PTO SPECIAL EDUCATION REPRESENTATIVES -

Kaitlin Ervin, Betsy Kilmartin and Katie Cooney:

The PTO Special Education Committee supports the Royle community and is an active member of the Council of Darien School Parents (“CDSP”) Special Education Subcommittee. To support the school community, we along with Amanda Kearney, Assistant Principal for Special Education, will act as a resource to parents who are navigating special education and/or support services for their children. Along with the PTO Executive Board, we help examine opportunities for inclusion and provide support for parents of children with special needs. As a member of the CDSP Special Education Subcommittee, we will help to identify any district-level issues that may need to be escalated to CDSP, administration, and/or the Board of Education as guided by CDSP’s mission statement.

Examples of our committee goals are as follows:

• Provide monthly input to PTO Executive Board, Ms.Torre and Ms. Kearney regarding ongoing special education and student services issues and concerns within the district.
• Organize a day of appreciation to honor all teachers and staff on (or around) Special Education Awareness Day.
• Evaluate PTO sponsored programming to identify opportunities to improve inclusion of all students.
• Work with relevant PTO Committee Chairs to build inclusion and community. 
• Build community among Royle parents and students through various educational workshops and information sessions.
• Work with Royle’s Assistant Principal and administration to address building-level issues as necessary and build community.
• Work with the CDSP Special Education Subcommittee to identify common issues and share best practices at monthly meetings.
• Give any relevant feedback to the CDSP Special Education Chairperson during the Board of Education budget process.