Interns in Dalton High School's Transition Academy are energizing their community through their new "Java Cats" program, an in-school coffee shop serving smiles and iced coffee. The Transition Academy launched their Java Cats coffee shop in mid-September in partnership with Dalton High's Food and Nutrition department.
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about Transition Academy Java Cats are Serving Coffee and Smiles
Anna La, a junior International Baccalaureate (IB) student at Dalton High School, is encouraging her classmates to practice student leadership by participating in community service. Most recently, La organized a community clean up initiative, gathering 38 people to pick up roadside trash at Brookwood Park and the surrounding areas.
Every year, Dalton High School successfully prepares students for their Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The school is now home to 36 AP Scholars for 2021, including eight AP Scholars with Distinction and six AP Scholars with Honor.
Jason Lin, senior at Dalton High School, has been recognized as this year's winner of the Karen Lightbody Scholarship for his outstanding piano skills. The Karen Lightbody Kirkman Piano Scholarship is administered by the Dalton Education Foundation. It is gifted to one applicant a year and pays for the recipient's continued musical lessons.
Bliss Jones is being celebrated for her dedication to excellence throughout the 2020-2021 school year. As the district COVID coordinator, Jones is recognized for playing an essential role in implementing the COVID response for Dalton Public Schools.
From the time that Jennifer Sumner was a child, she knew exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up: a teacher. Sumner was named Dalton Public Schools' Teacher of the Year at the district's annual employee convocation on Thursday, August 5.
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Exceptional Student Services Digital Learning Plan
In response to our extended school closure, Dalton Public Schools has developed a distance learning plan to support our exceptional students. This plan includes the interim good faith efforts and provision of special education and related services to the greatest extent possible. Our Exceptional Student Services teachers and therapists are working hard to connect with students to provide specialized activities, lessons, and accommodations to support each child's access to grade level standards and mastery of IEP goals. This summary below describes our digital learning plan and how students are receiving special education supports and services during the extended school closure.
Phase 1: March 16, 2020 to April 5, 2020
Students were offered a school device to access digital learning provided through Canvas, Microsoft Teams, and/or other virtual platforms. The student's Case Manager and/or Service Provider(s) provided a personal introduction to digital learning through an email or phone call to the student or student's caregiver. Students were offered digital learning through an online platform, with telephone conversations and check-ins, email check-ins, and virtual conferencing capability.
Phase 2: April 6, 2020 to May 15, 2020
Students used a school issued device or personal device to access lessons provided through Canvas, Microsoft Teams, YouTube, email, and/or other virtual platforms. In addition, supports were provided by special education staff through email check-ins, telephone conferencing, and dynamic instruction through Zoom and/or other virtual conferencing platforms.
All new instruction stops on May 8, 2020. The week of May 11th to May 15th will be a week of make-up work for students. If students have incomplete work or need additional and/or intensive time and instruction to complete assignments, IEP supports and services will be provided to support work completion. Supports and services related to IEP goal mastery will continue during the week of May 11th to May 15th.
During this phase, School Psychologists are working to communicate with parents of students needing an initial comprehensive evaluation or reevaluation. Any assessments that can be administered virtually are being addressed. Our Exceptional Student Services office staff have also continued to process records requests and community Child Find referrals to support the needs of our students and their families.
Phase 3: Preparation for the Reopening of Schools
Upon the reopening of school, the current IEP (even if expired) will remain effective as a starting point for resuming specially designed learning in the school setting. If a student's IEP has expired before school reopens, an IEP meeting will be scheduled to occur as soon as is reasonably possible. Upon the reopening of school, data will be collected regarding each student's skills to determine if alternate supports and services are necessary to address skill development impacted by the extended school closure. An appropriate plan will be pursued by the IEP team.
Any individual evaluations that cannot be completed virtually by our School Psychologists will be completed as quickly as possible when school reopens. Evaluations that are nearing or exceeding our required timeliness guidelines will be a top priority for completion.
If you have questions regarding your child's services, please contact your child's case manager. Our Dalton Public Schools Exceptional Student Services team has embraced this opportunity to learn about our students as virtual learners. Our team looks forward to resuming in-person services with students as soon as it is healthy and safe to do so!