C.O.O.R. Corner Newsletter

Early On - supporting local families, infants, and young children

It’s back-to-school time for many children, but the education journey of our youngest students can start right at home.

A baby's brain grows and changes dramatically during the first three years of life.  It is important to watch for milestones of development.  (Are they rolling over, crawling, babbling, responding to your voice?) Sometimes a child is meeting milestones later than expected. That’s where the C.O.O.R. ISD Early On team can help.  

Our Early On team helps families of infants and toddlers from birth up to 3 years old who have developmental delay(s) and/or disabilities, or medical conditions that place them at risk for delays.  Early On partners with families, using their daily routines to work on supporting the growth and development of their babies and toddlers.  There is no cost to the families for these services. Early On services are usually provided right at home.  Our Early Interventionists include Occupational and Physical Therapists, Speech Therapists, Early Childhood Special Education Teachers, Home Visitors, and other services, but the primary teacher is always the child’s parent or guardian.  They know the child the best and can make the interventions really work within the child’s interests and routines throughout each day. 

Parents who have questions or concerns about their child can request a developmental assessment by calling 1-800-EARLY-ON or go to www.miearlychildhood.org and select your county.  Michele Cochrane or another Early On home visitor will make contact to schedule the initial appointment.  Parents can also complete a developmental screening on their own by going to the C.O.O.R. ISD website www.coorisd.net/ and clicking on the blue box labeled Ages and Stages.  

Children who need support after turning three are referred to their local school district’s Special Education services.  Similar to Early On, these supports include Occupational and Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Early Childhood Special Education Teachers, and other services in the Preschool and K-12 setting.

This month, we focused on what our Early On staff do for students even before they are in the classroom.  We are proud of Michele Cochrane and her team who work alongside parents and young children in the comfort of their homes. If you have any questions, I encourage you to please reach out to me. 

Shawn Petri, Superintendent 
September 2024

A Few of our Current Initiatives

Greetings residents of Crawford, Oscoda, Ogemaw, and Roscommon counties.  My name is Shawn Petri and I am entering my seventh year as Superintendent of the C.O.O.R. ISD (Intermediate School District). In this month's newsletter, we want to share how the C.O.O.R. ISD serves local school districts, educators, students, families, and - ultimately - the community within our geographic service area.

Michigan’s ISDs were formed in 1962 by Public Act 190 and they act as a link between the Michigan Department of Education and local districts. There are currently 56 such entities. C.O.O.R. ISD provides support to the local districts in the following ways:

• Provide accounting and auditing of student numbers for each district
• Help to relieve individual school districts of the responsibility of operating individual special education programs
• Provide services and support for our local districts to help ensure that state and federal regulations are followed  
• Provide services collectively across district boundaries that the local districts would have a hard time providing independently. These services include special education services, early childhood (Early On, Great Start Readiness Program), instructional services, Career and Technical Education (CTE), and ROOC (support for adults with disabilities)
• The revenue we receive through millages, federal funds, state funds, and grant funds are used to offset the costs of these services to our districts. 

This month I would like to highlight a few of the supports the ISD provides: Special Education Transportation, Professional Development offerings, and CTE.

Special Education Transportation  

Many of you may have seen a C.O.O.R. ISD bus at one time or another within your community.  Our buses cover over 2,600 square miles throughout four counties every day. These buses pick up students who attend the C.O.O.R. Educational Center (CEC), our ISD center-based program for students with special needs. The CEC supports students with moderate to severe cognitive impairments whose needs cannot be met at their local district. Enrollment at the center is determined by each child’s Individual Education Plan team.  

Professional Development Opportunities

Many do not know that, as an ISD, we provide robust professional learning opportunities for our local districts at all levels. We assist teachers, administrators, and other staff in growing their skill sets which ultimately benefit all students.  If you go to our website at www.coorisd.net, you will see a link to our Professional Learning catalog on the main page. For the 24-25 school year, we are offering over 40 professional learning opportunities, covering topics in K-5 Literacy, Instructional Leadership, Social/Emotional Behavioral Health, Special Education, and Instructional Practices. Our team also provides training for Early Childhood providers and Great Start Readiness through another online database. I welcome you to take a look at the catalog and see the depth of what is offered.

Career and Technical Education

One of the well-known terms nationwide is CTE (Career and Technical Education). Did you know that C.O.O.R. ISD has offered CTE since the early 70’s?  We were first housed at the old  Kirtland Community College campus because they serve the same communities. We rented space there until Kirtland began moving their campus to its current location.  Our CTE program then transitioned to local schools.  A welding lab was installed at the Houghton Lake Junior/Senior High School. A Recreational Engines class was taught at Mio AuSable Schools.  We moved Cosmetology, Automotive, Medical Occupations, and Public Safety to one wing of Roscommon Middle School.  We received a 2.5 million dollar grant to construct needed labs and other educational space at this location.  The newly renovated space was renamed the C.O.O.R. Advanced Technical Innovation Center (CATIC).  

Students attending the CATIC can receive skills training in: 

• Automotive
• Business 
• Marketing 
• Cosmetology
• Public Safety 
• Medical Occupations
• Teacher Academy 
• Welding

Next year, we will have Construction Trades onsite as well.  All of the programs offer free college credit to the students!  Also, if they enroll in the Early Middle College program, students can even receive their Associate's or a certification in their field at no cost.  Our student enrollment has grown to around 300 students from across the ISD.  Currently, there is no CTE millage for programming; the revenue to provide programming is provided mostly by local district tuition per student along with some federal and state funding.   

You can find us on social media at https://www.facebook.com/coorisd/. If you have questions, please call me. 

Shawn Petri, Superintendent
August 2024

An overview of our Intermediate School District

Greetings residents of Crawford, Oscoda, Ogemaw, and Roscommon counties.  My name is Shawn Petri and I am Superintendent of the C.O.O.R. ISD (Intermediate School District). I have worked in the field of education for 29 years.  I started my career teaching Machining and Welding at West Branch/ Rose City Schools for 15 years, then moved into administration for 7 years at Tuscola ISD as a CTE (Career Technology Education) Director/ Assistant Superintendent. I’m currently serving as the Superintendent of COOR ISD entering my 7th year.

I am happy to announce we will be starting this C.O.O.R. ISD Corner to better connect with all of the residents in this ISD and begin to share what services we provide to the districts.

For those that don’t know what an ISD does and how they are affiliated with your local district, here is our reason for existence since 1964. 

• We provide services and support for our local school districts and help ensure state and federal regulations are followed.  
• We’re able to provide services collectively across the ISD boundaries that local districts would have a hard time providing for students who need them. 
• The revenue we receive through Millages, Federal, State or Grants are used to fund these services provided to the districts. 
• The following are departments we have as an ISD: Special Education/Early On, GSRP/Early Childhood, Instructional Services, Career Tech Education (CTE), and ROOC (providing community living supports and employment opportunities for adults with disabilities.) Currently, C.O.O.R. ISD provides services from birth through all the stages of life.

I will be submitting updates from our amazing team on a monthly basis so you can learn more about the wonderful things we are doing for the local staff and students. It takes many dedicated people to provide all the services we offer.  

You can learn more about each of our departments at www.coorisd.net and find us on social media at https://www.facebook.com/coorisd/. If you have questions, please call me. 

Shawn Petri, Superintendent
July 2024