Special Education

I believe it is important for all members of a community to be well informed about their public institutions. I believe this to be particularly important in regard to the Glendale Unified School District, because we educate this community's children. In that spirit I would like to briefly address three issues. A recent writer to the Community Forum asked what the results of an audit of the district had been ("District must take parents seriously," Oct. 3, Mailbag.) The writer also asked why the results had not been made public.

Rosemont eighth grade history teacher and longtime local resident Christine Collins-Cross retires this month after 40 years of teaching. Her career has been as illustrious as it has been long. She worked many years teaching children with special needs, a calling she felt strongly since she was a young girl. Collins-Cross is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara. She has her master of arts with an emphasis in educational counseling, and her counseling credential. During the course of her career, Collins-Cross has taught students on the Papago Indian Reservation in Topawa, Ariz.

ON THE AGENDA The following items will be considered at today’s Glendale Unified School District Board of Education meeting: NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAM The board of education will discuss a new academic program meant to serve students who are going through the expulsion process, and special-education students who have been suspended for more than 10 days. The new program is a way to make sure students who have been removed from the traditional school setting don’t fall behind academically.

Darleene Barrientos After some soul-searching, Diana Diaz exchanged love for money when she turned away from corporate law to teach special education. Diaz said she always wanted to be a lawyer, but when it came time to apply for college, the money was not as appealing as it had once been. She discovered what she wanted to do while working with special-needs students through a Best Buddies program at John Burroughs High School. Diaz thought it would be a fun club, and that experience led to volunteering with special needs adults at UC Riverside and working and volunteering at the Burbank Center for the Retarded, she said.

Clement Clarke Moore was the only son of Benjamin Moore, president of Columbia College and bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York. He was a graduate of Columbia College and got a master's degree from there in 1801. Moore married Catherine Elizabeth Taylor in 1813, and they settled at Chelsea, in what was then a country estate, outside New York City. "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" (1822) was written as a Christmas gift for his children.

Gary Moskowitz NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- The Glendale Unified School District will host its first Teacher Recruitment Fair later this month. The fair will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the district's Professional Development Center, 319 N. Central Ave. Teachers with credentials or candidates close to earning their credentials are invited to attend. Job openings are anticipated in middle schools, high schools and in the Child Development Program for preschoolers and elementary-age students.

GLENDALE — Lou Stewart, the district’s assistant superintendent of special education, has taken to wearing a button that says, “RtI — Ask Me Why.” Stewart explained the whats and whys of RtI, or Response to Intervention, to the board of education at its Tuesday night meeting. Stewart told the board about some of the principles and concepts behind Response to Intervention, an initiative being piloted at John Muir Elementary School this year. The initiative is an instructional model that seeks to more quickly help struggling students by having teachers modify their instructional techniques to include them.

Darleene Barrientos Glendale Unified School District officials are defending billing the state for some services they provide after a couple of Glendale parents complained about the practice. The district bills Medi-Cal for services like mental health evaluation, health education and hearing assessments. A detailed report about the Local Education Agency/Medi-Cal Billing Option program will be presented Tuesday during the Glendale Unified School District's board meeting.