Volume 30

October 2024

South County SELPA Insights is a monthly newsletter full of information and resources brought to you by the South County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) team. In honor of World Mental Health Day on October 10th, we are raising mental health awareness by focusing on how we can support our students. Keep reading to find resources and see how the SELPA can assist you and the families you work with.

Visit the SELPA website

Mental Health Awareness

Promoting mental health awareness in schools is vital to creating a supportive, understanding, and inclusive environment for students and staff alike. School staff, including teachers, administrators, and counselors, play a crucial role in fostering awareness and breaking down stigmas. Here are several strategies you can implement:

Normalize discussions about emotions: Encourage discussions about emotions and mental health as part of daily classroom routines. This can make students feel more comfortable sharing their feelings and struggles.

Encourage open communication: Create a school culture where students feel safe to talk about their mental health concerns without judgment. This can be done through regular classroom check-ins or anonymous suggestion boxes.

Parent workshops: Educate parents about the importance of mental health and how they can support their children at home. Offer resources to help parents identify early signs of mental health challenges.

By taking a proactive approach and bringing awareness to mental health, school staff can create a supportive environment where mental health is treated with the same importance as physical health, and students feel empowered to seek help when needed.

SELPA Highlights

Davila staff and students with Dr Davila

Davila Day School

On Oct. 11, Dr. Robert Davila visited Davila Day School. He had the opportunity to meet students and encouraged everyone to keep working hard in school. He shared about his life, his challenges, and his victories. Davila Day School is honored to carry on his legacy in Deaf Education and he expressed his joy and gratitude to share his life with so many adoring Dalmatians.

Sweetwater Union High School District

Did you know that most schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District are Unified Champion Schools? Most of the high schools have a program partnered with Special Olympics Southern California that consist of three components: Inclusive sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole-school engagement. Special Olympics UCS is a unique program that provides students with and without intellectual disabilities with opportunities to meaningfully participate in sport activities alongside one another in a variety of settings. If you would like to learn more about the program, please contact Valerie Separa Ruiz via email at mrsvsruiz@gmail.com.

Equity, Disproportionality and Design (ED&D)

The ED&D team presented “Reframing Discipline with an Equity Lens” at the CA PBIS Conference in Sacramento. The team also presented “The Power of AI and Data Literacy in Education” at the Codestack CSC Live Conference in Anaheim. It was a pleasure presenting and sharing valuable information.

NSD Family Summit

National School District hosted their “Family Summit,” on Saturday, Oct.12 where we had the opportunity to present to parents and join their resource fair. It was a fun day for the family, as there were workshops on a variety of topics, a guest speaker and a prize drawing. Thank you for letting us be part of this event.

Parent IEP Academy

Our “Fall Parent IEP Academy” began Oct.16. Thank you to those who joined us! We look forward to the future sessions. There is still time to register. We are offering morning and an evening session. There is still time to register for the Academy. We are offering morning and an evening session. Click to register: Spanish Registration or English Registration

Transition to Pre-School Meetings for Parents of Member District

On Oct. 19, we held our first “Transition to Pre-School Meeting” for parents of the Chula Vista Elementary School District. It was a time to connect families with District and SELPA staff. The purpose of these meetings is for parents of children with special needs to learn what transitioning from an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) means and how to access resources in the process. We look forward to meeting with more families in the near future. Each member District will host a meeting, while we will also offer a virtual option for those who cannot attend in person.

Virtual Meeting — Nov. 21, 10 to 11 a.m.

National School District — Jan. 23, 9 to10 a.m.

San Ysidro School District — Feb. 25, 9 to 10 a.m.

Coronado Unified School District — Apr. 5, to 11 a.m.

Upcoming Parent Events — Please Share

Oct. 16 to Nov. 20 — Parent IEP Academy Fall Series

Interested in increasing your understanding of the individualized education program (IEP) process? Do you want to feel confident that you have the necessary tools to fully participate in your child’s IEP? Register now for the Parent IEP Academy, which will meet Wednesdays from 11:30 to 12:30 or 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Spanish Registration / English Registration

Oct. 19 —10th Annual FERIA Partnership Conference

The FERIA Partnership Conference is a culturally and linguistically appropriate, meaningful, and useful one-day conference for 300 Latino parents, caregivers and professionals working with special needs students from Pre-School, K-12 and Adults. The event will be at Otay Ranch High School, located at 1250 Olympic Pkwy, Chula Vista, CA from 8 a.m. to 3:30 pm. For more information visit FERIA Partnership website.

Oct. 24 — CAC Meeting

Meeting will be at the South County Regional Education Center, located at 800 National City Blvd. National City, CA 91950 from 10 am to noon. For more information visit CAC website.

Oct. 30 — Reach Out to Families Resource Center Open House

Learn about services and community partnerships! Come celebrate our SBUSD community with us! The event will be at 1237 Elder Ave Imperial Beach, CA 91932 from 3 to 5 pm.

Nov. 2 — 29th Annual CABE65 Mini-Conference

All workshops are designed for Parents, Teachers, Para-Educators, and Administrators focused on maximizing parent engagement and increasing the achievement of English e learners. In-person Conference will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Otay Ranch High School located at 1250 Olympic Parkway Chula Vista, CA 91913. For more information visit CABE website.

Nov. 4 — Breaking Barriers: How to Support a Child with Visual Impairment in Daily Life

This presentation is designed to equip parents with practical strategies and tools to support children with visual impairments. In-person workshop will be from 10:45 am. to Noon at the South County Regional Education Center located at 800 National City Blvd. National City, CA 91950. Link to register.

Nov. 14 — Reach Out to Families Resource Center Annual Health and Resource Fair

South Bay Union School District families can learn about local resources and connect with agencies. The event will be at 1237 Elder Ave Imperial Beach, CA 91932 from 2 to 4 pm.

Upcoming Educator Events

Nov. 19 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Reading Between the Lines

Speaker: Andrea Abrishami, M.A., Education Specialist

Audience: Administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, school psychologists, speech language pathologist, SLP.

Dec. 5 from 8 to 11:45 a.m.

Session 2: Principals Special Education Academy with Jonathan Read, Esq.,

Audience: School principals and vice/assistant principals

March 11 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Extensive Support Needs (ESN)

Speaker: Jill Martinez, M.A., Education Specialist

Audience: Special education educators and service providers that support students through an IEP.

On Demand Training

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): What Every Paraeducator Should Know

An overview of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and practical information paraeducators can use for effective teaching. Strategies and behavior supports will be discussed and include visual pacing and closure systems, schedules, prompting hierarchies, and reinforcement principles.

Audience: Paraeducators working with students with ASD

A Guide for Paraeducators: Developmentally Appropriate Supports for Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors

Understand the role of development when designing supports for students. Describe and select strategies that match the student’s developmental level, which may be used to increase positive engagement and learning and prevent and intervene with challenging behavior.

Audience: Paraeducators and individual aides

Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Educators

This unique hands-on, interactive training provides educators and clinicians with the key CBIs to help develop an effective milieu program that—in tandem with your students’ mental health professionals—can provide support for emotional equanimity, the improvement of behavioral outcomes and positive participation in school.

Audience: Special education teachers, school psychologists, administrators, LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, clinical psychologists, ERMHS staff or school counselors specifically designated to work with special needs students, behaviorists, and others who actively work with youth who have mental health concerns.

Still Not Producing: Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties

The purpose of this training is to present an overview of the professional field’s current

thinking about the role and complexity of executive function, the process of measuring executive function, and practical supports and take-home strategies to help build

executive function.

Audience: School psychologists and anyone with knowledge of psychological tests and psychometrics. Participants should have a basic understanding of executive function.

Maximizing AAC Opportunities Within Daily Routines

This training will review why routines and understanding development matter, how to turn routines into learning opportunities, ways to create communication opportunities and support our students within their routines, and ideas on how to differentiate activities for a range of abilities.

Audience: Speech-language pathologists, teachers, paraeducators, parents.

Dynamic Duo! Terrific Trio! Effectively Teaming with Paraeducators to Support Students

This webinar is designed for teachers and paraeducators to complete together, allowing the team to discuss and explore their individual roles, develop clear understanding of responsibilities, and begin to develop frameworks for effective teacher/paraeducator/student relationships.

Audience: General education teachers, special education teachers, paraeducators, behavior specialists, speech-language pathologists, service providers, and administrators.

If you have any questions or comments on the SELPA Insights newsletter, please contact our team at scselpaadr@sdcoe.net.

Get up-to-the-minute information about what's happening at South County SELPA.