Rock Brook School launches expansion campaign

Montgomery school teaches communication-impaired and multiply disabled children

By: Jessica Demetriou
   MONTGOMERY — The Rock Brook School on Orchard Road has started a capital campaign to raise funds for an expansion to the school building and to establish an endowment fund for further needs.
   Rock Brook Director Mary Caterson, who has been with the school for over 20 years, said that when the school first moved into the current building in 1998, it was not the full-scale building they had planned for.
   "This building was a vision of our board of trustees," Ms. Caterson said. "Now what we’re doing is building out to our original plan."
   The school is a nonprofit private school and works to teach communication-impaired and multiply disabled children ages 5 to 14. Ms. Caterson said that the school itself was founded over 30 years ago, before there were a lot of programs available for kids with special needs.
   There are currently 55 students enrolled from 20 school districts.
   "We have students that come from all over central New Jersey," Ms. Caterson said. "Our goal is to work with the kids and get them back to their neighborhood schools or public school districts."
   The students at Rock Brook School have a wide range of special needs, including learning disorders, autism, hearing impairment, and developmental disabilities. Ms. Caterson said that the school really tries to fit the needs of each student individually.
   "The thing that makes us special is that we try to look at each child and figure out the best way that we can meet their needs," Ms. Caterson said. "We also use a team teaching model, which consists of a teacher, a speech pathologist and an assistant in every classroom."
   Ms. Caterson said that with the expansion of the school, the faculty and staff would be able to better meet the needs of each child.
   "The expansion includes two new classrooms, which we have a waiting list for, a nurse’s office which we don’t have, an all-purpose room, and a testing room," she said.
   Additionally, the school will be getting a new occupational therapy room, small-group room, additional bathrooms, and indoor and outdoor storage space. It is also expanding its range of technology available to the students to enhance general computer skills and the like.
   "One of the things we really like is the SMART Board technology, so we’re going to have that in every classroom," Ms. Caterson said of the interactive whiteboards. "We will also be providing all the kids with laptops and wireless connection in each classroom."
   Ms. Caterson said that the school has a variety of programs that it offers and tries to reach out to the parents as well.
   "We do community outreach for children who don’t attend the school, so they can come here and get speech therapy and educational tutoring," she said. "We also do ‘Parents’ Night Out,’ where we have volunteers baby-sit the kids and their siblings, so parents can go out on a date."
   Ms. Caterson added that the children receive dog therapy once a week, which gives them additional education outside of their regular curriculum.
   "They get the kind of service here that maximizes their strengths and they feel supported and are challenged in the right way — in a way that they can comfortably continue to learn," Ms. Caterson said.
   Florence Kahn, fundraising consultant for the school, said that the campaign is a two-year project. She said that a large majority of the $2 million campaign was provided by a loan from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
   "We want to raise $500,000 for the structure of the school and another $200,000 for the endowment fund," Ms, Kahn said. "The school district money does support a good part of the funding, but does not embrace all the extra things we’d like these children to have."
   Ms. Kahn said that improving the interior of the school is really the "nuts and bolts" of the campaign. The endowment fund will establish a scholarship program and enhance school programs.
   "We need to build a cushion for emergencies and we’d like to provide scholarships for children whose school districts do not take them in, so they can have the benefit of Rock Brook," Ms. Kahn said.
   She said that being given the chance to see what Rock Brook School is capable of is a very special thing and people really have to see for themselves everything being accomplished there.
   "You feel so grateful that there is a place that really tries to work with children with these disabilities," Ms. Kahn said. "There’s something very wonderful about what goes on here."
   Ms. Kahn said that it takes a lot of work and dedication to treat children with disabilities, but Rock Brook has a special way of making a difference on their lives.
   "It’s very compelling and heartwarming to see what they can do," Ms. Kahn said.
   More information on the school and the fundraising campaign is available at www.rock-brook.org or by calling. (908) 431-9500.