SEPAC parent Rachel Bullock speaks with WTA Special Ed Supervisor Deb Ecker and district Special Education Administrator Martha von Mering at a meeting last year. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – The Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) will host a panel discussion on the “Culture of Inclusion” Dec. 5 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Westfield Technical Academy Cafeteria.
According to SEPAC parent leader Rachel Bullock, Westfield Public School educators and administrators from all of the schools will talk about what inclusion is and what it means in the different schools in the district.
Bullock said that SEPAC hosted a workshop on inclusion two years ago when the district focus turned to more inclusive practices in the schools. “Now we’re talking about the results of that implementation, and how we’re doing,” Bullock said.
Deb Ecker, special education supervisor at Westfield Technical Academy, who is leading Thursday’s program, said that the district strives to provide students that are on individualized education plans (IEP’s) with the best services, and to include them as much as possible in the classrooms.
“Depending on their needs and the schools that they’re in, that will look different,” Ecker said.
The workshop will begin with an overview by Ecker on the different types of inclusion, and how inclusion works in the different schools and at different grade levels, and the differences in the programs at Westfield High School and WTA.
A panel of educators, including special education teachers and principals, among them Salvatore Frieri of Munger Hill and Stacy Burgess of Abner Gibbs, will then speak about the programs and practices in their schools; after which they will take questions from parents. Administrator of Special Education Martha von Mering will also be present at the meeting.
Childcare will be provided. For more information, contact [email protected].
