Middlesex County’s Academy Learning Center for children with disabilities will hold its first classes in its new building on Pergola Avenue Wednesday.
By:Al Wicklund
MONROE Middlesex County’s Academy Learning Center for children with disabilities will hold its first classes in its new building on Pergola Avenue Wednesday.
"At this point, 130 students have been confirmed for enrollment," Superintendent Mark Finkelstein said Thursday.
The students range in age from 3 to 17 and are classified as autistic, multiply disabled and preschool disabled, he said.
Mr. Finkelstein said the students come from 34 different municipalities. Most of the students, 110 of them, are from communities in Middlesex County. The remainder come from towns in Mercer, Monmouth and Union counties.
"There will be a staff of 72, which goes with the school’s philosophy of one staff member for every two students," Mr. Finkelstein said.
He said the school will have a vocational education program and a sheltered workshop with work to match the students’ skills.
"In addition, we’ll have a faculty member in the field seeking work opportunities for the school’s graduates," Mr. Finkelstein said.
He said the school will aim to give its students the opportunity to live as normally as possible.
"We’ll have assembly programs, social events and many of the activities most public school students enjoy.
"We want to prepare the students for life after school," he said.
At the school, the students will have occupational and physical therapy and speech therapy, Mr. Finkelstein said.
With the addition of the Monroe School to the county system that includes two schools for the disabled in Piscataway Township, Mr. Finkelstein said students will travel shorter distances than before when the center was located in a building leased from the Sayreville Board of Education.
He said school districts sending their children to the county program will save money with reduced travel costs and a savings on tuition.
"A comparable program offered elsewhere would cost $10,000 to $20,000 more than here in Middlesex County," he said.
The academy will have classes for its regular school year from the beginning of September to the end of June.
It also will offer a 29-day extended school program in the summer that is aimed at reducing learning reversal that most students suffer during a long summer break
The new school has 18 classrooms built on a single level. It also has three playgrounds to help meet the students’ needs for recreation and physical activity.
Mr. Finkelstein said the school’s first occupants will be the staff who will be there Tuesday, the day before the first classes.
He said the building will be dedicated in a special ceremony at 1:30 p.m., Oct. 5.