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I have been cleaning and packing my office after being the Director of Special Services in the Oxford Hills School District for 24 years. In reviewing old files I have been finding transition materials I wrote 15-20 years ago and in the years since.

As May moves rapidly along, we are nearing completion of our fifty (or so) transition IEP meetings.  I have seen nervous parents, organized parents, excited parents, and combinations of those qualities.  As usual, our outcomes of these meetings have been good entry plans for the children coming to our kindergartens.  These, of course, are plans that are written before the children have another three months of growth.

Posted by Nancy Hall, Director of Special Services, MSAD #72

The warm weather we have had this past month has been a gift. April always seems like such a busy month to me. With the longer days I finally feel like I have the energy again to tackle the piles on my desk. The State has added some new reports for districts to complete, so any extra time I imagined has been claimed. Therefore, I will keep this month's blog short.

Posted by Marcye Gray, MSAD17, Director of Special Services, Oxford Hills School District

Last month I wrote about organizing your thoughts for your upcoming Transition IEP meeting.  By this month the meeting is probably scheduled.  As parents or providers you are now important partners with the school staff.  Children make the greatest progress when we are all on the same team, working together for that progress.

Nancy Hall, MSAD 72, Director of Special Services, 3/26/10

We are in the process of setting up our transition meetings with CDS Case Managers. At this time I have a list of all incoming kindergarteners with IEPs and I know the current services each student has. I expect to have a copy of the complete IEPs within a week. This information helps me plan for our district service providers to be at the transition IEP Meetings.

Marcye Gray, MSAD17, Director of Special Services, Oxford Hills School District, 3/24/10

It is late March; my daffodils are beginning to open and it is snowing.  Spring in Maine (albeit, earlier than we expect).  While all this is happening outside, I am scheduling preschool to kindergarten transition IEP meetings with the CDS staff.  Soon parents will receive a letter inviting them to participate in this very important planning meeting.

Posted by Marcye Gray, MSAD17, Director of Special Services, Oxford Hills School District

This is the time of year when we begin to encourage parents of incoming kindergarteners to visit a real kindergarten class.  BUT…. There are some cautions that come with this encouragement.