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Perspective Newsletters
Fall 2003
LEARY SCHOOL OF VIRGINIA
Page 4
 We
are excited about the 2003-2004 school year. I am honored to be a part of your child's
educational experience and look forward to a year of continued social-emotional,
academic, and vocational growth.
The Leary School of Virginia staff extends a special welcome to our newest students,
families, and staff members. The school year will be an exciting and rewarding time
as we focus our energies on "No Child Left Behind".
I'd like to tell you a little about myself. My name is Lorraine Celestin and while
I'm new in this position, I have been with the Leary School programs for 12 years.
I grew up in Chicago and, after graduating from Chicago State University, taught
in the Chicago public school system. When my family moved to the Washington, D.C.
area in 1991, I joined the Leary School program as a classroom teacher. After several
years in the classroom, I was asked to assume the role of Instructional Coordinator
- first serving both campuses before moving to Leary School, Prince George's County,
in 1998. In 2000, I assumed the role of Assistant Program Director. This past summer,
I was asked to join the staff at the Virginia campus as the Program Director. I have
masters degrees from George Mason University, both in special education and in administration.
 This
school year, we implemented a new academic program for some of our high school groups.
We are piloting a cluster model program of providing academic instruction for selected
secondary students. In this model, students are exposed to a more traditional academic
schedule in which they receive instruction from more than one teacher for their core
subject areas. We have a total of four groups that participate in the cluster group
on Tuesdays through Fridays, first through fourth period. During the cluster group,
students continue to receive individual and whole group instruction. The students
have responded favorable to this model and report that they enjoy the new challenges.
For our elementary and middle school students, we have adopted a reading program
- High High Hat Reading Program. The program introduces reading in a fun way while
focusing on improving basic reading skills.
We are also working on implementing the Positive Behavioral Intervention Strategies
Program, which will lead to the development of a school pledge. Students will receive
incentives, qualify to participate in weekly drawings, while being encouraged to
continue making positive behavioral choices.
During the month of September, we recognized Hispanic Heritage Month. Some groups
studied Mexico, including the favorite foods of Mexico, their clothing and even made
piñatas. We also held our first Student of the Month celebration - an ice cream social
- for those students who were selected by the teachers and students in their individual
classrooms.
We are currently seeking volunteers to work with students in the areas of reading
and math. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please ask them to give
me a call.
Many of our groups have been participating in weekly functional development activities
that involve distributing snacks to other groups. Within this activity, students
are responsible for unloading items, taking weekly inventory of the items, distributing
the items, and making sure that each group receives adequate amounts.
Throughout the school year, we will continue to work on motivating our students to
excel through presenting enriched learning activities.
We hope that all our parents will participate in the Parents' Support Group that
is held at the Oxon Hill campus. If you have not attended any of these meetings in
previous years, please plan to come for the first meeting on the 4th of November.
Dr. Caracosta from this campus and Ms. Alexanderwicz from the Oxon Hill campus will
be co-facilitating these meetings. Feel free to call the school for additional information.
You will also find on the back page of this newsletter a revised calendar that includes
the make up days from Hurricane Isabel, along with the schedule for inclement weather
that will undoubtedly be coming this winter.
I look forward to a successful school year!
Lorraine Celestin, M.Ed.
Program Director
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