From the Principal's Desk

Music to my eyes

PACTT Learning Center — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:45:52 +0000

After a long morning off-campus visiting another program, I had finally made it to my desk when I received a text message from one of my teachers: "Look in the backyard."

Uh-oh.

A million things ran through my mind as I flew down the stairs from my third-floor perch. When I hit the first-floor landing, the first spot on my route down that had a decent view, I saw this:

One of our brand-spankin-new paraprofessionals + guitar = happily listening, calm, entertained students.

It certainly wasn't what I expected on this unseasonably warm May afternoon. But you can be sure that I'll be adding it to the list of smiles, day after day, that remind me why I'm still here after all these years. :)

Here we come a'calendar-ing ...

PACTT Learning Center — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:43:42 +0000

As the 2011-2012 School Year winds down, I've had several requests for next year's calendar. Well, wait no longer! The 2012-2013 calendar is now available online (www.pactt.org/calendar2012). There's a lovely download-able version, too ... so enjoy!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

PACTT Learning Center — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:44:48 +0000

Wishing a Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to ALL our teachers, paraprofessionals, therapists, DSPs, job coaches, parents, families, friends ... Thank you for your dedication and hard work!

High School Class visits Noyes Art Center

PACTT Learning Center — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:18:33 +0000

Last Friday, our High Schoolers rode the train to Noyes Art Center in Evanston to see the latest installment there. One of the featured artists this month, Ken Avick, is a longtime PACTT Parent and Board Member. I'm not sure which part the students enjoyed more - looking at the paintings or riding the train!

Congratulations, Adam - our February graduate!

PACTT Learning Center — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:18:12 +0000

Our School, Transition and Adult Vocational programs gathered today to celebrate with Adam R., in honor of his graduation from PACTT.

Congratulations, Adam! We are all so very proud of you!

(Above, Right) - Adam and his family look at photos from his 12 years at PACTT.

(Above, left) - Lauren presents Adam with his Certificate.

Behind the curtains at Lifeline Theatre

PACTT Learning Center — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:28:54 +0000

This week, I had the pleasure of joining our Transition Program for an interactive workshop at Lifeline Theatre. Organized by PACTT Arts & Recreation Coordinator Robert Mann, these workshops allowed participants to get an inside look at characters and costumes and explore the theatre space. Next week, they'll go back to see the play in action.

Our school, transition, and vocational participants each had a unique visit with the Lifeline team in the last couple of weeks. Here are some action shots from their visits:

Hard at work

PACTT Learning Center — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:19:26 +0000

It's wonderful to have all our students under one roof again! Our high school classroom was hard at work this week - and enjoying their new space:

Finished!

PACTT Learning Center — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:54:18 +0000

Thanks to a dedicated group of parents and friends who came out to help us move a few Saturdays ago, a committed teaching team who has spent innumerable off-the-clock hours unpacking and organizing, (and some VERY flexible students!), we are grateful to have our classrooms up and running in their beautiful new space.

The top two photos are our North classroom; the bottom two are our South classroom.

Making progress

PACTT Learning Center — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:15:27 +0000

The construction teams finished work on our second floor last week, and the cleaning crew came through to spruce things up a bit. I've never seen those floors so shiny!

From top-to-bottom: The top two photos are our north side classroom (previously carpeted). The bottom two are our south-side classroom. Both have new floors, newly painted walls and ceilings, and an added chair rail / vinyl wainscotting along the bottom of the walls

Under Construction: A holiday surprise

PACTT Learning Center — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:48:07 +0000

Students and staff returned from Winter Break this year to a welcome surprise - Santa's elves had begun renovations on the school's second-floor classrooms. Those two classrooms had been in great need of a little TLC! With new floors, patched and painted walls & ceilings, and the addition of some durable wainscoting, the rooms will look good as new! They're not -quite- finished, but here's a sneak peek of the work-in-progress ...