Yearbooks have arrived!

Parents -- 

Our 2011-2012 Yearbooks have arrived at PACTT - and you can have your very own (see order form over here --->)!

Also, if you'd like a CD of your child's yearbook photo, his/her class photo, and copies of other fun shots that may or may not have made it to the final version of the yearbook, those are available for purchase as well.

To order online, complete the form to the right of this page. If you'd prefer to send a check / cash to school, please mark it ATTN: Paula, and be sure to note what you'd like to order.

Let me know if you have questions!

- Paula

Spaghetti + gumdrops = teamwork?

While students were enjoying their last few days of break, our School & Transition teams were back to work today - but it wasn't ALL work! 

In order to get to know our new team members, the classrooms participated in a unique challenge: Who could build the tallest free-standing structure (out of dry pasta and gumdrops!), that would also support a small stuffed toy.

Our high school group (pictured, from left: Lill, David, Matt, Laura, Shaina, Vanessa), was the most successful ... but all three teams came up with some pretty creative architecture!

Check out the gallery below for more scenes from today's fun!

 

Music to my eyes

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. :)

Behind the curtains at Lifeline Theatre

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:

 

Finished!

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

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

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 ...