Joe's Open House

We went to Joe's open house tonight! We were very happy and impressed with Joe's 2nd grade teacher. Her name is Mrs. Connolly and before teaching general ed, she was a special ed teacher for twelve years! We also met in Mrs. Wagner's classroom. She is Joe's special ed teacher and he goes to her classroom for his academic classes. He had her last year too and she's a special lady. This year she has 9 boys ranging from 1st grade to 5th grade that she teachers. All the boys have a variety of issues and she deals with each of them in their own way. I'm also very happy that she's implementing some new great ideas this year to help the boys. It's great that Joe gets the opportunity to be in his "regular" class and his "special" class. Joe also has many others on his support team at Moraine, his speech teacher Deb Galloway, is wonderful and the social worker Kelee Bartel is always available. There are so many others that are there to support the special ed program and we are truly thankful that they are part of Joe's school days. Many years ago, not knowing anything about kids with "special needs", I was pretty naive as to what goes into educating kids with special needs. It's a balance but I think (hope) Morraine Elementary is a great example of how it can work to the benefit of all. I know for some parents having their child in a class with children with special needs can be an issue but I'm finding that the kids are much more accepting than their parents. If these parents could see these kids taking the time and having patience to understand what Joe is trying to tell them, I hope they would be proud of their kids. Trust me, you never know when you will find yourself in another persons shoes. Please help our family pray for a great year for Joe!