In-Service Day

There is no school for students on Friday, April 25 due to an in-service day for faculty. 

Third Quarter Grades

Third quarter grades for Upper School students will be mailed home today.

If you would like to download a list of Lower School staff e-mail and phone numbers, click here.  If you would like to download a list of Upper School staff e-mail and phone numbers, click here. Please note that many administrators have new direct-dial numbers, which you are encouraged to use.

Open House Events

Do you know a family that could benefit from learning more about Lawrence School? Encourage them to attend one of our upcoming Open House events for prospective students. The next Upper School Open House is on Sunday, April 20 at 3 pm, and the next Lower School Open House is on Wednesday, May 7 at 9 am. Call the admissions office at 440-526-0717 to RSVP.

The Online Auction is Now Open! A select portion of the items for this year's Benefit Auction (taking place on May 3 at the Upper School) are available online only - including all teacher outings and experiences! The select online preview and auction opened today, and closes Saturday, April 19 at 10 am. Visit the online auction here, or access the page from our homepage at www.lawrenceschool.org. Don't miss this chance for your child to spend time with their favorite Lawrence faculty or staff member!

ADHD Seminar: A group of Lawrence faculty will be attending a one-day professional workshop with Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D, who is a renowned scientist, educator and practitioner in the ADHD field. The workshop takes place on Wed. April 16 at Walsh University in North Canton, and will provide detailed, current information on the nature, diagnosis and causes of ADHD in children and teens. It is primarily suited for a professional audience, but parents may also wish to attend. For more information, visit the ADHD Clinic at Child & Adolescent Service Center.

Baseball Field Dedication & Lower School Day: Come celebrate two exciting events at next Thursday's April 17 varsity baseball game (versus Lake Ridge Academy) at 4:30 pm at the Upper School. Lower School families are invited to enjoy "Lower School Day", which features hot dogs, friends and fun. Additionally, we will be formally dedicating the space as "Hadgis Field" - named for the generous family of assistant baseball coach (and Lawrence School alum) Mike Hadgis. Please bring your own folding chairs. For questions, contact Ron Messer via e-mail or 440-832-7824.

Lower School Grandparents Day: Just a reminder that Grandparents Day is scheduled for Friday, April 18 for the following homerooms: Mrs. Lewis, Mr. Rogers and Miss Turner from 9:30-11 am, and Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. Lyle and Mrs. Perillo from 1-2:30 pm. If you know a grandparent who is planning to attend, please RSVP to Mrs. Feith via e-mail or 440-832-7838.

High School Scheduling: High School course handbooks for the 2008/09 school year are now available for students currently in grades 9-11. You may download a copy here, or receive a digital copy from Mr. Masa or advisory teachers. There is also a copy available for students to access on the network "R" drive at school. A schedule request form is available here (or from Mr. Masa and teachers). Parents need to sign the scheduling request form and students need to return it to their advisory teachers by Monday, April 7. 

Scheduling for Current 8th Graders: Students currently in 8th grade have begun the scheduling process for next year. Students and teachers are working together to draft a class schedule that best suits each student's needs. Students will be taking home schedules in today's Friday Binders. Parents are asked to assist with any scheduling decisions that still need to be made, then sign and return the forms by Wed. April 16. A detailed letter will also be sent home with the schedules.

Parent Tech Class: The next free technology course is "Windows Movie Maker: Beginning Video Editing" on Thursday, April 17, from 4-5:30 pm in Room 412 of the Upper School. The course will demonstrate how to use the free program of Microsoft Movie Maker. Create movies out of short video clips, still pictures and music in minutes!  Parents, staff and friends of the school are invited to attend. For questions, contact Sally Garza via e-mail or at 440-832-7840. To see the complete list of free courses, click here.

Lower School Summer Programs: Lawrence is currently enrolling students for Summer School programs, from June 16 - July 11. The Lower School offers a morning academic program with remediation in reading, written expression, language arts and math. Its afternoon program will focus on creativity and fun with technology, art and physical education. For details, please click here or visit the Summer School link at www.lawrenceschool.org. Students do not need to be enrolled at Lawrence during the school year to register, so please help us spread the word!

Upper School Summer Programs: Upper School is enrolling students for Summer School programs, from June 16 - July 11. Courses include math, science, assistive technology, organization, music, drama, cooking, physical education, history, creative writing, keyboarding, forensics and more. High School students may take courses for credit. Students do not need to be enrolled at Lawrence during the school year to register, so please help us spread the word! For a complete listing of courses and details on enrollment, please click here or visit the Summer School link on www.lawrenceschool.org.

Last week in this space, I suggested that we start changing the way we view students with ADD. Those who struggle with attention issues are not unmotivated or unfocused. Rather, they can focus on tasks that give something back and reward them for their efforts, but they are less successful working on the things WE want them to do that are difficult and unrewarding.

Most of the ADD students I have worked with can actually pay attention to several things at one time. This is often a liability in the classroom, yet is a highly-valued skill in the marketplace!  If our kids can pay attention to several things at once, then the problem for them becomes how to determine salience. That is, how to prioritize and focus on that which is relevant in the moment, then practice the self-regulation necessary to sustain focus and apply the tools of learning necessary to gain mastery over the task.

In the Lower School, teachers help our students learn to focus on a particular activity by changing activities frequently during each class. The changes in posture and placement help students refocus in a way that does not communicate any negative or critical message. This can be experienced as a great relief to a student who is fidgety and needs to move in class. The key is to strategically design and integrate movement and refocusing into the routines of the class. This way, students do not receive negative feedback, but rather are provided with coping mechanisms applied by masterful and understanding faculty.

It also turns out that the way our children understand and use the concept of time figures strongly in how they are able to acquire the toolbox of academic skills they will need to succeed in school. Dr. Russell Barkley, author of Taking Charge of ADHD, speaks about students with ADHD as having difficulty with the concept of time. I heard him speak at a conference in Honolulu several years ago where he observed that, for these students, there are only two kinds of time: "now" and "not now!"

He explains this as a lack of an "internal clock."  For children and students who have no "onboard" sense of time and how it impacts their ability to complete assignments and other obligations, it is necessary to "externalize" time at school and at home, and have tools available that help them organize around the pressures and issues that time presents.  This is why schedules, planners, PDAs, message boards, GoBinder, and other strategic program elements at Lawrence are so vital.

Getting students to be more conscious of time requires some thoughtful planning on our part.  My dear friend and colleague in Honolulu, Patti Jenks, Principal of ASSETS High School, has devoted many years to the study of organizational and attention issues in students with learning differences. She wrote an article called "Time Travelers" about the challenges our students face in trying to develop these "executive functions." 

The article is available on the ASSETS School website (www.assets-school.net) and includes a copy of a student planner where students in high school are required to predict how much time a homework task will take - then write down the actual time it took.  By comparing the two, a student gradually begins to understand their own time requirements.  The locus of control and regulation shifts to the student who can begin to plan more effectively, rather than feel at the mercy of the relentless passage of time. 

In order to participate successfully in academic or social activities in school or out, students need to learn the skills of self-monitoring, self-regulation, and adjustment.  These are keys factors for their success.  How am I doing? What do I need to do? What resources and tools can I make use of? 

In addition, I want to suggest that when we talk of our students we need to enlarge our vocabulary by moving away from the word "attention" and use more accurate, specific descriptions of the behaviors we see in the classroom and at home. By examining what we usually toss in the category of "attention problems," we can begin to see more clearly where the difficulties reside and how to support learning without generalizing or criticizing.

If we think of the word "focus" instead of "attention" we can simultaneously congratulate our children for having a busy, deeply layered radar screen - and then ask them the following questions that may be helpful to their understanding of the challenges they face:

Does the student have delays or difficulties:

• Initiating tasks - getting started or organized to begin a task?
• Sustaining focus - keeping their eyes on the teacher, or persisting through a challenging math problem? Shifting from one task or focus to another when it is required? 
• Terminating an activity - finishing up and cleaning up?
• Inhibiting attention - ignoring extraneous noises or activities?
• Organizing and tracking their materials?
  
• Developing routines to aid memory for books, clothing and study materials?
  

We do not encourage our students to "hurry" nor do we want them to feel "timed" when they are doing tasks, except on those occasions when we are practicing for fluency.  What our students need - and what we need to help them develop - is step-wise organization, opportunities for reflection and practice, using and understanding time, and employing more precise, accurate descriptions of themselves without judgment, generalizations or abstractions.

Stay tuned to this space for more on ADD. I have received an abundance of great questions, and look forward to addressing those more specifically in the upcoming weeks. I have also asked one of our students to write a guest blog on what it is like to learn with ADD. I look forward to hearing his thoughts!

Lou Salza

(I recommend Any of Dr. Russell Barkley's books, publications, research or newsletters. Dr Barkley will be in Canton conducting a seminar on children with attention issues this month.  Several of us will attend from Lawrence. The journey continues!)

Did this week's Head Notes column inspire you, puzzle you, or otherwise stir a response you would like to share? Let Lou know how you feel!  He welcomes all comments and correspondence via e-mail or phone (440-832-7820).