School board recognizes Special Education Week

MARLBORO - At a Board of Education meeting held May 15, the Marlboro K-8 School District recognized Special Education Week (May 13-19) in several unique ways.

Four teachers from the Marlboro Early Learning Center - June Carman and Janet Klein, teachers from the preschool co-teaching class; art teacher Susan Foti, and music teacher Borianna Karadjova - shared a PowerPoint and video presentation of their recent joint interdisciplinary class study of architecture.

Using the preschool teaching and learning expectations/standards of quality as a guide, the teachers designed a classroom study that supports the multiple intelligences and incorporates all areas of the curriculum, including emergent reading and writing skills, classification, language, cultural awareness, music and art, listening, understanding, asking questions and problem solving, all within the context of real life, according to a press release from the school district.

Several visitors to the classroom who helped the children with this unit of study were also present; Mrs. Chandra, an architect, and Mr. Bond, an electrician, along with school district Business Administrator Cindy-Barr-Rague, all of whom shared their professions with the pupils. In addition, Barr-Rague showed the children slides about the construction of their school, the Marlboro Early Learning Center at Tennent and Harbor roads, which houses all of the district's kindergarten pupils.

Eight students from the preschool co-teaching class attended the presentation.

The district offers an integrated preschool program for residents of Marlboro. Morning and afternoon sessions are held five days per week at the Marlboro Early Learning Center. Parents are responsible for the transportation of the regular preschool students. The program is designed to bring special needs and regular preschoolers together in an integrated environment. According to the press release, research has shown that all students benefit from this type of program. Enrollment is open to a limited number of regular preschool students who are selected via a lottery process in May of each year.

In addition, at the meeting, the board recognized the officers and members of SCOPE - Special Children's Organization for Parents and Educators - and thanked the organization for its efforts on behalf of special education children.

SCOPE's mission is to broaden children's horizons through supporting the community of parents and educators of all the district's classified children. The organization assists parents in understanding what special education services mean to their child and to their families and to provide a forum for parents to have a voice on behalf of their child.

SCOPE's annual fundraising efforts provide thousands of dollars to the school district, enabling the district to provide additional resources to special education teachers that have enhanced the children's learning experiences, according to the press release.