Information provided by the Hollister School District.
The Hollister School District students in special education created lego masterpieces and art murals while engaging in other fun activities as they transitioned back to in-person learning this summer.
Although the SPED program incorporated intensive academic supports and related services, summer school this year was about fun-filled, hands-on learning experiences.
“A lot of our students with special needs did not attend the in-person instruction when school reopened last spring,” said Mai Cruz, SPED coordinator. “These students did not have the authentic learning experience that onsite instruction can bring. It is our intention to ensure that they have the opportunity to be involved in social interaction, structured learning and at the same time enjoy being back at school.”
Extended School Year (ESY) is an extension of existing Special Education Individualized Education Program (IEP) services provided during the summer recess to assist a student in maintaining skills on goals and objectives from their current IEP. The primary goal of ESY is to limit regression of skills gained during the school year.
“Our summer SPED program was expanded this school year to include students in Resource Specialist Program who did not participate in Distance Learning or in-person instruction during school closure,” said Gwen Baquiran, SPED director.
This summer program gave the students with special needs a chance to reconnect with their peers and get acclimated to being back on campus.
Building Social Emotional Resilience
Building social emotional resilience is one of the priorities this summer. The program has embedded social emotional learning activities facilitated by Lindsey Schoolcraft, mental health therapist for SPED.
“It has immersed in social and emotional learning while being engaged in curriculums addressing helpfulness, friendship, coping skills, flexibility, what it means to be kind and stress reduction,” said Schoolcraft.
The children, teachers and staff had a blast participating in a variety of activities that included everything from building marshmallow castles and making friendship bracelets, to practicing deep breathing through bubble blowing and creating their own unique sensory bottles.
Meaningful Learning Experience
HSD Speech Specialist Cheryl Rios ensured that speech services are very language laden and enjoyable.
“We’re making our own Kinetic Sand while learning vocabulary, using descriptive words, remembering order and sequence of events, and something about ratios! All the students will be taking their own sand home to explore and play with,” Rios said.
SPED summer teachers implemented supplemental curriculum, Achieve 3000, for Literacy and Math as well as Unique Curriculum to support student learning. This was in addition to the Wilson Foundation Orton Gillingham Reading program for RSP students. This allowed for a more robust intensive summer curriculum.
Lego education was included in SPED summer activities. The hands-on tools made learning playful, engaging and relevant while developing students’ ability for critical thinking, communication, social emotional skills and character building experiences.