Message From The Superintendent - February 2022
Greetings!
We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.
Unfortunately, the virus is still with us. Since our last update, 12 more people we serve tested positive. We had one person die related to the virus and now have a total of 81 people that have tested positive due to the virus. We will continue out of an abundance of caution for our staff and the population we serve. The increase in positive cases means Portage DD will limit in-person visits for February. We will still do in-person meetings, if necessary, but there will be more virtual meetings until the numbers regress. Our goal is to keep our staff, the people we serve, and community members safe.
We have moved our board meetings over to the Happy Day School Services building instead of the Coble building. We are excited that we have a new board meeting room that is more accessible. It also gives us the ability to provide hybrid meetings. We can have both a virtual and in-person meeting at the same time. The board meetings will continue to be monthly on the third Wednesday of the month at 5:00 pm.
We will start our planning this month for the Akron Rotary Camp that we will again have at Happy Day Services Building in the summer.
We also are planning for our Special Olympics for the spring. We are close to an MOU that we hope to finalize in February with Franklin Township to utilize the Brady Lake Park for games and practices for our softball, soccer, and bocce teams.
We are getting closer to starting two new programs for youth. We are working on a flyer and a referral process to create a youth social, recreational program for kids ages 12 to 17.
We are also working on a referral process for a youth respite home in Ravenna.
We are also looking to partner with Children’s Advantage for consultation and assessment for kids that go to the youth respite home and might need some mental health assistance.
We have started a couple of new things in January with our Happy Day Services programming.
Portage DD is piloting a transition program for youths in Streetsboro and Windham. This program is called Building Independence. The program is weekly, on Thursday in Windham, and weekly on Friday, in Streetsboro for the rest of the school year.
We also are doing nine classes a week in five different school districts on social-emotional learning for kids with autism. The nine classes are meeting once a week in January. This program is in Ravenna, Field, Waterloo, Crestwood, and Windham.
The Happy Day Services building has opened our doors to allow other schools to utilize our facilities. Some Aurora students have been using our sensory room, life skills area, pool, and gym.
Thank you again for your continued support. We are incredibly grateful for all the families, providers, staff, community, and people we serve! Portage DD will continue to strive to meet and exceed your expectations.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.
Sincerely,
John Vennetti