October 15, 2024

Cosponsored by: Reading SEPAC, Reading School Committee, and the Friends of Reading METCO and was made possible by a grant from the Reading Cultural Council. 

Panel:  

Katherine Tarca, Director of Literacy and Humanities at MA DESE

Michael Moriarty, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education      

Milly Arbaje-Thomas, MSW - President & CEO METCO, Inc.  

Moderated by: Thomas Wise (Chairperson, Reading School Committee)

“Illiteracy is one of the most solvable problems of our time. We made this film to show the importance of early literacy and how crucial it is for children's lifelong success.' The Right to Read.

May 21 , 2024

Presented by:  Derek Pinto (Director of Finance and Operations), Allison Wright (Director of Special Education), The Reading SEPAC Board and Maryann Welch (Director of the Northeast Family Leadership Program at Riverside Community Care )

• Special Education Budget overview presentation by Derek Pinto (Director of Finance and Operations)

  • Changes between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Special Education Budget

  • Special Education Budget funding priorities for the next school year

• Student Services updates on new school positions created last year

• Annual SEPAC survey results

• Pre-viewing and discussing SEPAC’s plans for 2024-25 

• Family Leadership Program Series Overview

Meeting Minutes (including the Q&A section that was not recorded to protect members' identities)

May 8 and 9, 2024

Presented by:  The Reading Public School Team Chairs and Student Services

This presentation is for families to review DESE's NEW IEP Improvement Project to include the school’s timeline for rollout, what the new forms look like and what to expect for any adjustments to the team meeting process. 

Meeting Minutes (including the Q&A section that was not recorded to protect members' identities)

April 11, 2024

Presented by:  The Reading Public School Team Chairs and Student Services

For parents and caregivers whose child has an IEP and will be transitioning  (between schools, grades, levels, or are new to the school district).

March 19, 2024

Presented by:  Kymberly Bryson (ESY Coordinator) and Allison Wright (Director of Special Education).

Discuss the "what and why" of ESY, logistics around when and where services are held and scheduling. 

Review what to expect for parent/ teacher communication and progress updates.

February 27, 2024

Presented by:  Dr. Sarah Hardy (Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Teaching), Dr. Jennifer Stys (Assistant Superintendent of Student Services) and Allison Wright (Director of Special Education).

• Provides an overview of the requirements of the assessment, when students are assessed and what subjects are assessed. 

• How accommodations are determined for students.

•  Overview of the MCAS Alt.    

December 19, 2023

Presented by: Dr. Sarah Hardy (Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Teaching), Dr. Jennifer Stys (Assistant Superintendent of Student Services) and Allison Wright (Director of Special Education).

A Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is used by the Reading Public Schools to give targeted support to struggling students. 

• Explain the foundation of the Reading Public School's belief that all students can be successful with the right supports 

• Define Least Restrictive Environment and establishing its importance

• Review tiered system of supports and provide examples

• Outline effective communication channels with your team and school

Please see the notes from the Q&A at the end of the session that was not recorded. 

December 7, 2023

Student Services Presentation

Presentation from student services to Reading SEPAC on the results of the Learning Center Program evaluation. 

Please see the notes from the Q&A at the end of the session that was not recorded. 

October 17, 2023

Reading SEPAC Presentation

This was presented at the Reading SEPAC business meeting. One of our parents graciously offered to share a technique that she uses to create 'About Me Pages' to help create a consistent experiences for her child across camp, school and other environments.

September 7, 2023

Reading SEPAC Presentation

Presented By:  Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP 

Sarah is an internationally recognized expert on executive function and presents seminars and workshops on the programs and strategies she has developed with her Co-Director Kristen Jacobsen.

Recording is available for 30 days after date of the presentation 

Email sepacreading@gmail.com for the password

June 13, 2023

Reading SEPAC Presentation

Presented By: Dr. Devorah Heitner
Dr. Heitner’s work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN Opinion.  

Growing Up in Public: Kids are growing up in a hyper-connected world. From Roblox to Instagram, from YouTube and TikTok to Discord.

How can we help our kids navigate coming of age in a world where nearly every moment of their lives can be shared and compared? Devorah shows us that mentoring and not just monitoring kids will help us understand and support our kids, building our relationships with them AND helping them be successful in digital spaces.

March 21, 2023

Reading SEPAC Presentation

Parents and professionals are welcome to join this extremely important discussion which will cover the following topics:

• • What is bullying?

  • What are the school’s legal obligations to prevent and address bullying?

  • What are some strategies and tools for dealing with bullying?

  • How to address bullying on the IEP?

January 17, 2023

Reading SEPAC Presentation

Presented By:  Attorney Lisa Cukier
Partner, Chair, Fiduciary Litigation |  Co-Chair, Private Client | Burns & Levinson

An informative presentation touching on many areas of planning for parents and caregivers of children with special needs, particularly as they transition to adulthood

December 20, 2022

Student Services Presentation

Update from student services on the Tiered Focused Monitoring process currently underway in Reading

October, 2022

Student Services Presentation

Presentation from student services to Reading SEPAC on the  program reviews currently underway.

You can also find a separate presentation of the program review to the school committee on June 22 here

June 22, 2022

Reading SEPAC Presentation

Presented By: Maria Morgan on Behalf of SEPAC Board

Our end-of-year presentation for the Fall 2021-Spring-2022 school year outlining accomplishments and plans for the new school year

June 15, 2021

Student Services Presentation

Session 2 of a parent training series focused on reading skills and related disabilities created by student services in collaboration with Reading SEPAC

March 23, 2021

Student Services Presentation

Session 1 of a parent training series focused on reading skills and related disabilities created by student services in collaboration with Reading SEPAC