STACY R. PHILLIPS: OK, we're going to get started. Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us.

My name is Stacy Phillips. I am a project coordinator here at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University. This morning we are going to be hosting our Family's First Transition to Kindergarten webinar.

This session is specifically for families who have children transitioning to kindergarten in Philadelphia. Some cities and states and school districts run things differently. I just want to mention that caveat. Things might be a little different where you live, if you're not in Philadelphia. Families First is a Philadelphia inter-agency council activity, funded by the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, as well as Elwyn Early Learning Services.

This morning I have the pleasure of introducing our four guest speakers/panelists. I will introduce them briefly, and then we will get started. So thanks again for being here this morning.

Joining us, we have the Director of Community and Family Engagement from Elwyn Early Learning Services, Kel Parker. Kel has been working in the field for the last 30 years, and is also a parent of a child who recently transitioned to kindergarten. Also joining us from the school district of Philadelphia is Klarissa Spencer. She is a coordinator for special needs mental health for the school district's Office of Early Childhood, and has been working at the school district for more than 10 years.

Next we have Jen Fisher. Jen works for the Philadelphia Interagency Council, the PICC, and is an assistant family educator facilitator at Elwyn Early Learning Services. She has six children, and has been their advocate for more than 15 years. She'll tell you a little bit more about her family when we get started.

And last we have Tiffany Thorpe-Kelly. Tiffany is a Program Manager with First Up, and is also a parent of a child who received early intervention services. For the last 20 years has been working in education and supporting teachers.

So welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. Again, if you have a question, don't hesitate to use the Raise Hand feature or drop it in the chat.

You also have a Reactions button on the bottom of your Zoom where you can raise your hand that way. So we'd love to engage with you, and we'll definitely make sure that we save some time at the end for Q&A. So now I am going to turn it over to Kel Parker.

KEL PARKER: Good morning, everyone. And thank you, Stacy, for giving me the opportunity to participate in this discussion. I'm going to see if I can share my screen. OK, I'm unable to share my screen, Stacy.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: I can try one more time to make you co-host. It says that you are co-host. I can share your screen for you, if you'd like.

KEL PARKER: That might actually be more efficient. You have the guide up?

STACY R. PHILLIPS: I do. Give me one second.

KEL PARKER: OK, sure.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: OK, can you see it?

KEL PARKER: Yes.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Great.

KEL PARKER: OK, here's a guide. And as Stacy shared earlier, I went through this process last year when my son transitioned from early intervention services to school age. We have a little anxiety as a parent when your child's going to kindergarten, but then even more so when they may have to go with needed services to make sure they can have success in the regular environment.

So just from my own experiences-- experiences from talking with other parents, and just other early intervention professionals and colleagues-- kind of came up with a quick guide that just gave an overview to help parents through the process. If you go to page three. One thing we do try to let parents know, whether you're attending the School District of Philadelphia, whether you're attending charter schools or private schools, we're here to support you through this process just to make sure we have a smooth transition.

It says "why do I have to start the kindergarten process early?" I try to share with parents that one of the best things I did was to attend the transition to kindergarten meeting, whether it be with the school district or Elwyn, or even a meeting like this where I can get that information as needed. Going through this process, you ensure that you're working with the school district, you're working with Elwyn, and you're going to make sure that the services that your child is receiving now, that you'll have them by the first day of school.

I've talked to families who may not have started the process on time. And then school starts in September, and you may not get the needed services you need til maybe months later after school's started. So going through this process early is very important. And like I said, it's probably one of the best things that helped me during the transition process.

OK, next page, please. This was just some basic information or the things you will need to register for kindergarten. Proof of your child's age-- whether that be through a birth certificate, child's valid passport, your proof of residency-- and your immunization records. So these are the things that you would need to complete the registration process, along with your early intervention documents. I just wanted to give you some examples of what you would need to complete that process.

Next page. This website, it's amazing. The school district did an amazing job of putting resources on this page for the Thrive at Five about registration. There's links so you can find your neighborhood school. There's information in multiple languages.

There's just a ton of resources on this page, different experiences you may have of different things, programs that the district offers. And I share with families, even if you've actually completed your registration, they're always updating and adding links with different information, helpful resources for parents. So that link will take you directly to that page.

Next. We try to provide a timeline to help parents keep pace. We initially forwarded this document out to our parents in early intervention back in November.

And for November, making sure that your LEA rep at Elwyn has your current contact information, because we're going to be forwarding out different emails and links and information. So just making sure that they know who their LEA rep was. Make sure that they have their current contact information, and just establish that we'll be communicating and sharing information about this process.

Between January and February, in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, we've had 16 in-person meetings throughout the city during the months of January and February. We also had a virtual meeting where we would share information, kind of like what we're going through now. Then next January 17 to May, making sure that you register your child for kindergarten. And like I said, we encourage that you do that sooner than later. Because the earlier you start the process, you can make sure that you're set by the first day of school.

And then we provided some contact information to reach the early intervention specialist at the school district. And then you also have the contact information for Elwyn so you can reach out to your early intervention coordinator, your LEA rep. Just making sure that they have current contact information, and also that you're up-to-date on anything regarding the transition process.

OK, next. And then I came up with a grid. I tried to do a one-pager. I actually had it on my refrigerator at one point.

So as you're coming in in the morning, you can look at it and see by month what responsibilities does Elwyn have throughout this process. And then in the middle, what responsibilities do the school district of Philadelphia or the schools have, and then also as a family what your responsibilities would be. So it was kind of something that I had and would look at regularly, because it goes fast.

It comes around. It's like that's February, and it's March now, and you look up and it's September. So always keeping this in view, and making sure that I was going through and following the process.

Next. Now, this is the transition plan probably towards the end of your IEP if you're in a transition year. You have the opportunity to work with your IEP team to develop this transition plan.

First would just be an overview. It could be, "my child is receiving services at a Head Start program, and they're receiving whatever related services." It could be, "my child is receiving services in the home."

So that first goal one gives you an overview of what's happening now. Of course, the goal is to have a smooth transition to kindergarten, if you choose to transition this year. Because parents, which we'll talk about, do have an option of remaining in early intervention for an extra year.

So if your goal is to transition to kindergarten, you give an overview of what's happening now. It also has here in activities and steps, one thing is to try to get to a transition meeting, or a meeting like this where you can get that information. What I like about this, like with your IEP, you can have specific goals that are [INAUDIBLE] want to help you with transition. For example, if you know it takes your child a while to get acclimated to new environments, one of the things you may want to do as part of this transition plan, maybe set up a visit for a school, or attend a kindergarten open house. Have an opportunity to meet the teacher.

I've written plans like this where parents may say, I live near my neighborhood school. So we're going to visit there once a week. We'll go to the schoolyard, the playground, so the child can get acclimated with the campus and the different equipment that's there.

And like I said, you can be as specific as possible. If you have a child that's a picky eater, one of the goals I would suggest to parents is go on the school's website and look at their menu and see if what they're serving for breakfast and lunch is something that you think your child would like. I tell you, it's little things like that going through the school with them and your child getting hungry, because maybe they're not going to like what's being served. You may have to pack a lunch.

You can get as specific as you can. And the goal is to work with your team to identify some things that are going to make this process and that transition smoother for your child. So definitely during your transition year, look for this page, like I said, towards the end of the IEP. And definitely have some really specific and detailed conversations about what you think your child may need to have that successful start to their school.

OK, next. Here's a copy of an intent to register. Normally from your Elwyn service coordinator, LEA, should have provided you with this document. Scroll up just a little bit, Stacy? Thank you.

The intent to register notifies Elwyn that you're planning to either transition to kindergarten if you're not going to register. And if you see number two, I do not plan to register my child for kindergarten. Because parents in early intervention do have the option to remain in early intervention for an additional year.

So when you complete this document, if it notifies us that you are transitioning, then if you look in option one, you would check that. And then it also gives us permission to share your early intervention documents with the school district or schools. So by completing this and filling this out, now we know that your intent is to go to kindergarten and we can share your information.

Also, if your decision is to remain in early intervention for another year, then we can work with families on what that's going to look like. For example, for some children if you're in a head start or maybe Pre-K [INAUDIBLE] program, you may not be able to stay in that program for an additional year. You can still get early intervention services, but you may not be able to stay in that program. So we can work with families to have those conversations to see if wherever your child's educational setting is, that that will be where you'll receive your early intervention services.

So we just want to make sure that we provide as much support as possible, and knowing whether you're going to transition to kindergarten or if you're going to stay an extra year. We can work with families to find out where that setting is going to be, if they'll be able to remain in their current setting for that additional year while they're getting early intervention. Completing this and forwarding this back is really important.

I would say if you haven't completed this document, please make sure that before this presentation is over I can definitely get you some information on connecting with your LEA representative and making sure that we get this document completed. Because like I said, this really starts the process for us in regards to sharing the records with the school district, or with schools. And also making sure that we're putting things in place for a successful transition or if your transition goal is to remain behind. So filling out this document is something that hopefully if you haven't done, I'll make sure I can support you in getting that done as soon as possible.

OK, Stacy. I believe that's it.

STACEY R. PHILLIPS: Thank you so much. I think that's a really important document. I will also drop the link in the chat. I tried, and it didn't work. So I will fix that in a few minutes, or before our session ends, for sure.

I think the guide is so straightforward and puts it in such plain terms that it's a little bit easier to understand. There are so many things to think about when you're transitioning your child to kindergarten and all the steps. So I appreciate the timeline and the guide.

So I think what we're going to do is let each of our panelists share some of their experiences with transition to kindergarten. So I'm going to start with our parent representatives today. I know, Kel, you're a parent as well. So Jen and Tiffany, these questions are for you.

I'm going to turn it over to Jen. I'm going to let you introduce yourself, your family situation. And I'll share that photo, if you'd like. And maybe just talk a little bit about your experiences with transitioning to kindergarten.

JEN FISCHER: Hi. Good morning, everyone. Again, I am Jen Fischer. I am the Philadelphia Interagency Coordinating Council Assistant. I also am a trainer and facilitator at Elwyn's Early Learning Service in both Chester and Philadelphia.

I am the mother of seven children. My oldest son is 23 and my youngest son is six. Six of my children have various disabilities. The three children you see in these pictures, one picture is when they were in early intervention.

Actually, the one with the cap and gown, that's the day my son graduated from early intervention and weeks later went to kindergarten. And then the picture on the right side is a picture of each of them. At the top, my son graduated last June from high school.

The guy in the maroon cap and gown graduated in 2020 during COVID. And Jude is currently a sixth grader at New Foundations Charter School. And then the picture at the bottom right is all of my children together. And that's probably the most recent picture I have of them all together.

So our family started our journey to early intervention in 2006 in the infant toddler program. And then Christian went to Elwyn's program-- at the time was called Elwyn's SEEDS. Now it is known as Elwyn's Early Learning Services.

He then transitioned to kindergarten in a Catholic school in the city of Philadelphia. Went to Catholic school till he was in fifth grade, and then was included at our local public school. And then during COVID was home-schooled, and then decided that he would like to remain home-schooled. So he actually graduated last year. He home-schooled in 12th grade, and received his diploma in June.

Nate, he started out a little bit different. He was in preschool, and the picture you see of him when he was little is his graduation day from preschool. And while he was in preschool, his teacher said, he's very bright. He talks to me and the aid and the other teachers, but he doesn't really talk to the other kids. I think your son should be evaluated by Elwyn.

So we went to Elwyn and they did an evaluation, and they realized he had autism. And it was a pretty involved evaluation with the psychologist. And it happened over several weeks.

Since he was at a typical preschool where he was fully included, he got what's called itinerant services. So we would take him to an early intervention provider after school. His provider was [? Spin, ?] and he received special instruction and occupational therapy for about a year and a half. He was three and a half, four when he started in early intervention.

And then he transitioned to the school district of Philadelphia in a learning support classroom in our local neighborhood school with a really good IEP. And then he did in first grade transition to a Catholic school and went to Catholic school until he was in eighth grade and went to a charter school for high school. He didn't have an IEP in high school, which was pretty significant. So that was his story.

And then Jude went through early intervention. He started at three. We knew he had a developmental delay.

He was born early at 36 weeks. He had jaundice. He had delays from birth.

He wasn't eligible for birth to three early intervention. But when he turned two and a half, he started getting speech privately at Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children. He was evaluated by Elwyn when he turned three, and he received speech and special instruction. And he went to a program at Northeast Growth and Development for children with language difficulties.

Jude has apraxia auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, dyslexia, and he also has executive functioning issues and working memory issues. Sometimes when you're just born a little bit early, it really does affect your brain and how you learn and how you process things. So that's just important to remember.

And so Jude did do an extra year of early intervention. We went through the process, just like you are right now. We had him evaluated by the school district.

He wasn't potty trained at the time. He had a lot of sensory issues. We also wondered if he had autism-- he doesn't, but a lot of his behavior mimics children with autism.

So he wasn't potty trained. He was very hard to understand. He was getting a lot of services, and he was in a very small classroom of seven other children.

There were five adults in that classroom. There was a teacher, an aide, a OT, a speech language pathologist, and one child had an ABA therapist in the classroom. So it was really a lot of support. And we decided once he was evaluated that it was better for him to stay the extra year in early intervention, get the extra supports and services he was receiving.

I love Northeast Growth and Development. I cannot say enough positive things about the school. They do have a typical classroom, as well, which is on Howell Street.

If you have any questions, if you're still in early intervention or have a child that you have questions about language issues, I'll be happy to speak with you after this. But it is an amazing school. We still talk about it today.

And Jude now is a sixth grader. He gets a lot of services, because he has severe dyslexia. He just started to be able to read last year. He can read at about a kindergarten reading level.

He's in a co-taught classroom, which means there is a typical teacher and then there is a teacher of special education with him all day long, and his peers. And so the teacher helps the kids who need help, and even sometimes helps the kids that are typical if they have a question or if they need something. And then he also gets speech, and he gets reading support, and he gets math support. He gets pulled out for all of those things with his special education teacher.

So he's doing really well. He's been at New Foundations Charter School since he was in kindergarten. He loves it there. It's a really like a family.

He really loves that school. And he can stay there until he's in 12th grade and beyond, if we decide he's going to stay until he's older. So it's really a great opportunity for him.

And then my last child, his name is Bob. He didn't go through early intervention because he was a little guy during COVID. But he transitioned to kindergarten last year, and he brought me to a whole different world of disabilities.

He has what's called a visual impairment and he also has dyslexia. So he was working with a vision therapist. Really wasn't getting a lot better. Was having trouble seeing at school and reading. He has a teacher for the visually impaired who comes and works with him.

He did have surgery last October, and he did really well. And he continues to do well. He is still not able to really read yet, but he can do math really well and he loves math. And he just really loves going to school, and works really hard at everything he does.

So two things I want to say about kindergarten. Kindergarten is amazing. Your children learn so much-- and I don't just mean academically, I mean socially. They make friends. They learn the structure of a whole day classroom.

And just dream about the vision you want for your child when they go to kindergarten, and dream big. And I hope that their kindergarten year is everything you want for them. And if you have any questions at any time, you can reach out to me. I'll drop my email in the chat and my phone number. You can text me or call me.

If you feel frustrated, or if you just have a question, or if there's something you don't understand, I'll be more than happy to help you. I can even help you once you're at the school district through the other work that I do. So if you have any questions, just ask. And have a great day.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jen. I loved the pictures. They're great. Tiffany, I'm going to turn it over to you to share a little bit more about yourself and your experience with early intervention.

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: Sure. Hi, everyone. My name is Tiffany. I am currently working as a Program Manager with First Up.

My daughter Kendrick Taylor, a.k.a. KT, went through early intervention. She's in first grade now. So we transitioned about two years to kindergarten.

Before I became a program manager here at First Up, I had been a childcare director, teacher, all of the above in early childhood education. And at the time that she was coming up-- infant to toddlers to three-- I was a director at the program that she was a toddler in.

At that time, I knew there was a little something going on. But it was the year right before COVID, and everyone just called me the overzealous director. She had some speech impairments, she had some delays. But it was around two that I started to notice things. And I was training the teachers that were in the way of identifying some of those things, some of those developmental milestones, some different things.

So there was a little bit of transition with me identifying and getting her evaluated. We eventually did get her evaluated, did get services put in place. But then, boom, COVID.

She was approved for speech services, which was very difficult to get and do during COVID. There was a little bit of transition with staff, as we all probably encountered if you have children. The staffing shortage, staff in transition, staff and all that that was happening for the last four years, to be honest, was a bit of a transition.

She went through a few different speech therapists. There was some transition that happened. And then everybody was just trying to get on task and trying to figure the way of the world during the pandemic and how that looked.

Even though I was really happy that we got the services and I was really happy with the services we were receiving, the transition was mind boggling. I joined a few parent advocacy groups, and that says a lot. I know a lot of folks get scared by this whole process. And sometimes you being in the field and being a part of the community, I feel like I walked through this process many times with parents and teachers.

And it just wasn't the same with me. It was a completely different experience. And I felt like I was really learning this whole process from scratch.

Kel, your guideline, that is amazing. Because I'm on internet searching the Elwyn before it was called the A to Z list. It's called the Elwyn Resource Guide now. Was a thankful, wonderful resource that Elwyn provides.

But everybody was kind of grasping at straws on how this process looks into this whole virtual kind of space and beyond, right? So we went through that. We finally get back into the space, and now she's finishing preschool at this point.

And we're back in person. But now we have IEP, we have three or four different speech therapists that have transitioned into her case. But I'm aware of the IEP meeting, and I'm very informed, and thankfully, for the groups, the CP2 advocacy groups and things like that, that I informed myself.

I did this training that year. I came to this same exact-- not as a panel member, but as a participant-- and I got all the information just researching. Because I'm one of those parents-- and I know some of you on the call are those parents-- where you might not be too fond of the choices of schools in your area and want to know what your options are. I really researched that and looked for a school that was really, really in tune to her needs and started to build a relationship with that school in her last year of preschool, which was not too far from her preschool.

She goes to Overbrook Education Center, which is a fantastic school, all inclusive. They have one grade each year. And the transition for early intervention was amazing.

Technically, it was her neighborhood school. So that transition was perfect. The school reached out, they did the evaluation, and kind of ran me through some things I thought I knew but I did not know. Ran me through the whole process.

So reaching out to your next school is truly important in that process, trying to build that relationship early on. And then using your teachers, the folks, specialists, everyone that's involved on a case and communicating with them-- whether it be an email, or just asking a question about what's going on. Especially if your child receives services in school and maybe not at home where you get the information sometimes after the fact, right?

So that transition, again, I started to ask questions. And because there were so many gaps and loops in between it, me asking those questions really helped, not just my family, but so many families involved in that chaos and confusion. And it really bridged the gap with Elwyn, the services we were providing, the specialists. The school district was fantastic in that process, as well, as far as reaching out. So that communication of me coming to this information session and just getting information and just reaching out to anybody that I could.

Klarissa, anybody on this call, please use them as a resource. Jen was phenomenal, and helped me navigate and look for schools, things like that. And again, Kel, thank you again for that guide. I'm going to share that with so many families, you don't even know.

But now KT, she's transitioned over into the school. It was a smooth transition, and she actually accomplished most of her goals towards the end of the IEP. And she's excelling.

She started to read during kindergarten. Her speech has leveled out in so many amazing ways. Her language and vocabulary is exemplary. It's just amazing, what early intervention was able to provide and able to help me navigate that system.

Again, even someone coming from the field and being in the field for so long, this was a completely different ball game when I tried to navigate this as a parent and as a family. And now I feel like I'm more of an advocate for that than I do in my real job. Because I feel like parents just need to know the information, and sometimes it's overwhelming.

And something as simple as a guide can just start those steps to do in September, October, November, December. There's a game plan, especially if you're looking outside of your catchment area, looking in different areas or different schools, parochial, charter. There's other options, of course. But follow the school district's guide as far as how to get those resources and who to communicate with.

Use your team, especially your LEA, and any of the specialists that your child is receiving services through. They always have an amazing response time, too. If you email those number-- or call that number, there is amazing response time. I have used that myself.

So that's just my story. Like I said, I still continue to advocate for all my families that I work with now, especially with kindergarten transition. So if you have any questions, [click-for-email]. I love helping families try to navigate that this system. It's a lot of information.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: It is a lot. Thank you, Tiffany.

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: Thank you.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: And if you want to drop your email in the chat, that would be helpful, too. So a few things that Tiffany said that I kind of want to just chip at. Number one, pandemic-- the changes that occurred and the impact on our children. I don't know that we'll actually know for many years the actual long-lasting effects. But trying to go through this process of transitioning from early intervention to kindergarten during a pandemic must have been wild.

My son's older, he's 12. So I know transitioning just from learning and going to school, and then being home was huge for us. So I appreciate that you talked a little bit about that.

Tiffany also mentioned C2P2 and being a C2P2 graduate. I did drop the link to that in the chat. C2P2 is another program here of the Institute on Disabilities. I'm also a graduate.

It is for parents who have school aged children with disabilities and self-advocates to come together and learn all about the education system, and learning about waivers, and things that impact people with disabilities. It makes you a better advocate. So if it's something you're interested in, please check that out. Yay, me.

When Kel was talking a lot about Elwyn's responsibilities and what happens with the paperwork and the guide, which is fantastic, I want to give Klarissa an opportunity to talk a little bit about what happens next. So they're coming from early intervention. We've got that perspective.

Jen talked a little bit about her children's journey through school, which I think is helpful to see the future, like what's going to happen next for my child. Elwyn's got their system locked down. So what happens, Klarissa, when the kids end up coming to you and they're actually making that jump from early intervention to kindergarten? Can you talk a little bit about that process?

KLARISSA SPENCER: So good morning, everyone. My name is Klarissa Spencer, and I am the Coordinator of Special Needs and Mental Health for the Office of Early Childhood. It's great to see everyone.

It's great to hear the stories of Tiffany and Jen. Different situations, but ultimately the goal is to have that support and the knowledge as you go through this journey. So thank you, both of you, for sharing.

So Kel talked through the process of making sure that intent to register is signed. Because that, again, allows your information to be sent to the district. So that way they can look over any information, and decide what is the appropriate course of services for your child once they get into kindergarten.

I have my colleague on here, too, Quiana, from the Office of Diverse Learners, who can also probably speak to this as well, as far as once a child transitions into kindergarten. My room is three to five, so we are helping those families move along. But Quiana may want to talk about a little bit once that transition happens, what parents could expect when they get into kindergarten. So I'm going to turn it over to Quiana so she can talk a little bit about that.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Welcome, Quiana. Thanks for being here.

QUIANA CARTHEN: Good morning. Sorry, it seems like every time I try to put the official SDP background on, it kicks my camera off. So we're just going to go with the blur right now. [LAUGHS] It's why I kept popping in and out.

So as Kel and Klarissa were saying, signing the intent to register started the process. Coming into the district, once we get your information, we'll review it. Because the question we have is, is your child kindergarten ready? And in terms of that, we're talking about do we believe that your child would be able to access their curriculum? And if not, what type of support do we think they'll need in order to access what's going on in school to help them learn?

So during the spring, January through the end of our school year, we do our best to try and evaluate the children who are coming our way to determine do we have enough information. Our goal is to make sure that every child is in the appropriate kindergarten seat when kindergarten starts. If we need to, we will always continue services, if necessary, through their Elwyn IEP. So no child will ever be without services.

Our biggest thing is that we need parents to register for kindergarten as soon as possible. Because kindergarten is not mandatory. And that causes some concern, because kindergarten registration doesn't end until May 31.

So you want to register, save yourself a seat, just in case you need it in regular kindergarten. Because a lot of the Special Ed services can be provided in a regular seat in regular kindergarten, where services come to you. So if you need assistance, say for reading, you get pulled out just for that, but you spend the rest of your time with your regular kindergarten class. So you want to save yourself a seat, just in case it's needed.

I do realize that the process does seem to start really early, and it seems like it's really long. But the goal is we want to try and find out as soon as possible what's needed, or what may be needed for your child. The district opens classes every year. So that's another thing going. If we don't have a seat, we will make a seat and make sure that we have it.

So if there are any questions or concerns, you can always reach out to me also. And this year, just in case you weren't able to attend any of the transition meetings, there is an early intervention Google site which will give all of the information for a transition. There's also the copy of the presentation that we were doing out in the field, as well as additional information you may need for moving over to kindergarten.

And I am also available. We'll drop my information into the chat, too. And thank you for inviting me. I appreciate it.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Yeah, thank you. This is Stacy. Thank you so much, Quiana, for that information.

Something that you said just triggered another question. How long does the process take? Once the paperwork is submitted, Quiana mentioned they need to review and make sure the child is kindergarten ready. So when can parents expect to be notified from the time that they submit their paperwork? How long is that process?

QUIANA CARTHEN: Children who signed an intent to register that was turned over by Elwyn in November and December have gone through their review, and teams started reaching out to those parents in January and February. I do not know the time frame from assigned intent on Elwyn's side to the information coming to the district. But for me, it takes me approximately two weeks to get the information put into our system and then it goes out to our neighborhood schools.

Once the teams do the review, if they decide that they do need to evaluate, there's a 60-day timeline that they have available to them to do the evaluations. And if you need an IEP, that tacks another 30 days onto that. So that's looking at least a minimum of 90 days to go through the process to determine if a need is for special education-- and that's minimum, which is why we want we say start as soon as possible.

So that's just the legal timeline for the evaluation and the IEP. Not counting, of course, the time it takes to get from signed intent to the LEAs from Elwyn getting the information to the district, to the review team. So I would tack maybe another 30 days total. So you're looking at 120, so four months--

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Wow.

QUIANA CARTHEN: --for the total process, which is why we say start early. So all those children who we got in November, December are way along on that process. If you're just starting now, we still have plenty of time, because we have a team that evaluates over the summer. So we're trying to get it done by that first day of kindergarten.

So if you haven't signed the intent, please sign the intent and follow up. And Mr. Parker will make sure that the district gets the information. I will make sure that it gets processed and gets to the neighborhood school. And they will reach out to you as soon as possible to indicate whether or not they think additional testing is needed.

But the school will also reach out, no matter what, just to see do you still intend to register for kindergarten? Because maybe you've changed your mind since you signed your paperwork. Because you could have signed your paperwork a month ago.

But as Miss Thorpe-Kelly said, we'll look for you. We will contact, and contact, and contact until you tell us yay or nay. Trying to get a hold of you to get information to do our best for communication. And if you feel that someone is not communicating with you, please reach out to Ms. Spencer, to Kelly, to myself, and we will make sure that we follow up.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Awesome. So folks on the call, you heard that-- 90 days, 120 days. That's why it's important to start this process early. Don't hesitate.

And if people have questions and they're not sure how things are moving along, should they contact the school district? Is there one person, or a general mailbox that they should be reaching out to? Or should they be reaching out to you and/or Klarissa?

QUIANA CARTHEN: So if you're talking about where they are in the kindergarten transition process, they can reach out to me directly. I will put an email [INAUDIBLE]. In general, there are two early intervention coordinators. We are split by school, so depending on what school,

Ms. Joanne Eggleston or myself will reach out to the parent. If there are questions which are not in my realm-- questions, say, for a case manager about specific programs-- we'll also make sure that that information gets to the appropriate person. If it's about transition on the Elwyn side, Mr. Parker would be. Or if they're in one of the Bright Futures Pre-K Head Start, that would be Ms. Spencer.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: OK, great. That's really good clarification. I want to take a moment and read some of the questions that are in the chat. And maybe you all can just take turns answering them, whoever it seems to apply to.

One was about ABA. "I was told that ABA services can continue in the classroom through CBH. Would there be a reason a school would not allow this?" Somebody want to take that one?

KLARISSA SPENCER: I will start. And then Quiana, you can back me up, too. As far as I know, they can go with the child into kindergarten. But also know that our schools have behavioral health organizations housed in them, as well.

So it just depends. CBH is obviously through private insurance. I think that they can go ahead with them. But do know that that service is also in our schools, as well. So if they can't, then they can connect with those services in the school.

QUIANA CARTHEN: I'm sorry. I was just looking, trying to put something in the chat.

Yes, so we do have ABA therapists now in the district. In terms of an outside agency, I do know that there are certain entities that the district works with. And outside of that would be a question of going, making sure they have their clearances, and [INAUDIBLE] speak to the school and the case manager to make sure that can be set up and arranged if they're coming through private insurance.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Great. Thank you. For the person that asked that question, if you need further clarification, please don't hesitate. We'll do more Q&A towards the end. Another question in the chat was, "Can schools complete an IEP, or do those need to come from Elwyn?"

QUIANA CARTHEN: So the information that comes from Elwyn is your child's evaluation report and their last IEP from Elwyn, whatever their current IEP is. That IEP is made for developmental concerns. The school district, if you're going to get an IEP, needs to address your child's education and your curriculum needs. So we do another IEP, because it's about what's needed for your child to access their schooling, are there any barriers to their learning.

So that IEP does look a little bit different than what they would have received coming out of Elwyn. So yeah, we're looking to do a school age. So we're going for five and over, versus a three to five IEP.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Kel, do you want to add to that what the IEP process looks like from Elwyn's perspective? You're muted.

KEL PARKER: Well, just echoing what Quiana said. We do share that information, their early intervention documentation, with the school district. And when they make that transition to that process, they are creating, as Quiana mentioned, a school district level K to 12 IEP. And they can use the information from the early intervention IEP. But the goal is to get an IEP that's going to get them the services to support them in a school environment, versus the preschool environment, depending on where they're getting services at.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Great. Thank you. So another question would be, "does all of this apply for charter schools?" So if a child's moving from early intervention and moving into a charter school, is the process the same? Is there anything that parents should be aware of if they're choosing a charter school option?

JEN FISCHER: Charter schools are actually very different. You will not get an evaluation until your child passes through this threshold of a charter school. So there is no evaluation done by the school until your child's actually there. Their IEP will be written after that.

Usually, you're getting an IEP in October or November. What we recommend, if you can, is to go through the process with the school district. And then if you decide to go to a charter, let them know.

But if you can get a pretty good IEP, then you can bring that to the charter school. But a charter school, you are not a student in a charter school until the first day of school. I've gone through it four times. And all four of my children, in three cases, they kept their Elwyn IEP.

It was very hard to do the services. They had much more services when they were with Elwyn, and it was hard for the school to even have those people in place. So just understand, you may get frustrated, but it is a whole different process.

The best thing to do is register at your neighborhood school and go through the process that way. And then if you decide to go to a charter in the end, it's totally different. But the school district offers so much, so many services, it's just totally different.

I've been through every type of school except a approved private school. I've homeschooled, I've had kids go to Catholic school, private school, public school, charters, virtual charter, and I've traditionally homeschooled two of my children. So you can ask me anything. I know a little bit about approved private schools, but I've never, as a parent, experienced one.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: You've got the whole market covered, Jen. [LAUGHS] Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Yeah, Jen wears a lot of hats and has definitely had experience in all of those realms, which is interesting.

I also am the parent of three children and have gone through public school in Philadelphia, charter school in Philadelphia, and my son was at an APS-approved private school and is now at a cyber charter. So we've experienced all the different types of education. I'm still a huge proponent of public education, as a former school district of Philadelphia teacher. I always have to say that.

I love the questions in the chat. I just want to thank everyone for continuing to drop those in there. It is really good information, especially for people navigating different realms where they're at right now with their child.

I have a question about your personal opinion. "What is one bit of advice that you can give to parents? What do you think is the most important thing that they can do to prepare their child for that transition?" And that's to all of you on the panel.

KLARISSA SPENCER: I'll start. The most important thing, or one good thing, is to, if you can, enroll them into a preschool program. That is where they can get the feel of what it's like being in school-- learning the routine, making friends, being with their peers. I think that's a good step into getting ready for kindergarten.

I'm friends with a couple of kindergarten teachers. And she can tell who's been in preschool and who hasn't, just because of the way that they are in school. It's just a really good foundation for them to get ready for kindergarten.

And so I would say definitely, if you can, enroll your child into Pre-K. And we're registering now. So if anybody has any three to five-year-olds, bring them on, because we have a really good program. I'll start there.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Kel, Tiffany, Jen, go for it.

JEN FISCHER: I would say make sure you have a routine and structure. School is very structured. They're going to go from classroom to classroom. They're going to learn a lot.

Don't be worried about what they know academically, or if they can write their name. They're things they're going to learn, and they'll become goals in their IEP, if needed. So don't be so nervous. Like, oh, my child can't count to 20, or they don't know all their colors yet. That's OK.

Our kids with disabilities, they're a little different. And every child is different, honestly. I have seven different individuals that live in my house, and they're all unique in their own ways.

And even my two sons with autism are completely different from each other-- how they presented, their experiences, their education. They both did very different things with school. One works full time and one is going to carpenter school and working. So it all depends on the person.

But just really work on the structure over the summer, getting up at a certain time. We start practicing going back to school in August, because we go back to school at the end of August. But maybe two weeks before, start getting into bed early, getting up earlier.

Are you going to eat breakfast? Are you going to eat breakfast at school? There is breakfast at school in the school district of Philadelphia and all charter schools in the city of Philadelphia. So are you going to eat breakfast at school?

And they offer a lot. They have pancakes and French toast. It's not just cereal and milk. Now, there is cereal some days, and you can get the schedule of what breakfast is. But just really getting that routine down is so important.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jen. So, so far we've got enroll them preschool, and routines and structure. So these are really good tips and tricks, and I hope people are taking note. I'm going to turn it over to Kel and Tiffany. What do you think?

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: You go, Kel.

KEL PARKER: OK. Thank you, Tiffany. I would say I like the timeline that Quiana shared. So I advise every parent to start the process early, just to make sure that you have enough time to work with the school district, or work with your LEA team to make sure all the services are in place for your child by the first day of school. That would probably be my best piece of advice.

And then, just following up on what Jen was saying also, making sure that you have routines in place. Like you said, every child is different and everyone knows their child. And going back to that transition plan that we reviewed, knowing what their strengths are and where they're going to need support.

And then making sure that you have things in place for them so they can have that smooth transition, or even sharing that information with their teachers. Because it's always those little things that can help them throughout their day. So just having that open mind and keeping that channel of communication open with the school district, with your Elwyn, LEA and coordinators, and with the [INAUDIBLE] teacher.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Awesome. Tiffany?

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: So all of the things between Kel and Miss Klarissa, Miss Quiana and Jen-- yes, all of the things. I will say one resource that I really love and I share with families is Kindergarten, Here I Come. I dropped the link in the box.

And I used a couple of these-- they have a few of them. I use it as an educator and as a parent. But there's a whole cute little way of transitioning, and what to do every single month. A 12-month span of some activities to do at home, but also some things to be aware of, and some timelines of when you need to register for kindergarten.

I think that sometimes is the most chaotic part, or confusing part, is when to do the things. When to start going to the schools. When to start registering. When to do that. And sometimes the beginning part of the year goes right past you, and then it's all of a sudden January, February, you're like where is my kid going for kindergarten?

So again, this is just a great resource. Even if you're starting now, your child is starting kindergarten in September. It's always-- It's no late starts. It's always a time to start. And there's always things you can backtrack and do.

But it's wonderful. It's very, very colorful. It's very, very simple. And some things you can do at home. It's not a whole bunch of things you have to buy. Some great ways to incorporate the community.

But I use this. I use this still now, even with my first grader. We do some of these activities throughout the months, just to get her in the routine of things. Sometimes we have a long weekend. Going back to school can be a little difficult, so we go back to some of these activities in there.

So definitely communicate with your child's teacher and ask all of the questions. Ask the questions. Don't think that any question is a stupid question.

When do I start? How do I start? What's a good school?

Talk to your providers. If you are not in a preschool, like Klarissa said, high quality preschools, Pre-K counts, and Philly Pre-K programs are amazing in helping with that transition. So my advice is get yourself this book, do some transitions, some cute things at home to get them ready.

But also communicate with your teachers and your team, especially your specialists in your LEA, for students that are receiving early intervention services. They are your team. You want to be having the IEP meeting anyway. That's going to be coming up, so it's a nice time to ask the questions of what's been accomplished, what needs to still be accomplished, and some questions for that transition into kindergarten.

And good luck. We need the support just as much as the kids do. So we need a mom, dad, guardian, parent, family group to help support the kindergarten transition. But that's what we're here for.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: I agree.

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: Again, don't think that any question is the wrong question. I was an educator and sometimes I thought I should know this. I shouldn't ask this. But I still asked. [LAUGHS]

JEN FISCHER: We are hopefully, Tiffany, at Speaking Connect, going to put together a boot camp for parents during ASY. I'm going to develop it hopefully with Kel, and we're going to have some trainings to--

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: That's going to be awesome.

JEN FISCHER: --really get parents on their way over the summer.

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: We're still training people to train people. Get the people to go out in the masses and get the groups to get them in on the information. Because that's the most important part.

Some families just don't know. It might be your first baby. It might not be your third baby that went through the transition. It could be your first kid that's going to kindergarten.

I have two children, one that's 18. She's graduating high school and going to college. And then I have my youngest, who's seven now.

I was starting over. It was like completely starting over. So do not fear if you are a parent that has other children and don't know what to do. Just some encouragement.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Absolutely. I also have three kids that are really spaced apart. They're 25, 21, and 12. And my 12-year-old is the one with disabilities.

So I thought I knew everything with the 25 and the 21-year-old. I was like, yeah, just show up and register them for kindergarten and that was it. It was a very easy process-- no early intervention, no learning disabilities, no IEPs.

And then he came along, and I was like, I'm a teacher. I should know this. I was a Special Ed, teacher and I was like, what am I doing? I had no idea.

So these are really wonderful resources. I really encourage everybody on this call to capture these links that are here. And I just opened up the kindergarten Here I Come document, Tiffany. This is phenomenal. I've never seen this. I wish I had.

TIFFANY THORPE-KELLY: I actually got this as a teacher first. I'm telling you this, it's just Mary P. [INAUDIBLE], she sends this out in her newsletters all the time. And then there's one traditionally for infants.

But this kindergarten, they've revamped it. It's a new look to it. You can actually request this for free. You can get a couple of copies in your house. It looks like a calendar a little bit. It looks like--

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

STACY R. PHILLIPS: That's great.

JEN FISCHER: I have given that out for years. I love that guide. The year that we had COVID, I was so sad I didn't have a physical hard copy. I was getting it offline.

The only other thing I wanted to add is-- well, there's two things. Uniforms-- if your child has sensory issues-- which means maybe they like their clothes to fit a certain way, or they only like to wear certain clothes-- buy your uniforms early, like in July, and start practicing wearing them. Like maybe you have to wear them for 15 minutes, or five minutes each day.

And a lot of the charter schools, there's a shoe uniform, too. Regular traditional public schools, it depends on the school. Usually you can wear sneakers. But in charter schools, you have to wear very specific shoes. So I just suggest that you start trying their uniform on.

And the other thing is, if your school offers any kind of Open House, or back to school event, please go to it. It'll help your child to start acclimating, becoming part of their new school. You get to meet all the administrators and the teachers.

And most schools in Philadelphia, I have to say, they're like little families. It might seem big, but you get your groove and get your network and get involved. Join the Home in School. Learn about the Right to Education Task Force.

If you don't know what that is in Philadelphia, we are our own Intermediate unit which is called IU-26. So our Right to Education Task Force is through the IU-26. Right now it's run by Ms. Cecilia Thompson. But volunteer, get involved. Because that's how you become a parent in the know, and then you can help other parents.

KEL PARKER: Good tips, Jen. Jen's got them all. I'm going to write a book.

I like the idea of buying uniforms early. And one thing that we did-- my son also didn't like scratchy clothes-- is that we thrifted a lot of our uniforms. Because they were well loved, and they were soft, and they were not scratchy. Or we washed the ones that we bought multiple times before we made him wear them. But I like the idea of practicing. That's a good one.

I'm going to turn it over now and let our parents, our participants, ask other questions. If anybody on the call wants to raise a hand or come off of mute, turn on your camera, ask a question. Or you can drop it in the chat, and I'm glad to read that for you.

I also want to remind you that there's all of these resources and emails of the individuals on this call in the chat. So if you have specific questions, if you're concerned about your child's progress or what their additional needs might be once they reach kindergarten. Whether they communicate differently using sign language, or if they're non speaking at this time, or if they use an augmentative communication device, if there's some specific scenarios or questions that you have, please feel free to contact any of the people on this call. I think these were some really great resources.

And Jen also just dropped another link in the chat. And Jen, if there's a Right to Education Task Force information link, you can also put that in there. I think that would be really helpful. Does anyone have additional questions? I'm going to practice my teacher wait time.

QUIANA CARTHEN: I have a comment.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Yes, go right ahead, Quiana.

QUIANA CARTHEN: Jen was mentioning about Open House. There's a kindergarten Open House day on March 5, and then there's a kindergarten Open House week May 13 through 17. There's an opportunity to see the [INAUDIBLE] kindergartens. I will put it in the chat.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: The Open House day would be today then, right? Today is March 5.

QUIANA CARTHEN: Yeah. Today is March 5, so it was today.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: It is. That an all day event?

QUIANA CARTHEN: I don't know if it was all day. I didn't realize today is March 5, that's how quick this month is going. But yeah, the open house day was today.

But if nothing else, you can always reach out to the neighborhood school and find out about other opportunities that they may have. I also know there was a video last year. So that's the question of going maybe they did the same thing this year. Because I know there were several videos about open house last year.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: OK, great. I do have one last question I wanted to mention. This was a concern that we talked about last year when we hosted this.

If a child is not potty trained-- and Jen, I know that this was something that you had brought up as well-- this does not preclude them from going to kindergarten. So they can't be denied kindergarten because they're not potty trained. Can one of you walk us through what happens then?

Obviously they'll be in pull ups. But the teachers are not allowed to go into the bathroom with the child. So what accommodations are in place for that scenario?

JEN FISCHER: So a power professional, which is an aide in a classroom, can change your child. My son did go to school in a pull up. And an aide would change their pull up, if needed, if it was wet or if they pooped. If he was dry and was going to the bathroom, then he would come home in the pull up.

And it depends. You can get a potty training plan. I hope this is OK, Stacy. I, along with a friend of mine named Isley Baskerville, teach a potty training class every month through Elwyn.

The next one is March 16 at 10:00 AM. It's virtual. Most of them are virtual, some are hybrid. But every month until June, there will be opportunities to come to our potty training class. And we have teachers, we have occupational therapists, moms, dads, grandma, grandpas, aunts, uncles. You can have whoever you want come.

Then, like I said, we're going to do that parent boot camp in the summer to really get you going. Get you ready for kindergarten so you feel really confident, and so you can help your child feel confident as well. But yeah, if you can work on potty training at school, you can have it added into your IEP if it's needed. And there's various ways of working on potty training. It's really you deciding if this is what you want to do with your child, and working with the team, and with their teacher, and with the other staff to make it happen.

STACY R. PHILLIPS: Great. Thank you, Jen. For the panelists, is there any last minute things? I'm going to wrap up in a few minutes.

I appreciate your time. Is there anything that we didn't cover that you think needs to be mentioned-- any questions I didn't ask or we didn't cover? I always want to make sure that we talked about all the things that we wanted to cover.

All right, while you're thinking about that, for those of you participants, we have an evaluation link in the chat. We would appreciate you completing that before you log out today. And the session will is being recorded and will live on our Institute on Disabilities website. We have them professionally captioned, and then we will share that.

There's also about 13 other videos on there at this time that we have done in the past, and we do appreciate your time. And if you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us. Any last minute thoughts?