Keep the tuition-based preschool taught by Mrs. Franzwa at Cottage Lake Elementary
- by: Kristin Briley
- recipient: Northshore School District School Board
The teaching staff of the Contained Learning Classroom preschool at Cottage Lake Elementary has worked long and hard to develop increasingly inclusive opportunities for our children with special needs to interact with normally developing peers in general education settings. Such opportunities provide many varied chances to observe, imitate, practice and generalize the many skills that are taught in their preschool program. They have been able to increase and enhance such chances on a yearly basis. Their current program combines Mrs. Franzwa’s preschool and pre-K classes with their CLC classes on a regular basis. Through a variety of different activities, they have been able to offer a cohesive program with a strong emphasis on inclusion that provides students in the CLC opportunities to engage and interact with normally developing peers in what is considered a less restrictive environment than that of their Contained Learning Classroom, in which all students have Individualized Education Plans.
Northshore School District has determined that they will be ending the tuition-based preschool program at Cottage Lake. Losing this integral part of their programming is a crucial blow to all they strive to provide, and what we see as a massive step backward from the ultimate goal of providing appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Our students will no longer have peer models or chances to interact with normally developing children as part of their preschool program. The many activities they experience throughout the school year with their general education friends will no longer take place: music, Brain Dance and yoga, Second Steps social skills curriculum, combined recess and play time, our annual spring concert, not to mention the daily exchanges and interactions with peers will be replaced with what takes place only in the CLC classroom with other CLC students. Teachers will be forced to rewrite programming to reflect that our students will be served in a more restrictive environment.
The Woodinville community at large, the Cottage Lake PTA, parents, teachers, and the children in both the CLC classrom and in Mrs. Franzwa's classroom wish the program to remain as it is. It is hugely successful as it is and any change will have far-reaching and long-lasting negative repercussions. We expect the Northshore School District School Board to listen to the voices of those it is supposed to serve and reverse their decision, keeping Mrs. Franzwa's tuiton-based preschool intact and unchanged.
Dear Northshore School District School Board,
This petition was created a few days ago to advocate for preschool children in our district. The parents, teachers, and community at large request that you retain the tuition-based preschool program at Cottage Lake Elementary School. It plays a crucial role in providing an inclusive educational environment for the special education preschool population. It benefits both special education and traditional preschool students in a myriad of ways and its dissolution will have far-lasting and serious negative effects. Please do not solve a problem at one school by CREATING another huge problem at Cottage Lake. We repectfully ask that you listen to the population you serve and keep the preschool program at Cottage Lake as it is.
The teaching staff of the Contained Learning Classroom preschool at Cottage Lake Elementary has worked long and hard to develop increasingly inclusive opportunities for our children with special needs to interact with normally developing peers in general education settings. Such opportunities provide many varied chances to observe, imitate, practice and generalize the many skills that are taught in their preschool program. They have been able to increase and enhance such chances on a yearly basis. Their current program combines Mrs. Franzwa’s preschool and pre-K classes with their CLC classes on a regular basis. Through a variety of different activities, they have been able to offer a cohesive program with a strong emphasis on inclusion that provides students in the CLC opportunities to engage and interact with normally developing peers in what is considered a less restrictive environment than that of their Contained Learning Classroom, in which all students have Individualized Education Plans.
Northshore School District has determined that they will be ending the tuition-based preschool program at Cottage Lake. Losing this integral part of their programming is a crucial blow to all they strive to provide, and what we see as a massive step backward from the ultimate goal of providing appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Our students will no longer have peer models or chances to interact with normally developing children as part of their preschool program. The many activities they experience throughout the school year with their general education friends will no longer take place: music, Brain Dance and yoga, Second Steps social skills curriculum, combined recess and play time, our annual spring concert, not to mention the daily exchanges and interactions with peers will be replaced with what takes place only in the CLC classroom with other CLC students. Teachers will be forced to rewrite programming to reflect that our students will be served in a more restrictive environment.
The Woodinville community at large, the Cottage Lake PTA, parents, teachers, and the children in both the CLC classrom and in Mrs. Franzwa's classroom wish the program to remain as it is. It is hugely successful as it is and any change will have far-reaching and long-lasting negative repercussions. We expect the Northshore School District School Board to listen to the voices of those it is supposed to serve and reverse their decision, keeping Mrs. Franzwa's tuiton-based preschool intact and unchanged.
Thank you in advance for listening to your parents, teachers, and community members. Our children and the children of generations to come (and thereby, our entire society) will reap the reward.
Sincerely,
Kristin Briley,
concerned parent
(representing all parents and our community)
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