Educating little minds with the heart.

Robin Berger, best known by her students and co-workers as Mrs. Berger, is the teacher in charge of helping, educating, and guiding sixth-grade students with special abilities.

“We have students with autism, we have some students with Down Syndrome, we have a couple of students that have muscular dystrophy, fragile X is a syndrome. And then just students that are maybe specific learning disabled, who may have an emotional disorder, disturbances, disorders things like that,” Berger said.

Berger and other teachers, assistants, psychologists, and specialists are prepared to help these students with the transition from elementary to middle school.

For some of them, it can be a very unpleasant experience, and that’s why Berger and the Lincoln elementary staff do their best to make the transition to middle school a more pleasant experience.

“We spend a lot of time talking about what it is like going over to WAMS, which is our middle school. We set up transition meetings for the students and the parents. We go over and they get to meet all the staff over at WAMS. They get to tour the campus. There is a huge rally so the kids get to see all the kids who are going to be coming in as seventh graders,” Berger said.

Emely Fonseca, the school psychologist, says it is difficult for some of the students to transition to middle school.

“People with autism usually like warnings before transitions, so if a change is coming or a transition is coming, having a warning is really helpful. Because any sudden change in routine or activity can be very difficult,” Fonseca said.

Berger, Fonseca and Lincoln staff are dedicated to creating a good environment for everyone–students, parents, and the future teachers at the middle school.

“To make that transition as smooth as possible for the student and the staff over there, and then really supporting the parent as well, is a big transition,” Berger said.