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Rock Brook Community mourns the loss of Maggie Deeds, Director of Curriculum and Instruction

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A Tragic Loss for RBS

September 9, 2022

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Rock Brook Families,

It is with a very heavy heart that I reach out to you with news of the unexpected passing of Rock Brook family member Mrs. Maggie Deeds. There are no details to share with you at this time, but more information will be forthcoming. For now, we ask for your prayers and positive thoughts for Maggie’s family during this very difficult time.

Maggie has been an integral part of Rock Brook School over the past 14 years and her passion for serving our students is unmatched. With great energy, enthusiasm and positivity, she has served as a classroom teacher, a Speech Language Pathologist, Director of Technology, and most recently as our Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

“Miss Maggie” has been part of every intake for every child at Rock Brook over the last 14 years and she clearly set the standard for how to build positive relationships with students and families. Our school crisis team is already gathering resources for you and your family and we will be sharing additional information over the weekend.

Along with our counselor, Mr. Chris, we will have additional staff available to help support students on Monday and throughout the coming weeks. In the meantime, you may find the following links helpful as you process this unexpected news:

https://good-grief.org/
https://www.dougy.org/
https://www.nasponline.org/

I thank you for your support as our Rock Brook School community deals with this devastating loss.

~ Glenn Famous
glenn.famous@rock-brook.org

RBS Family Update

September 11, 2022

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Rock Brook Families,

Thank you so much for your outpouring of condolences, remembrances, and offers of support in the wake of the loss of our colleague and friend, Maggie Deeds. This update provides you with information, resource links, and a few ways to support Maggie’s family during this challenging time.

We have provided some links below that you may find helpful as you speak to your child this weekend. From our shared experience base, we know that there is no easy nor singular way to help children understand death, especially when it is sudden and there has been no time to prepare. Each family deals with loss differently and we ask that you share the news of “Miss Maggie’s” death according to your own family, cultural or religious beliefs, and within the context of you knowing your child best.

We will have additional staff available tomorrow to help any child in need, but no class or school “announcements” are planned. As always, we will meet the individual needs of students in the same differentiated manner in which we deal with them on all topics and issues. Should you have specific concerns or questions, please feel free to reach out directly to me or any of the following:

School Counselor – chris.cruz@rock-brook.org
BCBA – maribeth.epstein@rock-brook.org
Supervisor of Instruction – jenie.vargas@rock-brook.org
School Nurses – nurse@rock-brook.org

You may find helpful resources by clicking the links below:
Addressing Grief
Grief and Bereavement Resources Autism Speaks

Additionally, as a way of sharing valued resources and ideas, we have also created a shared Google Doc: Shared RBS Resources for Loss and Grief where you can share titles or links to articles, books, videos, etc., that you have found helpful in the past when dealing with a personal loss or unexpected tragedy. We ask that you simply post the link or the resource you know of and specify whether it is specifically to help students or the adults of our community. Should you have any difficulty posting or accessing the shared doc, please email the information directly to info@rock-brook.org and we will post it for you.

At this time, we have no information in regard to services or arrangements but will forward that to you when received. Many of you have requested contact information or asked how to best support the family. For now, we provide the following options for you:

  • Expressions of condolence and sympathy may be mailed or dropped off at Rock Brook School and we will ensure that Maggie’s family receives your expression.
  • Similarly, direct financial support for the family may be sent to the school or click the following link for a GoFundMe page that has been set up by Maggie’s friends from the tennis community:
    Deeds Family – GoFundMe page

Previously shared resource links:

https://good-grief.org/
https://www.dougy.org/
https://www.nasponline.org/

I thank you for your support as our Rock Brook School community deals with this devastating loss.

~ Glenn Famous
glenn.famous@rock-brook.org

Updated COVID-19 Protocols – Effective September 1, 2022

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As COVID-19 begins a transition from a pandemic to endemic status, schools across New Jersey and the country have begun a focus on full-time uninterrupted on-site instruction. Please know that the COVID-19 vaccination, including booster doses for those eligible, remains the most critical strategy to prevent severe illness, protect students and staff, and reduce interruptions to on-site learning. Read more…

New Director Announced

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Dear Rock Brook Community,

On behalf of the Rock Brook School Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce the appointment of W. Glenn Famous as the next Executive Director of Rock Brook School.

The Board has engaged in a thorough and thoughtful process to find an outstanding candidate to replace Mary Caterson who will be retiring at the end of the school year. Glenn has had a long career in public education serving as Principal in several elementary and middle schools in South Brunswick, New Jersey with a strong record of accomplishment. His commitment to children and their families, as well as to the staff who support them, is well recognized. His leadership, creativity and problem solving skills will add to our continuing efforts to help our students reach their full potential.

The formal transition process will start April 1 with Glenn and Mary working together through the end of the school year. We look forward to having Glenn join the Rock Brook family and will be planning opportunities for all of you as stakeholders to meet him. This is an important next step for Rock Brook and we look forward to the future of our program and our continued commitment to the children and families that we serve.

Sincerely,
Rick Sugam
Chairperson
Rock Brook School Board of Trustees

Original release

Social Communication Disorder vs. Autistic Spectrum Disorder

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Children who are experiencing social problems may appear to have Autistic  Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but some of these children fit the criteria for Social (pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD). Children with either ASD or SCD often have a corresponding Developmental Language Disorder, which also needs to be considered during the diagnosis and treatment process.

The most clearly defining factor between ASD and SCD is that those children who receive the Autistic Spectrum diagnosis show or have a history of restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, activities or interests. These might include having difficulty with transitions, lining up toys, extreme focus on a specific topics, etc. Children with SCD have social interaction and language difficulties that are similar to those that kids in the spectrum have without the restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior.

The approach to treatment can be similar and should support the social communication challenges of the children in varied situations. It is important to include peer opportunities and teach the peers how to initiate and maintain interaction with children who have social communication difficulties. This provides an opportunity to understand the strengths of friends with ASD and SCD and appreciate them.

(For more information see the article in the ASHA Leader magazine date April 2018)

Emotional Regulation/Dysregulation

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Emotional regulation refers to the response to ongoing demands of experience with a range of emotions that is socially acceptable and flexible. Emotional regulation is a complex process and something many of our students work on daily in the Rock Brook School Community. When our students are more emotionally regulated, they are better able to engage with other people and are more available for learning. Sometimes they are tired and hungry or not feeling well which we can take care of. Other times they are upset about something they can or cannot express and we try to figure it out and talk about it. Sometimes it is due to internal responses that result from their own neurological make-up with no clear antecedent.

We work on emotional regulation and working through situations at school in a variety of ways, and three main approaches include: 1) Provide processing time; 2) Use simplified language; and 3) Provide visuals. Here are some specific strategies that are in no specific order:

1) Model what is expected as it decreases anxiety and increases predictability.

2) Use the phrase “First…then….. (“First finish writing three sentences…then take a break”).

3) Give a choice “Now or one minute…” (Usually the kids pick one minute…)

4) Show how many (egg, math problems to complete”) or how long (“Work for five more minutes”) and use a timer

5) Use the phrase “I start…you finish…”

6) Verbalize the rule for the situation.

7) Use Video modeling.

8) Simple tasks : give the child something to do when they are upset to calm them down that is an easy task such as sorting objects, squeezing play dough etc.

9) Use Incentive/Token Charts

10) Visual Schedules and Social stories. We find some strategies work better with specific students and then we have to switch them around and try something new. We have learned what works and what doesn’t and when we have to make changes and we keep trying!