thinking scholars and are focused on five expected behaviors throughout the day: 1) use expected words and volume, 2) listen to others, 3) make safe choices, 4) stay in expected area, and 5) try my best.
Students can earn Dragon Dollar coins (Lower School) or KTS Bucks (Middle School) for showing expected behaviors throughout the school day. Students can trade in their earnings for smaller daily rewards like sitting in the teacher’s chair for a class period – or bigger monthly/quarterly rewards - such as getting to participate in school wide special events (we just had our PBIS Halloween party!)
P A G E 1 0 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
When one or more classrooms are having challenges with behavior in any way, we are able to set up individualized classroom PBIS initiatives to help focus in on those target areas.
For example, we have one class currently focusing on transitioning calmly and quietly in the hallways. They have a special “Hallway Heroes” token board where they earn a token towards a whole group reward when everyone in the group has a successful transition!
Our Middle Schoolers are learning about sportsmanship in PE. After being explicitly taught about what “sportsmanship” is, they are now able to earn a special $5 KTS Buck when they are positive team members and demonstrate sportsmanship during PE games.
During the 2021 2022 school year, the PBIS staff committee worked hard to help reinstate PBIS practices that were in place before the pandemic. With a lot of dedication and effort, the committee was able to earn all three recognition badges via an application process. These include:
1. Our Classroom, Our Community recognizes schools that were innovative in pivoting effective classroom practices and procedures to support remote, hybrid, and in-person learning.
2. Data on My Mind recognizes schools that continued to utilize data tracking systems to inform their PBIS practices during remote, hybrid, and in person learning.
3. Tier 2 recognizes schools that continued to utilize Tier 2 supports, based on student need, throughout the school year.
P A G E 1 1 T H E T R E A T M E N T A N D L E A R N I N G C E N T E R S
This year’s PBIS staff committee is excited to continue building back our PBIS supports and helping our students be successful every day.
