THE COVE CHRONICLE COVE 2020 EDITION Letter from the Executive Director Dear Cove Family and Friends, Last school year’s theme, Cove Courage, certainly resonated the past several months with all of us at Cove as we faced the impact of the pandemic, and how it would change our lives, and that of others, forever. Our community’s astute thinking, patience, COURAGE, and fl exibility were necessary to thrive during the beginning of an unprecedented time in history. I am extremely proud of how our community of students, administrators, faculty and staff, worked alongside our Board of Trustees, donors and volunteers, to provide a stellar remote learning education for the students we serve. Supporting our students and families at a time of increased uncertainty and fear couldn’t have been more important. I want to personally thank each of you for your courage and willingness to assist us throughout these challenging times. In the pages that follow, you will see examples of how our amazing community worked together to continuously provide our students with opportunities that couldn’t be possible anywhere else. You will see the pride and joy on the faces of our students, families, and staff as they celebrated the Dr. Sally Sover, Executive Director with 2020 Prism Award talents, accomplishments, and achievements of all of our students. In addition, you will fi nd some of Recipient David Graff the many alumni and community celebrations that took place, along with our plans moving forward. Cove is deeply committed to our mission to provide a highly individualized education and life strategies for those with complex learning disabilities, and recognize how critically important that is at these times. On behalf of all of us at Cove, thank you for your courage, dedication and ongoing support! With All My Gratitude, Sally L. Sover, Ed.D. Executive Director 1 COVE REOPENS! Like most around the globe, the past several School-wide facility upgrades for enhanced months have presented new challenges for health and safety include: new bathrooms Cove, but all that is valued at the school has with antimicrobial countertops, antiviral fl oor continued forward. On Wednesday, August tiles in the nurse's offi ce and new specialized 19, Cove students returned to school greeted furniture for students and staff. Innovative by their dedicated teachers, administrators classroom technology for synchronous remote and staff. The entire community was learning features: Viewsonic Interactive Flat encouraged to participate in the First Day Panels in every classroom, Phonic Ear and Assembly where the principals announced this FrontRow microphones, and Padcasters for year’s theme, Stronger Together. live-streaming of classroom instruction. Over the summer months, Cove upgraded “The smiling eyes on all of our students its technology, facilities, and health and the fi rst day said it all,” said Executive safety procedures for onsite instruction and Director Sally Sover. “There was no synchronous live-streamed, highly interactive doubt that they missed our school instruction for remote learning. Currently, and all the joy that comes from being 70% of the student population is enjoying accepted and understood. Their onsite learning, however, we are prepared eagerness to be with friends and to be to adjust from one method to the other easily a part of our community was evident in as needed. countless ways!” Whether you choose in person or remote learning, the education at Cove is exceptional! This year, The Cove School needs your support now, more than ever. Won't you please help us reach our Annual Fund goal? Please use the enclosed envelope or go to coveschool.org/support-cove/donations. Volunteers Add That Special Touch! On Friday, August 14, Cove students and parent volunteers, along with Cove's occupational therapists, physical education teachers, and administrative staff worked together to apply and paint new playground activities donated by AbbVie. It is incredible to see all the ways in which our community has come together to welcome our students and staff back to school. We are extremely grateful! "We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our corporate donors and the wonderful Cove families that worked so hard on this project," said Kathryn Puszynski, Cove occupational therapist. "We are so appreciative and thankful to have a sensory-rich and creative outdoor space for the students to develop their sensory motor skills and engage safely in outdoor activities." Special thanks to Marianne Sutcliffe and Nataskia Lampe of AbbVie for coordinating this effort! 2 Cove Graduates Celebrated With A One-Of-A-Kind Graduation Ceremony! The courage and strength of a Cove graduate is celebrated every year with a one-of-a- kind graduation ceremony. We weren’t going to let a pandemic get in the way of honoring our tremendous students! This year’s graduation was held on Thursday, June 4. Cove held drive-through ceremonies for 8th and 12th graders, while 6th graders were able to have a semi-formal ceremony. Congrats to all of our 2020 graduates! We are so proud of you! #CoveKidsCan Dancing the Night Away... Students attending Cove’s 2020 Prom this year enjoyed all their favorite hits with their very own DJ Principal Laube! Co-Hosted by Ms. Teske, Ms. Campbell, Dr. Lloyd, Ms. Altshul, Mr. Argentar, Ms. Kuo and Ms. Kovin, prom participants were able to learn some new moves, participate in a dance off, view video montages of the high school and their senior class, and join game and chat breakout rooms. Special appearances were also made by Ms. Schrantz, Mr. Seale and CoCo Cougar! Families joined and participated in the memorable event from the comfort of their own homes. 3 Ethan 4 5 Extended School Year Cove has been proud to offer a comprehensive summer school program for its students and this year’s Extended School Year was extraordinary! Covid-19 did not stop our courageous summer students from focusing on intensive, multi-sensory reading, writing, and math instruction. In addition, science, sports, art, Spanish and a variety of other types of instruction were provided via Zoom. Thank you to everyone that made this year’s ESY program successful. Our students and staff worked hard throughout the six week program and we also recognize the tremendous effort parents put into helping their students with remote learning - thank you! We could not have done it without you. Shrek Check – Take a Bow! What happens when the high school spring musical is shut down by a Dr. Lloyd learned how to edit the dialogue scenes and for high school pandemic? You get creative…. Dr. Dorothy-Jean Lloyd and Stuart Seale students currently learning about ‘growth mindset,’ this is a great decided that walking away from all the work and excitement our high example. In fact, Mr. Seale and Dr. Lloyd had never done a show like this school production of Shrek was generating was not an option. "We had before so everything was a challenge. After several missed deadlines for to consider Shrek becoming a remote presentation. But how? That’s completion, they crossed the fi nish line! Shrek was ready for ‘viewing’ when we had to get creative," said Dr. Lloyd. and everyone was anxious to see what had been happening the previous HS cast members demonstrated their resilience and dedication to the three months. project when it suddenly changed direction. The countless recorded The administration posed the idea of turning the Cove school parking lot Zoom meetings became the basis for the show. That required Drama into a drive-in theater. For two performances on Thursday, July 23rd and Coach Mary-Anne Belter, and Instructional Assistant Anne Goodwin- Friday, July 24th. Cast members, Cove students, staff members, and their Neuhaus to become instantly tech-savvy. Parents recorded their students, families were able to sit under the stars and watch Shrek or view the found costume elements, and were often an invaluable resource for simultaneous streaming performance on Zoom from wherever they were. facilitating Zoom recordings with staff members. The cast demonstrated their commitment, and engagement in an Song recordings were shared with Mr. Seale. Mr. Seale took the many E-Learning world. "We all learned how to become more fl exible, and recordings submitted by students, and staff, and turned them into more patient. When we work together, work on behalf of a collaborative artfully edited performances. Mr. Seale continued to post Ms. Schrantz’s project, and keep the lines of communication open, everything is choreography videos in Google Classroom and students practiced their possible!" A special shout out to the cast of Shrek: you have dance moves in order to prepare for their recorded dance videos. participated in a show as no one else has in the annals of Cove history. If you have a chance to watch Cove’s Shrek, you will see two cameo Take a bow! appearances of Anabelle Schrantz; the ‘baby’ rooster in Act II. Just to appreciate how involved the musical process was: Choreography was recorded separately from singing, making some of the musical numbers in the show a double process. 6 Alumni Spotlight Lauren Buchanan '18 Lauren started Cove when she was in sixth grade. She participated in many activities while attending Cove such as the school play, student council, Big Buddy Program, variety show, and was an annual Cove Benefi t volunteer and member of the cheerleading team where she served as co-captain and captain in high school. She graduated from The Cove School in June of 2018. After exploring several transition programs, Lauren chose Bethesda College at Concordia University in Mequon, WI. Bethesda College of Applied Learning is a two-year post-secondary program that provides students with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to turn their dreams of a college experience and education into a reality.