St. Dominic Savio Academy

SDSA In The News

2011-07-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, the students and staff of SDSA were lucky enough to be featured as part of a story pertaining to the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. If you missed the story, you can read more about it and see the video here.

I was disappointed by the response from Don Peters, Attorney for the AZ School Board. Mr. Peters expressed his disapproval with the program, and questioned why it is fair for the state to pay for private school for a child with disabilities but not for "any other kid." What Mr. Peters fails to realize is that "fair" in education does not mean everyone gets equal. "Fair" means everyone gets what they need. The students at St. Dominic Savio Academy are there because they need a specialized program in order to make progress and be successful. Any parent at SDSA would happily inform Mr. Peters that their child attends SDSA not out of luxury, but rather out of necessity.

Mr. Peters went on to question why we don't use the model that works at private schools and employ that very model in public programs. Unfortunately, the parents of the students at SDSA don't have time to wait for public programs to utilize the research based and proven methods of applied behavior analysis, hire teachers with autism and ABA experience, provide the necessary student to staff ratios for success, keep classroom sizes small, support staff and teachers, or the multitude other supports and strategies that private programs have been utilizing for years. They simply aren't willing to waste their child's precious time in programs that aren't demonstrating success. If the members of the Arizona School Board and the Teacher's Union want to know how to better serve students in their classrooms, they are welcome to visit my classroom any time.

Empowerment Savings Accounts

2011-06-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Just this week, the Arizona Department of Education posted more information on their site about the Empowerment Savings Accounts.

For those of you who don't know about this bill, it was passed just a few months ago and enables qualified students to use state funds to go towards a private or home-schooled education. Read more about this exciting legislation here: https://www.azed.gov/ESS/ESAsFAQs.pdf

I hope you all consider whether this funding stream might be an option for your family!

Temple Grandin

2011-03-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Temple Grandin speak at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin with autism as a child, and still considers herself a person with an autism spectrum disorder. She is a pioneer in the cattle industry, inventing a corral that would decrease stress in animals led to slaughter. She is a professor at Colorado State University and a bestselling author. Dr. Grandin speaks worldwide on the experience of being a person with autism.

Dr. Grandin expressed some of her concerns regarding the treatment of children with ASD in recent years. One of her chief concerns is what she considers the over-medication of children on the autistic spectrum, particularly SSRI medications. She says she has seen children as young as five and six years of age being prescribed medications such as Seroquel for mild issues such as sleep disturbance. These are heavy medications, and we need to be extremely cautious in prescribing them to children with limited verbal skills.

She explained that in her opinion, it is very simple and obvious as to what treatments, including biomedical treatments, should be utilized for any particular child. If the treatment seems to be helping, continue using it. If a doctor has prescribed a particular supplement, treatment, etc. and you have seen little change in using it, discontinue it. To Dr. Grandin, treatment is quite obvious.

A particularly interesting comment Dr. Grandin made was regarding self-stimulatory behaviors. Dr. Grandin was asked how much a child should be allowed to engage in stimming behaviors, and she emphatically agreed that children, especially young children, should be allowed to engage in these behaviors very little. Some stimming is ok, because it can be relaxing and a mental "escape" for the child. However, the more time a child is allowed to engage in that behavior, the more difficult it will be to decrease. Stimming can become like a drug of sorts, and the more you engage in it, the more you need it.

Seeing Dr. Grandin speak was a highlight of my career, and an experience I will not soon forget. There were more than a few wet eyes that night, and we all left with a new energy and excitement for the work we do with our students.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

2011-01-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

This week, both preschool and elementary classes took a field trip to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. It was so much better than I even imagined! What a great addition the CMOP is to our city! Every single "exhibit" is hands-on, sensory, stimulating, and very developmentally oriented. We stayed for four hours, and I don't think a single kid got bored or burned out. It was so great to see the kids engaged with the exhibits, their classmates, and other children at the museum! We had students holding hands with each other (adorable), chasing each other through the "treehouse," and making pizzas in the play kitchen. The CMOP is definitely a new SDSA tradition and we can't wait to go back.

SDSA Holiday Party

2011-01-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

*I began working on this blog post after the Holiday party, and forgot to post it! Here it is :)

Tonight we had our first annual holiday party for the staff and parents of SDSA. Somehow organizing a party last year got away from us, but the party tonight more than made up for it! Thank you to all the parents who put it on, I know that's never easy!

It was really so moving to me to look around the room and see just how much our little school has grown in one year. What was even more meaningful was looking around and seeing the faces of friends...both the parents and the staff. I feel so blessed to work with people who I value, trust, and enjoy spending time with. I appreciate having student's parents who are so supportive and give so much of their time, resources, and talent to make the school operate more effectively. Between fulfilling volunteer hours, planning student parties, fundraising efforts...you guys are tireless! Thinking back to the beginning planning stages of the school, I never imagined we'd have the success we've had, and so quickly. It has been an amazing year so far and I am more than humbled to lead such a wonderful organization.

Santa is coming to SDSA!

2010-12-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hi parents!

SDSA is going to be visited again this year by Santa on Wednesday, December 8th! We think this will be a lot of fun for the kids and are excited for them to get to see Santa in a less stressful (not to mention overstimulating!) environment than the mall! Feel free to join us!

SDSA on Twitter

2010-11-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know that SDSA is now on Twitter...follow us at www.twitter.com/stdomsavio!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Everyone at SDSA is so thankful for our amazing students and parents! I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Twilight Turtle

2010-11-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you parents have seen this thing called the "Twilight Turtle." It's carried at Buy Buy Baby and is meant to be a nursery item, but we actually bought one through a sensory catalog. It's a turtle that's shell lights up in three different colors, and casts stars onto the ceiling. I wasn't sure if the kids would get much use out of it, but thought it might be cool to turn on with the lights out during sensory time. I brought it out today for the first time, and every single one of the elementary students was in love! They liked seeing the stars on the ceiling, casting stars onto each other, and seeing them glow on their shirts and arms. Since the kids were liking using the turtle so much, we actually decided to turn it into an art project, and used different shaped hole punchers to cut holes in card stock. Then we held them over flashlights to create different shapes. It was a lot of fun! Anyway, if any of you parents are looking for a new sensory item, I can assure you the Twilight Turtle is pretty cool :D

Petting Zoo at SDSA :)

2010-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

The petting zoo today was, without a doubt, a huge success! Carter's Farm brought a goat, a cow, an alpaca, and many, many goats, chickens, and rabbits! Every student participated by going in the animal enclosure, and petting, holding, and brushing the animals! It was so rewarding to see how calm and happy all the kids were! I think it was truly an "animal therapy" experience! They all were smiling ear to ear and really enjoying themselves. We didn't want it to end. I think we have a new SDSA tradition!

October!

2010-10-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Our farm-animal theme has been so fun this month! We've had a lot of practice making farm animal themed art projects, making farm animal noises, and sorting farm animals vs. other animals. We are so excited that our month long theme will culminate in a visit on Wednesday by Carter's Farm Petting Zoo! We'll get to brush and feed a cow, goat, and sheep, along with rabbits, chickens, and ducks! It should be a lot of fun for all the kids, and a great learning opportunity.

On Friday, we will be having our school halloween party. Students should come dressed in their costume. We will "practice" trick or treating as we did last year, going to visit the different rooms within the church and collecting some treats! We will also watch "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and have a dance party! It should be a lot of fun for all the kids. Can't wait to see them all in costume!

Donate $$ to SDSA By Searching/Shopping the Internet!

2010-08-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

We have something new and exciting we'd like to share with you! It’s the new St Dominic Savio Academy toolbar – once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to St Dominic Savio Academy – at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to St Dominic Savio Academy. Follow the link to add the toolbar today, and encourage family and friends to do the same!

First Week Back

2010-08-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

The first week back to school for the SDSA kids was a huge success! It seemed like every kiddo was ready to be back at school, and we didn't have any of the transition difficulties that we had anticipated! This week, we've been practicing the concept of "me" "my" and "mine," to go along with our "about me" theme. We'll be sending home a poster for the students to complete about themselves. Please assist your student in completing it as independently as possible. In the next two weeks, every student will take a turn presenting their poster. I know for many of our kids from last year, they completed this poster already. Hopefully this year they will have a greater sense of self and will be able to complete many of the components independently.

Great first week back, and we're looking forward to another great year!

August Theme: All About Me

2010-08-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

During the month of August we will be focusing on the theme "All About Me." Students will be sent home with a project to complete that focuses on their favorite things, what they'd like to be when they grow up, etc. Each student will have a turn to present this project to the class and share about themselves. We will be concentrating on practicing our personal information (name, age, where we live, etc.) and noticing that in our class we have similarities and differences among each other. In science, we will concentrate on practicing our body parts, and for those that are already identifying their body parts, what each part is responsible for doing. In Social Studies, we will look at pictures of people and cultures from around the world. We will learn that we live in Arizona, and make an Arizona Flag, a map of Arizona, and an Arizona collage in art. If you'd like to help your child with this theme at home, there are many ways to do so. It can be as simple as having them identify themselves in a family photo, or identifying their name from a grouping of the names of the family members. For more advanced learners, they might practice talking about what their favorite activities are, versus what other family members enjoy doing. Get creative! See you all soon!!

Hello!

2010-08-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Welcome to the St. Dominic Savio Academy elementary classroom blog. Throughout the year, I will be updating the blog weekly to inform you on the week, what we've been working on in the classroom, what the month's theme is, upcoming events, and much more! I am planning to post each Friday afternoon, so plan on reading it over the weekend for an update on the week's events at SDSA! We hope that this will help you stay informed on the SDSA news.

Reminder: the parent meeting will be taking place on Sunday, August 15th at 5 pm at SDSA in the elementary classroom. It is mandatory for at least one parent from each family to attend. Looking forward to seeing you all there and the start of another great school year!