DCIU Update

As the school year ends, I want to congratulate all DCIU staff for your hard work and successes throughout 2009-10. From the Head Start Bridge Crossings, to the graduations at Francis Harvey Green and Don Guanella, we have evidence of the positive outcomes of the work we do. I am reviewing the outcomes of the Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and the accompanying action plans that the various service divisions of DCIU have been working on throughout the year. The data being reported indicate that we have been very successful in accomplishing the goals that were set forth last summer and fall. For instance, staff from all of our center-based programs have completed written outlines of their systems of program-wide behavior supports. The Professional Development Depart-ment reports that new teachers increased their level of confidence by 25% or more on 14 identified challenges they have had to face during the year. The DCTS staff aligned all formative and summative assessments with the NOCTI, PSSA and Industry Certification standards. The School Improvement Department continued their work this year for PDE by training 83 school improvement plan reviewers and providing customized feedback to 496 school entities, statewide. The Human Resource staff, through a series of trainings for supervisors and secretaries, reduced errors to less than 5% on attendance, payroll authoriza-tions, and Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) data entry. The Curricu-lum, Instruction and Assessment Department increased student enrollment in the Reading Olympics by 22% with 10 additional schools participating. These are just a small sample of all that has been accomplished this year.

I expect that early in the fall, we will be able to complete our strategic plan. We have been working on the framework draft since our meeting with district staff and our Board of Directors retreat in January. Over the summer I aim to share the draft framework with everyone and to begin a process for getting feedback from the DCIU staff and customers. The new school year will also bring us into a new facility at the Marple Education Center at Malin Road. This $12.5 million renovation project will virtually provide a new facility for many of our autistic support programs as well as some EI and DCTS programs.

As I am finishing up this article, my buddy, James, one of our OPTIONS students, stopped by for a second time today to say goodbye as he leaves DCIU for the next stage of his life. So, as I said to James, I hope that you have an enjoyable summer and the opportunity to recharge your proverbial batteries before you undertake the next stage of your career in 2010-11.

A Word From Dr. Larry O’Shea

June 2010 Delaware County Intermediate Unit #25

Inside this issue:

LSS at Sun Valley, Part of the Family

2

Springfield LSS Students Have Banner Year

3

Speech and Language Happenings

4

Head Start Bridge Crossings

4

DCIU Continuing Professional Education Opportunities

5

DCIU Hosts County-wide SNS Drill

6

HR Corner/Wellness Information

7

DCIU Bids Farewell to Student Reps

3

Save the Date: DCIU Opening

Day is Wednesday, September 1,

2010. Please look for more

information in the mail in late July.

Marple Education Center Update At its June meeting, the DCIU Board of Directors approved the name of the Malin Road building as the DCIU Marple Education Center. Renovations to the building continue and are on time as projected. Phase I, which is the first floor, and will house the autistic support programs, is expected to be completed and delivered to DCIU by July 15.

Have a safe, enjoyable summer!

In September 2008, Sun Valley High School graciously welcomed the DCIU’s Life Skills Support Class. Since that time, the students have participated in a variety of classes, assemblies and special events, both during and after school hours. This year has been quite busy due to the number of “seniors” in the life skills class who walked in the graduation ceremony on June 17th at the University of Delaware. On May 7, 2010, five students attended the high school’s Senior Prom at the World Café Live in Philadelphia (see photo at top right). Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Ms. Chelese Porter, one of the parents, the students were transported to their destination in style, riding in a black stretch limousine. We are also grateful to Mrs. Alison Windsor, a special education teacher at Garnet Valley High School, for adorning two of our young ladies with dresses from “Cinderella’s Closet.” After taking time to pose for their prom por-traits, the students danced the night away to music supplied by DJs and a guest appearance of a live band whose members included Sun Valley students. Additionally, three of our students attended the post prom party for a short period of time. They entered the school through the hatch of a “submarine,” walked through the “whale” with Pinocchio and Geppetto and hung out with Sponge Bob Square Pants. It was truly a night to remember. At the end of every school year, the students select a destination to celebrate their last Community-based Instruction lesson. All year long students spend the school day learning menu words and prices of a variety of items, counting money, making small purchases, using good manners, etc. On June 7th, they traveled to King of Prussia to dine at Bahama Breeze. The atmosphere and food were amazing and everyone had an enjoyable time! On June 17, the students joined the senior class at Sun Valley for breakfast at King’s Mill. The day culminated with commencement at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware. We wish our seniors a fond farewell as they transition to life after high school!

Life Skills Support Students Part of the Family at Sun Valley

Page 2 DCIU Update

In the ELL/DCTS Success Story article in last month’s issue, the name of the DCIU ELL teacher was incor-rectly stated. The name of the teacher who submitted the article and worked with the student is Diane Horan.

Correction:

Page 3 Delaware County Intermediate Unit #25

This was a banner year for the students in Room 152 at the Springfield High School. Their acrostic poems were chosen to be published in the anthology "A Celebration of Poets." Those same poems were also published in the 2010 SHS Literary Magazine. In addition, their artwork and ceramic caricature jugs were featured in the schoolwide Celebration of the Arts on May 26. Kendal Campbell was awarded a First Place ribbon for Color Pencil Drawings in Studio Arts. Nicole Stavola was awarded a Second Place ribbon and Tyreke White-Vaughn received a Third Place ribbon. Jordan Pierce had two ceramic pieces on display -- tiles depicting a baseball diamond and a triple tiered caricature jug. As their teacher, Evelyn McIlvaine was bursting with pride for all of her hard-working students. Furthermore, in their classroom, they watched five tadpoles change into frogs right before their eyes. (Thanks to Miss Jeannie's pond.) They also took some wonderful field trips to The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Reading Terminal Market, Linvilla Orchard, The Channel 10 TV Studio, Villanova Balloon Day, The Springfield Mall and Old Country Buffet. It has truly been an awesome year!

Banner Year for Springfield Life Skills Support Students

Farewell to Student Reps DCIU student board reps, Kiara Franco and Joseph Maysky, attended their last Delaware County Intermediate Unit Board meeting on June 4. Kiara, of the Upper Darby School District attended the Health Occupations Technical Program at the Folcroft campus, and Joseph attended the Physical Support Program held in the Rose Tree Media School District and graduated from Penncrest. DCIU Board President Ed Cardow (standing) and Executive Director Lawrence O'Shea (far right) thanked the students for their contributions on issues and events during the current school year. Both students said the opportunity was a valuable learning experience which would aid them in coming years of education and careers. Kiara is off to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall and Joe will be attending West Chester University. We congratulate the students for a job well done and wish them the very best.

Jordan’s ceramic tile

Teacher Evelyn McIlvaine and students with tadpoles

Nicole S. wins a second place ribbon for her artwork

Jordan, Kendal and Nicole pose with the Villanova Wildcat at

Balloon Day

  Page 4 DCIU Update

On Saturday May 15, Maria Carbo, EI Autistic Support teacher, and Monica Quinn, EI Speech Language Pathologist, held a parent training on adapting toys and books for children with autism. The presentation’s topics included an overview of literacy skills, early predictors of later-developing literacy skills and how to incorporate literacy through the day. There was discussion about the connection between spoken language and literacy, warning signs for children at risk for the development of literacy skills and what parents and educators can do to promote literacy development. There was also a display of the toys and books purchased using funds acquired through the DCIU Education Foundation grant that Maria and Monica applied for this year. They are currently developing a lending library for parents so that they can use the adapted books and materials at home with their children with autism. Maria and Monica are pictured above with some of the adapted toys.

Speech and Language Program Happenings

The Head Start Program hosted seven Bridge Crossings throughout the month of June. Over 600 children crossed over the bridge into the next phase of their education—Kindergarten! Thanks to Head Start, these children are well prepared because they have had an early chance at success in school and in life. Congratula-tions to the Head Start administrators, staff, students and parents for a job well done.

Head Start Bridge Crossings

DCIU Head Start held its Annual Parent Recipe Contest on May 26 at the Morton building. The contest titled, “So You Think You Can Cook,” encourages parents to participate in healthy lifestyles by providing an incentive to create recipes that are both nutritious and delicious. Nationally, Head Start is supporting efforts to combat childhood obesity and this was DCIU Head Start’s way of translating that message closer to home. Participants were judged on the following: nutrition, taste, appearance, and presentation. Prizes were awarded via a donation from Linton’s Catering Services. The grand prize was a $350 shopping spree for appliances/food, second place was awarded $100 for appliances/food and there were two $50 ACME gift cards given to the runners-up. The event was a great success and one that staff and parents are looking forward next year.

Head Start Parent Recipe Contest

Page 5 DCIU Update

DCIU’s Summer Session II begins July 6! Go to www.dciu.org to register!

Summer Act 48 courses running in-person and online! Gifted Education Series (ONLINE!): Gifted Education in Pennsylvania: Regulations, Protocols and Resources Writing Effective GIEPs, Part I Writing Effective GIEPs, Part II Reading Series (ONLINE!): Instructional Activities for Struggling Secondary Readers, Part I Instructional Activities for Struggling Secondary Readers, Part II Instructional Activities for Struggling Secondary Readers, Part III ESL Specialist Courses: Developing Cultural Awareness/Sensitivity Part I (ONLINE!) Bullying and the Victims: Causes, Consequences and How Educational Professionals Can Help The Impact of Child Abuse, Neglect and Related Risk Factors of Youth The 21st Century Graduate (ONLINE!) Instructional Technology Courses: Create Comics for Your Classes; Create Digital Posters with Glogster; Create Flicks with Flip Cameras; Create Presentations with Prezi; Dabble with Movie Maker (PC Only); Digital Assessment Tools; Digital Tools for Language Arts; Digital Tools for Math; Digital Tools for Reluctant Writers; Digital Tools for Science; Digital Tools for Social Studies; Digital Tools for the Primary Grades; Explore Power Libraries; Give Voice to Voice Threads; Google Earth Tours Across the Curriculum; Google for Educators; Help Your Student Think with Thinkfinity; Interactive Sites for the Primary Grades; Introduction to Google Earth and Maps; Introduction to Promethean (Beginner); Introduction to SMARTboard (Beginner); Make and Take Posters for Your Classroom; Make and Take with Tech Tools; Podcasting in the Classroom; Promethean ActivInspire Lessons (Advanced); Promethean Interactive Tools (Intermediate); Scratch Projects for the Classroom; Standards Aligned Systems; Using Digital Media in the K-12 Classroom

Higher Education Partnerships St. Josephs’ University Courses: Law and American Education (EDU 4545) Fall 2010: EDL 660 Measurement and Evaluation of Instructional Outcomes EDL 665 Administration, Organizational Culture and Planned Change To register for SJU courses offered at DCIU, contact: Kate McConnell, 610-660-3184. For more information, visit www.dciu.org/highered

Page 6 DCIU Update

What would happen if a crop-dusting plane spread aerosol-ized anthrax over sections of I-95 in Delaware County? This is certainly a scenario we don’t want to experience, but in case we do, Delaware County is prepared. A full-scale Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) exercise was held on June 21 and 22, to assure county residents that in the case of a natural or manmade disaster such as this, which could become deadly within 48 hours, the county, through its SNS response plan, is prepared to help its residents. The mass drill involved the simultaneous activation of all key elements of the SNS plan, with DCIU-Morton serving as the Operations Center (see photos right), and tested the county’s ability to get life-saving medication to the county’s 550,000 residents within 48 hours in the event of such a public health emergency. The drill involved many stakeholders, including county public health and emergency planners, all school districts, the PA Department of Health and Federal Center for Disease Control, Red Cross, other volunteer groups, hospitals, universities, businesses, community-based medical care and residential facilities. It included setting up a command, control, communications and coordination system, a logistics transportation system and a dispensing system to get medicine directly into the hands of residents via Points of Dispensing (PODs). Academy Park High School served as a POD for the drill and in the case of an actual emergency, many other school districts will serve as PODs. (The county’s POD system was actually activated during the H1N1 scare last year.) While this particular exercise was specific to widespread anthrax, the steps taken in this drill could be applied to many other disasters.

DCIU Hosts County SNS Drill

Congratulations to our graduates from the Francis Harvey Green (l) and Pennington (r) Schools.

Christopher Duppstadt, Molly Sheehan, Patrick Sullivan, Donovan Wint

William Billups, James Motley, Shawn Snowden

200 Yale Ave. Morton, PA 19070

Phone: 610-938-9000 Fax: 610-938-9887

Email: info@dciu.org

DELAWARE COUNTY

INTERMEDIATE UNIT

WWW.DCIU.ORG

The HR Department is pleased to bring you this health and wellness information each month on behalf of IBX and HMS. Look for more on the DCIU website.

On June 18, CVS Caremark and Walgreens reached agreement on Walgreens’ continued participation in the CVS Caremark national pharmacy networks. This means plan members will have uninterrupted access to Walgreens and other pharmacies participating in the CVS Caremark national network to fill their prescriptions. The network includes more than 64,000 retail pharmacies, including numerous chain and independent pharmacies. Frequently Asked Questions Q1: I thought Walgreens was going to be excluded from the CVS Caremark pharmacy

network. What happened? A1: CVS Caremark and Walgreens reached an agreement on Walgreens’ continued

participation in the CVS Caremark pharmacy networks. This means plan members will have uninterrupted access to Walgreens and other pharmacies participating in our national network, which consists of more than 64,000 retail pharmacies, including numerous chain and independent pharmacies.

Q2: As a CVS Caremark plan member, will my prescriptions be covered if I fill them at Walgreens?

A2: Yes, your prescriptions will still be covered, according to the terms of your benefit plan. Plan members may continue to use their CVS Caremark prescription benefit at Walgreens pharmacy locations without interruption and with continued prescription benefit coverage.

Q3: I thought I needed to transfer my Walgreens prescriptions to another pharmacy, is that still true?

A3: No. Walgreens pharmacies will continue to participate in the CVS Caremark national networks, so plan members will not need to transfer their prescriptions to other network pharmacies. As long as you fill your prescription at a network pharmacy, including Walgreens and Walgreens-affiliated pharmacies, your regular copayment or coinsurance will not change.

Q4: Weren’t Walgreens and CVS Caremark both saying that Walgreens would no longer be in the pharmacy network?

A4: Yes, but they’ve reached agreement to keep Walgreens in the CVS Caremark pharmacy networks which means you may continue to use Walgreens or other network pharmacies of your choice.

Plan members may continue to use their CVS Caremark prescription benefit at Walgreens pharmacy locations without interruption and with continued prescription benefit coverage in accordance with their benefit plan designs. Members will not need to transfer their prescriptions to other network pharmacies.

Walgreens Remains in CVS Caremark Pharmacy Network

The DCIU ATWORK program will be rolling over into a 10-week summer session, beginning July 1. During the first 10 weeks, the group lost a combined 329.8 pounds!

At the weekly meetings, the groups has learned much about nutrition, exercise, portion control, eating out, getting past the plateaus and so much more. The AT WORK meetings are not only convenient, but they’re spirited. Everyone has had input and if you didn’t come away with something new every week, then you just weren’t paying attention!

Between the support of each other and the leader, they are taking control of their health and bod-ies. When they fall, they get right back up and plow forward, armed with a new approach or technique to prevent future mistakes. The important thing is they are able to share it, learn from it, and refocus their efforts on the prize — making the lifestyle changes needed to maintain a healthy, nutritious diet and weight. It may take a little while, but the changes are paying off in a HUGE way!

Weight Watchers At Work Update