Inclusion is Gunn’s focus as new director of student services

Date: 7/22/2020

SOUTHWICK – After nine years as a special education teacher at the Powder Mill School, Robin Gunn was named the district’s new director of student services on July 1.

As the director, Gunn said she will have a much larger role with the rest of the district.

She said, “I work with all of the special education teachers in the district and all of the students who are on Individual Education Plans. So, I am in charge of making sure the kids get what they need and the teachers have the resources they need.”

Gunn said that her time as the fifth grade special education teacher at Powder Mill School made her want to apply for the open director of student services position.

“I was the fifth grade here at Powder Mill and I loved that work. I was ready for a new challenge and thought I could make a difference in terms of helping the teachers and the students get what they need,” she said.

One of her biggest goals for the district is inclusion for every student. She said, “My general goal is to make sure students with disabilities are included in classrooms with their classmates as much as possible for their social emotional health and their academic progress. Inclusion is very much my focus.”

Along with her long-term goal for inclusion, she said that one of her immediate goals is trying to find a way to make the transition back to school as easy as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no question that figuring out how best to serve our students is our biggest challenge,” Gunn said. “We’re trying to figure out how to logistically do that, how we will serve our students who are unable to come back whether they have an underlying medical condition or their parents don’t feel comfortable sending them back. We need to make sure those students get the services they need.”

Gunn said that she had an advantage to succeed in her new role because of how well she knows her colleagues in the district.

“There is no doubt that I have a distinct advantage because I know the people. I can’t imagine trying to learn the job and all the people. I think my view is significantly broader as the director,” she said.

One of the ways Gunn said she has been able to get to know some of her other colleagues is through the current Extended School Year Session.“That’s given me the chance to talk to and work with teachers from the Regional School and Woodland. So, that’s been great,” she said.

Gunn added that she is looking forward to working with new students throughout the district.

She said, “I have taught a lot of Southwick-Tolland-Granville and Westfield kids in nine years and this district has come to mean a great deal to me and so I’m looking forward to serving those students and the ones I haven’t met yet in this new capacity.”