Growth and Goodbyes at St John Rochester

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Growth and Goodbyes at St John Rochester

  • January 29, 2020
  • Posted by: Caitlin McCallum
  • Category: Wow Story
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In the last year, our LSEM program at St John Lutheran School in Rochester, MI saw a lot of changes. The LSEM room moved over the summer to free up classroom space for enrollment growth. Our at-capacity program is currently servicing a wide range of needs. With 25 students on the roster and 14 students on the waiting list, growth is inevitable.

It is an exciting time to be a part of Special Education; we are learning more all the time through relevant and rich research in the field. Our long-term goal for St John, and all our partner schools, is to develop a program that becomes a beacon of hope in the area, making the school a hub for special education in the community.

St John added an alternate Scripture memory curriculum for some of the middle school support students. This has involved making the verses personal for the students by allowing them to find and select a verse on a specific topic, or that shares a message. It has been rewarding to see students who have always left memory assignments for the last minute, and crammed it in for a test, transition to an experience of internalizing God’s word and meditating on it.

We also added alternate seating which has proven to be both effective and popular for our students who need to move while working. You can see some of these options on our Amazon Smile teacher wish list!

Mrs. Toth resigned at the end of the year because of a career change. We are sad to see her go, but  are excited for her future. We hired on a new teacher, Mrs. Erin Jurand, who now works with Mrs. Schwichtenberg.

With a new room and a new teacher, the LSEM program at St John has had a fresh new beginning for the 2019-2020 school year.