"... you have to have good leadership, but you also have to have people that are working day-in and day-out with the students..."
A Partnership between the Merrill Area
Public Schools
and Little Learners' Head Start
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Before the Collaboration |
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“ We were both here before there was any collaboration. In the old days, we did try a few minor efforts to collaborate and decided that it looked like the time was right to try something bigger and better, so we proceeded from there and got everyone else to join in with us. Prior to that, it was a special ed. / early childhood program in one room and the Head Start program in another room. We decided to take the kids, mix them all up and separate them and put them into a classroom that had a little bit of both in in both rooms.” |
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The
Classrooms
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| “ The effort of collaborating has been somewhat easy for us because of the fact that Beth’s early childhood classroom is right up the stairs from my Head Start classroom. Historically it’s been that way and it’s always been that way. When we decided to collaborate, we brought in the other two classrooms as well.” | |
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Helping
Each Other Learn about Children with Disabilities
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| “ The number one thing that has made it work as well as it has is the fact that we have been able to support one another with the experience and the background that we have. When I think of the type of children that I work with now, disabled children, and think back to ten years ago when I didn’t have those kinds of disabilities in my classroom, I’m amazed at myself, how different it is for me, and how much more I know now than I did back then. That’s due a great deal to the fact that I’ve had Beth right there, and Joan as well with their experience and expertise, teaching me how to deal with children with different disabilities. Having a speech clinician in the classroom as well helps tie everybody together.” | |
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Why
this Has Been a Long Lasting Partnership
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| “ The relationship between the early childhood component of our special education program and the Head Start operation has been a long lasting partnership for several reasons. One of the reasons would obviously be the interactions between the two directors in the central office, Rich Thwaits in his federal auxilliary directorship responsibilities in working with the Head Start program directly, and John Kaufman as director of special education services. They both have been in the system many years and understand the needs of children from each program’s perspective. I think it’s been a long lasting and ongoing success because of the staff themselves. Probably predominantly because of the staff, you have to have good leadership, but you also have to have people that are working day-in and day-out with the students in a related program, to make that program successful.” | |
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