Programs
Academically Talented
The Academically Talented (AT) Program provides its grades 3rd - 12th student population with services that modify the regular curriculum program.
AT Teacher, Lisa Staub
The Academically Talented (AT) Program provides its grades 3rd - 12th student population with services that modify the regular curriculum program. A four-part student identification process is utilized for grades 3rd - 8th. Identified AT students continue in the program grades 3rd through 12th grade unless learning circumstances are not beneficial for the student.
Students who are identified on the district AT Program identification matrix for 3rd - 5th grade reading and/or math are provided opportunities through enrichment, pacing or differentiation of reading or math curriculum delivered by their regular classroom teachers and the building AT resource teacher.
English Language Learning (ELL) Program
The English Language Learning (ELL) Program is an opportunity for students whose native language is not English to develop basic interpersonal communicative skills as well as cognitive academic language proficiency in English.
The English Language Learning (ELL) Program is an opportunity for students whose native language is not English to develop basic interpersonal communicative skills as well as cognitive academic language proficiency in English. The program is taught in English by teachers certified in general academics as well as English Language Learning utilizing the district standard curriculum with ELL supplements. Students have a variety of opportunities to develop their English skills based on their personal level of language proficiency.
ELL Staff
Laura French
Social Work Services
School Social Workers are a vital part of the educational team, working together with educational administrators, teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, speech and language pathologists and other staff.
School Social Workers are a vital part of the educational team, working together with educational administrators, teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, speech and language pathologists and other staff. Their unique graduate level training in social work enables them to understand and interpret the influences of the school, home and community on children. School Social Workers identify factors that can make school a more successful experience for all students.
School Social Workers help students: achieve maximum benefit from their educational opportunities, understand themselves and others, improve interpersonal relationships, cope with stress, grief and frustration and develop decision making skills. As well as helping the students, School Social Workers help parents by helping them to participate effectively in their children's education, understand and meet their children's social and emotional needs, understand programs available to students with special needs, and utilize school and community resources effectively.
Some specific services of the social worker are: friendship groups, social skill groups, individual counseling, grief counseling, the Rainbows program, managing the Conflict Managers, weekly visits to the first grade classrooms for I-Care instruction, Character Counts program, organizing lurry with other district social workers, implementing social work services for special education students and other classroom activities to help promote the six pillars of the Character Counts program.
I-Care
This program is designed to give children the foundation for good conflict resolution skills as well as character building.This program focuses on the following "I-Care Rules:"
1. We listen to each other.
2. Hands are for helping, not hurting.
3. We use I-Care language
4. We care about each others feelings.
5. We are responsible for what we say and do.
The School Social Worker visit each first grade classroom on a weekly basis.Please ask your child about his/her experiences with I-Care Cat.
Character Counts
At Lakewood Creek we encourage our children to show good character toward others they interact with. There are six pillars of character we focus on teaching and reinforcing. The six pillars are: caring, responsibility, trustworthiness, respect, fairness, and citizenship. In October we introduce or kick-off the Character Counts program school wide. Throughout the year we reinforce students who show good character by giving them a coupon which tells them which character they displayed, how they displayed it, and then they are entered into a weekly drawing for a prize. In each of the classrooms there are posters displaying the six pillars of character, which teachers incorporate into their everyday language. There is also a monthly article in the Boulder Hill newsletter which encourages different ways parents can teach their children about Character Counts. Character Counts is reinforced through other programs in the school such as I-Care Cat, Snowflurry, and Conflict Managers.
RAINBOWS
RAINBOWS is a special program offered at elementary schools consisting of peer support groups to help children who have suffered a loss through death, separation, divorce or a family transition such as a remarriage. Each peer support group is facilitated by a trained adult.
When something significant happens in a family, such as a death or separation, the entire family is affected. Even though death, separation and divorce may appear initially to be adult problems, these do have profound effects on children in the family. Not only do parents grieve, children do also. Because of their age and limited life experience, children find it difficult to verbalize their feelings, and often can seem as though they are "fine". We have trained staff who help children put their feelings into words, work through their grief, build a stronger sense of self-esteem, and begin to accept what has taken place in the family.
Through RAINBOWS, we hope to assist your child in expressing and understanding his or her feelings, to feel acceptance for what has happened and to feel a sense of belonging. This will be accomplished through the channels of peer support, caring, trained adults to guide them and a secure place to share where confidentiality is stressed. Please look for registration information in the Fall.
Conflict Managers
Conflict Managers Programs in Oswego train fourth and fifth grade students to help other children resolve certain non-physical disputes. Conflict Managers are nominated by their teachers and peers based on the following qualities: respect, responsibility, fairness, trustworthiness, caring, and good citizenship.
Potential benefits to students involved in the program include increased self-confidence and positive problem-solving skills. Potential benefits to the school include decreased discipline referrals and a sense of safety in the school environment, thus allowing students more time for learning and teachers more time for teaching.
The responsibilities of Conflict Managers include: monthly lunch meetings, lunch recess duty on a rotating basis, make up work missed during training or mediations.
Staff
Erin Pearlman and Kelly Puppilo
Special Education Programs
Oswego Community Schools provides a continuum of Special Education services. Students qualify based on needs that impact students in the academic setting.
Oswego Community Schools provides a continuum of Special Education services. Students qualify based on needs that impact students in the academic setting. Some services, such as Learning Disability Resource Services and Speech/Language Services are provided directly by the district. Other services such as vision, instructional skills program, emotional disabilities, occupational therapy, physical therapy, adaptive physical education, and others are provided in partnership with the Kendall County Special Education Cooperative (KCSEC). Check out the KCSEC website at: www.kcsec.org for more information.
Emotional Disabilities Program
The Emotional Disability (ED) program is set up to meet the educational and emotional needs of students with mild to moderate emotional and behavioral problems who are not able to succeed in a regular education environment. These students benefit from the small group instruction, social skills training, and social work support that the ED program has to offer. The children in the ED program participate in regular education as much as their academic and emotional needs will allow with special education support. Each child has an individual plan tailored to meet his/her needs that the regular and special education staff follow. This ensures that each child is having accommodations and adaptations made that will allow the maximum amount of success here at Lakewood Creek. The staff in the ED program works with each student on behavior modification, techniques for handling frustration, training in dealing with social situations, study skills, organization, and intensive academic work to make up for lost time due to challenging behaviors. The ultimate goal of the ED program is to prepare the students for success in a regular education program and to transition them out of ED into regular education.
Instructional Skills Program
The Instructional Skills Program (ISP) provides a self-contained instructional program for students whose needs require specialized materials and methods. Students' individual learning styles (strengths and weaknesses) are addressed by integrating and applying skills. Students receive speech and language, social skills training, and other related services as needed. Students are mainstreamed into the regular education program whenever appropriate.
Learning Disability Resource Services
Within the learning disabilities classroom, services are provided through both small group and individualized instruction. We offer a continuum of services from complete instruction of reading, language arts, math, and social studies to just consultation about a student with the student’s regular education teacher. In order for students to receive services in the learning disabilities classroom, they must be tested by a school psychologist and meet specific criteria. After eligibility for the program is determined, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is written for that student. That plan outlines the child’s academic needs and goals, as well as how many minutes per week service can be provided. The LD classroom follows much of the same curriculum that is used in the regular classroom, but with modifications as needed. We may change the pace of instruction, the method of instruction, or use additional materials to supplement instruction. Our groups are smaller than those in the regular classroom, and that enables us to provide more individualized attention.
Social Work Services
School Social Workers are a vital part of the educational team, working together with educational administrators, teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, speech and language pathologists and other staff. Their unique graduate level training in social work enables them to understand and interpret the influences of the school, home and community on children. School Social Workers identify factors that can make school a more successful experience for all students.
School Social Workers help students: achieve maximum benefit from their educational opportunities, understand themselves and others, improve interpersonal relationships, cope with stress, grief and frustration and develop decision-making skills. As well as helping the students, School Social Workers help parents by helping them to participate effectively in their children's education, understand and meet their children's social and emotional needs, understand programs available to students with special needs, and utilize school and community resources effectively.
Some specific services of the social worker are: friendship groups, social skill groups, individual counseling, grief counseling, the Rainbows program, managing the Conflict Managers, weekly visits to the first grade classrooms for I-Care instruction, Character Counts program, organizing Snowflurry with other district social workers, implementing social work services for special education students and other classroom activities to help promote the six pillars of the Character Counts program.
Speech and Language Services
The Speech and Language Program provides services to children whose communication skills adversely impact their academic achievement. Areas addressed in this program include disorders of articulation, language, voice and fluency. Services are provided through a variety of instructional models including classroom consultation, push-in and pull-out services.
Speech and Language Staff
Mrs. McKinney and Ms. Hermann
Title 1 Reading Programs
K-Leap
The K-Leap program was designed to be used 1:1 with children during the second semester of Kindergarten. The sessions are designed to be 15 minutes in length and to be given three to five times each week. Each week a new letter is worked on and the previous week’s letter is reviewed. Each lesson includes several components: reading the ABC book, letter writing, targeted-letter booklet reading, picture sorting by beginning sound, work with Elkonin boxes and journaling daily.
Phonological Awareness Groups
This is a small group instruction in rhyming, sound blending, sound segmenting, reading and spelling to increase awareness of the phonological structure of words. This program is offered two to three days a week.
Project Read
This is a daily small group instruction in basic decoding based on systematic phonics using multi-sensory strategies and materials and delivered through direct concept teaching.
Read Naturally
Read Naturally is a supplemental reading program designed to enable students to improve reading fluency (comprehension, accuracy, speech and expression). Students who read fluently read smoothly and easily, without pausing to figure out words. These students identify words automatically. As a result, they can focus on meaning rather than word recognition when they read. As a rule, fluent readers comprehend better than non-fluent readers. Consequently, improving reading fluency is important for developing readers.
Read Naturally is a research-based program that enables students to become fluent readers. It has three components: teacher modeling, repeated reading and progress monitoring. It is based on several research-based theories including the following:
- Students become good readers by reading.
- Reading along with a more proficient reader improves word recognition and reading fluency.
- Reading a passage several times improves fluency.
- Self-monitoring of progress improves reading achievement
READ 180
READ 180 is an intensive reading intervention program that helps educators confront the problem of adolescent illiteracy on multiple fronts, using technology, print, and professional development. READ 180 is proven to meet the needs of students whose reading achievement is below proficient level as determined by a READ 180 computer-generated test. The program directly addresses individual needs through adaptive and instructional software, high-interest literature, and direct instruction in reading, writing, and vocabulary skills. Built on more than a decade of scientific research and best practices, READ 180 is a proven solution that produces quantifiable learning gains among struggling readers whose reading achievement is below the proficient level.
Reading Teachers, Mrs. Hutton, Mrs. Loda, .Mrs. Tworek
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