Welcome to STAR!

Dear STAR Families, 
     The inaugural year of the STAR program at Heritage is off to a great start!  We have an amazing group of students and it really helps that they are bringing their lunches on Tuesdays.  Thank you so much for that! So far we have discussed the following topics at our STAR meetings:

• Confidentiality and Respect – students know and understand that sometimes they will learn confidential information about a Focus Friend (such as what the disability is and/or what services they receive), and that they are not to discuss that information outside of our STAR meetings.  You can reinforce at home by discussing some  things that your family likes to keep confidential and why that is important.

• Ground Rules for STAR participation – any discipline referrals will be grounds for automatic dismissal from the program.  We are busting at the seams and need our students to be model students in STAR, at school, on the bus and on the playground.  We’ve had no problems so far.  Like I said, it’s a great group!

• Initiating interactions – getting a person’s attention, finding something in common, and providing wait time. Ask them to model those skills for you!

•  Avoiding Verbal Overload – they know what that means and understand that we all need to avoid overloading our listeners with too many words.

      Next week we will discuss encouraging social language, giving choices, and the benefits of play.  We will be assigning STAR students to Focus Friends sometime in February, and we’ll let you know when that happens.  Thank you so much for supporting this program and for allowing your child to participate.  I am deeply touched and impressed with the genuine caring of these young people and feel honored to be working with them all!  Please don’t hesitate to call or email us if you have any questions, comments or concerns.  

Sincerely, 

Lin Nichols, Lisa York, Terri Redding, Nicole Tucci, Natasha Boysal, and Joel Benedek