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 By Dawn Thomas, President of SESI As Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week ends, I wanted to highlight a certain segment within the K-12 education sector that’s close to my heart, the exceptional professionals devoted to the world of special and alternative education. These compassionate educators work tirelessly to unlock the potential of each unique student, which has become more important as the number of students receiving special [...]

 By Dr. Diane Myers, SVP, Special Education—Behavior at SESI Summer break is a time associated with being carefree, enjoying the sun and some down time, and limited structure. Families of children with behavioral challenges may not experience the same excitement when summer break nears, as removing the structure that comes with a regular school routine can lead to severe disruptions in the home. Here are [...]

Eight students at The Graham Academy, a special education elementary school for students living with autism and students living with behavioral challenges, can now say “I am a published author”. Their writing activity assignments for World Kindness Day in November were collected and published into a professionally bound hardcover book. "What Kindness Means to Us" is now in print. Teacher Michelle Toepfer found the idea for the book publishing program [...]

By Diane Myers, PhD, SVP, Special Education – Behavior at SESI Brittany Croteau, MSW, LCSW-C, Director of Behavior Support at SESI Ask any educator about the most challenging time of year and you’re likely to get a response related to state or district testing. While we all understand the need for annual assessments as a measure of progress, students and staff alike often experience heightened stress during “testing season.” [...]

The concept of reinforcement is fairly simple, but powerful: Behavior followed by pleasant results (for the person behaving) is likely to be repeated in the future.  Using reinforcement to increase appropriate behavior in the classroom is highly effective but requires careful planning and a thoughtful approach. Let's take a closer look at how we can use reinforcement to increase socially appropriate behavior for all students, including those with disabilities.  [...]

Maximizing structure helps make the most of each school day and proactively sets the stage for student success. The ideal environment is one in which students and staff can efficiently and effectively meet their expectations for the day. We’ll take a look at the five components of how to best maximize structure to create an environment conducive to positive classroom outcomes.  Structure in the Classroom  There are three types [...]

One of the most important aspects of a positive school community is relationships—those between staff and students and between the students themselves. Building strong relationships helps us be proactive and preventative in how we approach student behavior; the better we know our students, the more we know how to help them be successful. Let’s talk about relationships within a school community, why they’re so important to the success of [...]

 By Dr. Diane Myers, SVP, Special Education—Behavior at SESI For many of us, the holiday season is a time for cheer, spending time with family, parties, traditions, and excitement – and a welcome deviation from our normal routines. For others, those deviations, increased social interaction, and different expectations can trigger stress and anxiety. For families of students with emotional and behavioral challenges, extended school breaks [...]

The first day of the 2022-23 school year had all eyes on the Excel Academy of South Shore, as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot selected the school, part of the Chicago Public Schools’ Options Network, as the location for the city’s back-to-school press conference. Members of Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) executive leadership team including CEO Pedro Martinez and CEdO Bogdana Chkoumbova also participated in the press conference. Excel Academy [...]

 By Dr. Diane Myers, SVP, Special Education—Behavior at SESI For many educators, late summer feels more like the beginning of a new year than the first of January. Hopefully the summer provided an opportunity for rest and rejuvenation given the unique challenges we all faced last year. As we begin the 2022-2023 school year, we want to create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community [...]