Summary 

 

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Eastchester SEPTA has over 230 members, of which 125 are teachers, administrators, and staff
members! 
 
In detail, some specifics:  
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Advocacy and Guidance:
SEPTA continued to work with the District administration and BOE, holding regular meetings to
ensure that our students and families are supported in this district, always known for its strong
programming and acceptance. 
 
Meetings:
Over the past 10 years, our Staff Overview Meeting are always a very well attended meeting of the
year with over 20 educators sharing strategies and overviews of their classes. Eastchester’s
Transition Coordinator and a representative from Acces VR also met with families in the fall. Zoom
continues to be a strong platform for meeting attendance with more meetings to come this winter
and spring.
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Staff Appreciation:
We started the year with our special education staff appreciation event at Sergio’s of Pelham. This
event was attended by over 50 special education teachers and school administrators. This annual
event is SEPTA's way of acknowledging the unwavering support and dedication of the special
education staff and administrators in our district. A rainy autumn afternoon did not dampen spirits!
 
Fundraisers:
Our Spillane “guest server” fundraiser was very well attended, raised close to $9,000 and was
great fun.  We participated and promoted our POLAR PLUNGE in November, raising monies for
SEPTA and the Special Olympics. In the spring, SEPTA’s “Light Eastchester Up Blue" campaign for autism
awareness ran in the three elementary schools, with support from administration at each building,
the Bleached Salon, EHS students, and the EHS Lacrosse team, bringing everyone out in blue for
SEPTA.
 
Music Therapy:
Music therapy was underway again (19 years).  We continued to provide music to AH, EMS, and
EHS additionally supplementing classes with in conjunction with the Eastchester School Foundation.
The Music Therapy Institute at the Westchester Conservatory of Music continues to bring our
students this amazing therapy. 
 
Canine Therapy:
Canine Integrative Therapy continues to be offered at Anne Hutchinson, Waverly, EMS & EHS. 
SEPTA with support from the Eastchester School Foundation and the Matthew DeMarco Foundation,
provides this ever-popular therapy, now in its eleventh year with The Giving Retriever. The program
brings "Therapeutic Assistance Dog Training" into the Special Needs classrooms. Students work
collaboratively to train the Assistance Dogs while practicing life skills: focus, concentration, patience,
timing-sequencing, planning, teamwork and cooperation.

 
School to Work:
SEPTA supported our School to Work program whereby local businesses hire our high school
students to work and SEPTA funded the student's stipend each month.  We are always in search of
local businesses to add to our list of “employers”.
 
After School Support:
SEPTA funds monitor support at after school clubs including general clubs in order for our students
to participate with their typical peers.
 
After School Clubs & Support of Sports Leagues:
SEPTA ran another successful Backyard Sports Club for WV, Anne Hutch and the Middle School
students - enlisting over 35 volunteer coaches from the MS and HS to assist 23 special needs
students with many different sport skills. This program enters it's 18th year and continues to be a
unique opportunity for the students in our district to practice their skills in a fun, safe and supportive
environment. We supported an amazing UNIFIED SPORTS basketball team bringing together our
all-stars with peers from EHS to take on other Westchester teams, culminating in our final game and
pizza party. 
 
Grants & Donations:
Special grants and donations to various school functions at all five Eastchester Schools for the school year totaled over $2,500.  Grants were funded to the various schools and staffers in the amount of $7500.00 

Scholarships:
This past June, SEPTA was honored to award scholarships totaling over $5,000 to deserving EHS
seniors: 8 special education students who overcame obstacles to graduate from EHS and 6 general
education students for standing out as mentors to all their peers. We also gave merit awards to 3
special needs for Achievement and 8 general education students in EMS for Outstanding Peer
Mentorship.
 
Family Events:
Our fundraiser at Spillane’s is a family fun event as our faculty servers draw in so many of our
students’ families coming in to see their teachers and staff at work for a good cause!  Our Santa
Brunch in December sold out again with over 100 attendees, our Music therapist Lisa, our Canine
therapist Heidi came with TEN puppies and of course, SANTA!  This spring we will hold our
ever popular BINGO & BROWNIES Fundraiser, which always sells out in days to 300 lucky ticket
purchasers~