Workshop For Danvers Parents on How to Navigate Special Education

Editor’s note: Updated on Dec. 31

DANVERS, MA - Keri Smith, co-chair of the Danvers Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, said the January workshop will be especially good information for parents, and she is hoping for a great turnout.

“Our whole goal is to provide really good information to parents to help them make decisions for their children,” Smith said.

The committee’s next workshop will be presented by special education advocate Angela Timpone’s 7 Principles of Effective Advocacy: A Parent’s Guide to Navigating Special Education. The workshop will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6 in the Holten-Richmond Middle School Library.

“The IEP (Individual Education Program) process can be confusing and overwhelming,” Smith said, and the mission of the workshops is to help parents navigate through it.

Angela Timpone, who has worked with thousands of families that have children with disabilities, has also served as a volunteer advocate at times for Danvers public schools.

Timpone has also served as a former staffer to Sen. Bernie Sanders. Her goal is to teach parents how to advocate effectively on behalf of their child through her seven principles. Timpone has been tracking for 10 years what makes families work well while providing educational, health and a strong upbringing to their child with a disability.

Smith said there is usually an advocate present at the workshops, but there will not be another advocate at January’s meeting.

The workshop is free and open to anyone in the community. “We welcome everyone,” Smith said.

Danvers SEPAC’s mission is to provide a network in which parents of children in the Danvers Public Schools with special needs have access to relevant information, training and emotional support.

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Image/Information: Danvers Public Schools