We Don't Have Enough Staff
“I’m going to say something you’re not going to like…” This was my reluctant response to a group of 35 elementary school teachers during...
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Jenna Mancini Rufo
Sep 203 min read
You can't possibly mean THAT kid...
“You can’t possibly mean THAT kid?!” “What could THAT student with autism get out of my class?” “Wouldn’t THAT student with Down Syndrome...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
May 117 min read
Who Does This Mom Think She Is?
A Letter to My Child’s Doctors/Nurses/Therapists/Social Worker, etc… Dear Doctor, You’ve met a lot of moms. These moms often share...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Mar 232 min read
Sock Hypocrisy
Another year gone by, another World Down Syndrome Day in the books. For me, it’s another year where something doesn’t sit quite right. ...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Feb 253 min read
How to Sabotage Inclusion Through Scheduling
ATTENTION, PRINCIPALS! Do you want to sabotage inclusion? Set your teachers up for failure? Send kids back to self-contained classrooms?...
Kate Small
Feb 134 min read
How Love Languages Hold The Key to Inclusion
If you’re a devoted inclusionist, you likely spend lots of time racking your brain for the optimal tactic to reshape the belief systems...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jan 46 min read
Education and Medicine: What Two Broken Systems Have in Common and How To Fix It
Medicine and K-12 education have a lot in common…and it’s not the good stuff. I arrived at this conclusion during an unexpected hospital...
Megan Klementisz
Oct 24, 20234 min read
The Magic of Inclusive Change
When you were little, did you ever end up with a nickname that made you want to crawl into a hole? Were you tall? You’re dubbed “Legs.” ...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Aug 20, 20235 min read
Walking The Tightrope As District Office Barbie
Early on in my administrative career, I was asked to speak on a panel that would be live-streamed to the community. It was my first...
Kate Small
Aug 4, 20234 min read
Becoming an Inclusionista
The year was 2011. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” was trending at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and I had just accepted my first...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Mar 21, 20232 min read
World Down Syndrome Day...What Have Socks Got To Do With It?
Happy World Down Syndrome Day! In honor of World Down Syndrome Day, or WDSD, sport your most colorful and creative socks on 3/21. But...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jan 6, 20234 min read
The Problem with "Alternative Curriculum" and "Functional Skills"
Years ago, when I was a special education director transitioning a school district to a more inclusive service delivery model, I put out...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Dec 28, 20223 min read
A Few of My Favorite Inclusive Things
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, inclusion documentaries and articles that were written… Okay, that might not be how the song...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jun 27, 20224 min read
Carry The Torch For Inclusion: Honoring the Legacy of Tom Hehir
In 2001, I entered the doors of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, armed with little more than an undergraduate degree,...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jun 10, 20224 min read
Inclusion Facilitators: The Unicorns of Special Education
Twenty years ago, I was privileged to begin my career as an inclusion facilitator at a public middle school in Massachusetts. Let that...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
May 16, 20223 min read
How To Host An Inclusive School Theme Day
If you’ve ever resented spending what should be a perfectly boring Tuesday night scouring the dollar store for an elaborate school spirit...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jan 16, 20223 min read
Aspire To More Than Compliance (and stop worrying about getting sued)
Special education is perhaps the most litigated area of education due to the many rights parents and students are afforded under the law. ...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Dec 21, 20213 min read
The Naughty and Nice List: What Was Santa Thinking???
Santa has made a lot of questionable decisions if you ask me. Let’s begin with the surveillance - “he sees you when you’re sleeping and...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Sep 11, 20212 min read
Not That Mom. (A non-education, mom blog this time!)
Today I took my eight-year-old daughter to a friend’s house for a playdate. There was only one small problem. The playdate wasn’t...
Jenna Mancini Rufo
Jul 12, 20213 min read
Finding the Sweet Spot in the IEP
Over the years, I have seen my share of IEPs that are 50 pages, 60 pages, even 70+ pages long. I can best describe these documents...
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