Audubon & Voorhees: Wednesday, June 13th
Cherry Hill (Upper School): Thursday, June 14th
Williamstown: Thursday, June 14th
Cherry Hill (Lower School): Friday, June 15th
Medford & Mansfield Twp.: Friday, June 15th
Northfield: Friday, June 15th

For more information about graduation, please contact the individual campuses.

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Dr. Hénault worked for over two years at Dr. Tony Attwood’s clinic in Australia. She lectures internationally and is both a researcher and clinician in the field.

Registration for this special two-night presentation will be available here on our website closer to the date of the event. To receive timely updates and information about this and other upcoming workshops and guest speakers, you may subscribe to our e-Newsletter mailing list.

At the conference, look for The Y.A.L.E. School display in the vendor’s hall, where Margaret Chapman, Karen Huber, and Dr. Mieke Goossens will provide information and answer questions about Y.A.L.E.’s specialized educational programs for students with Asperger’s, the innovative “school-within-a-school” campus options, and transition planning and support available through the Standard 9 Transition concentration.

They will also provide information and answer questions about The Y.A.L.E. School’s new “Take Five!” service for young adults registered with the New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities. “Take Five!” is an evening program offering social skills instruction integrated within interest-based activities, including community arts programs, digital media arts, and the fine and performing arts.

“Developing positive working relationships with parents, law enforcement officials, and child advocacy agencies has always been an important priority for me,” said Al.

His experiences with innovative best practices, research-based strategies, and instruction make him an invaluable educational resource. A frequent and sought-after speaker, Al has offered presentations on educational issues, such as behavior management, establishing school wide behavior support programs, proactive classroom management strategies, and effective instructional methods.

Al holds a master’s degree in Education from Lehigh University, and holds certifications as a Principal in New Jersey and as a Teacher of the Handicapped in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In Al’s words: “Working at Y.A.L.E. with dedicated professionals that make data-based decisions with the child’s best interests as the number one priority has been a dream come true.”

To help raise awareness for autism—and funds—staff and students at The Y.A.L.E School’s Audubon campus participated in a volleyball tournament at Audubon High School earlier this spring. The event raised over $800 in support of Autism Speaks. Special Forces (From L to R): Dane Reed, Renee Horvath, Michael Heiman, Stacy Caltagirone, Emily Hughes, Zora Berman, Cynthia Caddell, Bryan Barth, and Susan Greenbaum (not pictured).

Before heading to Barnes & Noble to support the PTO and enjoy the reading, stop by the Chick-Fil-A on NJ Route 73 (near the B&N) to participate in the PTO fundraising effort there, also on Friday May 11th. This is a great opportunity for students to gather and socialize before or after attending the Barnes & Noble fundraiser! The Y.A.L.E Cherry Hill PTO will earn 20% from food purchased that night. So stop by and grab a tasty bite. Hope to see you there!

Can’t attend the event? Shop online at BN.com/bookfairs and use Bookfair ID 10744605 at checkout, and the PTO will receive credit for online purchases.

Voorhees: For Students with Autism
At The Y.A.L.E. School’s Voorhees Campus, ESY services for students with autism run Monday through Thursday, from July 2nd through August 23rd.

“Our ESY program is very similar to the program we provide during the regular school year. We focus on academics, life skills, prevocational skills, and fine and gross motor learning,” said Ann Davidson, the campus principal. “We use the same data collection system, and we continue to work with students on all their IEP goals, so there is very little interruption in student learning.”

The ESY program has added benefits, too.

“During the summer, students use our playground to work on gross motor skills, such as walking on a balance beam, riding a bike, and climbing the rock wall. We play games like kickball, baseball, and soccer to work on team skills,” Ms. Davidson added.

Classroom picnics, a mainstay of the ESY program, give students another opportunity to address IEP goals—like sitting appropriately, waiting, and eating in public—and help them generalize those skills for use in new settings.

Community outings are an integral part as well, and give students added opportunities to work on goals and connect the information they learn in the classroom to the community and the world around them.

For example, students might grow plants and learn about the life cycle of animals, and then take a nature hike to Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford to see native plants, as well as see animals and insects in their actual habitats. There are also opportunities for learning at community playgrounds and restaurants, where students will work on skills, such as paying for purchases, ordering food, and social integration with peers.

“It is a well-rounded program that offers unique opportunities not present during the regular school year,” said Ms. Davison. “The program still has a rigorous academic and data collection system, and is able to tie all of the information learned in the classroom to the community and environment.”

Cherry Hill: For Students with Social Learning Disabilities
At the Cherry Hill campus, ESY services for students with social learning disabilities, Asperger’s, and High Functioning Autism begin July 5th and run through August 15th. The program is open to all students who attend the Cherry Hill, Medford, and Mansfield Township campuses during the year (with the exception of students requiring structured behavior plans). And, to ensure continuity of learning, staff from those three campuses teach at Cherry Hill’s ESY program.

“We organize instruction around a theme each summer, and this year, the upper school theme is focused on transition and preparation for life after high school,” said Stephanie Jefferys, a supervisor of the Cherry Hill Upper School. “We will be using an online math program in which students do real-world math, such as handling money and paying taxes.”

The Lower School theme this year—“It’s Out of this World”—reflects the interest in the solar system shared by many students. To prevent academic regression, which is common among students who attend Y.A.L.E., the curriculum includes English and Math studies. Students will use Accelerated Reader, an online reading program that allows them to read books at their own pace and then be tested. The program prints out students’ scores and assessments.

Community-based instruction is a big part of summer learning at Y.A.L.E., where students will take six trips devoted to enhancing social skills and building on academics. In addition, once a week, students will have the opportunity to swim at an area pool, and receive instruction, if needed.

Northfield: For Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
At The Y.A.L.E School’s Northfield campus, the ESY curriculum is individualized to meet each student’s specific needs. The program will run from July 5th through August 15th.

“This year, the theme for the summer is the Olympics,” said Al Doyle, principal of the Northfield campus. “Cross curricular learning will address academic goals in math, reading, and writing, and will include instruction designed to build and maintain social skills.”

The most common method for determining a child’s eligibility for ESY is regression/recoupment analysis, which considers whether a student would regress if educational services were interrupted for a period of time, and whether it would take a long time to regain the lost skills. However, this is not the only factor the IEP team should use to determine whether a student qualifies. The team must consider other factors, too, such as:

• The severity of the disability.
• The ability of the parents to provide services at home.
• The student’s vocational needs.
• The ability of the student to interact with non-disabled peers.
• Whether the student is on the brink of learning new skills.

ESY services may be provided in a variety of forms, including, but not limited to 1:1 tutoring, related therapies, social skills groups, and practicing skills in the home and community. Whatever the service, it must be provided in accordance with the student’s individualized needs.