Collier High School in the bucolic Wickatunk section of Marlboro offers an alternative educational experience to students who are not succeeding to the best of their abilities in a traditional high school setting. Collier High School enrolls students from throughout New Jersey. AMY ROSEN A long and winding road leads to the Collier High School in Marlboro. A totally different road leads out. This very apropos entrance and exit parallels the journey of many of the young students who attend the school.
The students may have experienced many twists and turns in their lives and felt lost before arriving at Collier, but they come out with a sense of direction; knowing where they have been and feeling better about themselves; determined to take a different path in life.
Located in the hills of the Wickatunk section of Marlboro on a 260-acre parcel of land donated by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, whose convent shares the property, Collier High School is “a state-approved departmentalized private high school for high school and middle school students with disabilities whose learning, emotional and social needs cannot be met within a public school setting,” according to literature put out by the school.
The nondenominational high school accepts students from many counties throughout New Jersey. At a recent open house hosted by Collier High School, Principal Ray Bock, Vice Principal Cindy D’Arcy, Executive Director Sister Debbie Drago, Director of Curriculum Aideen Bugler and Director of Social Services Bob Szafranski addressed approximately 30 parents and professionals who were in attendance.
Bock explained that for 85 years Collier has been providing educational, residential and recreational programs to young people who have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives and have had trouble in the mainstream.
“For a long time we were the best-kept secret in Monmouth County and we liked that,” Bock said. “We were the answer to the prayers of many child study teams and always had more students than we knew what to do with, but now times have changed.”
The administrators said they worry that due to budget constraints, administrators in some school districts may be hesitant to readily recommend sending children outside of the district to a facility like Collier.
Bock referred to literature handed out by ASAH, an organization that serves the private special education community. It states there is no increased cost to taxpayers for students to attend schools like Collier, and suggests it is less expensive in the long run when public school teacher pensions and health benefits upon retiring are factored in.
Bock said less than half of the people recently surveyed by Collier stated that they found out about the school from child study teams. Many found out about Collier from other sources. Some parents in attendance at the open house confirmed that as well. That is why the Collier staff is reaching out to the public directly through open house events.
“I don’t know that another high school program like this exists,” Bock said. “In some ways it’s just like other high schools with bells ringing and four minutes between classes. We try to replicate a regular high school experience like everyone else.”
According to Collier High School’s Internet website, “The school’s departmentalized academic program prepares students for admission into four-year colleges, community colleges, technical/vocational schools, and full-time employment. Collier’s strong counseling component combines individual as well as group therapy that encourages and supports social and emotional growth for all students. Clubs, sports teams, and activities round out the educational program, giving students extracurricular opportunities similar to those offered in public schools.”
The school offers an extensive curriculum in an intimate and accepting environment in addition to therapeutic support, Bock explained. He said each child is there because he or she wants to be there; the students will not be accepted unless it is their choice, and they know that. This empowers the young people to have a say in their life and to strive to achieve everything they can.
The average class size is six or seven students, which allows the teachers to know their students as individuals. The school day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Open enrollment is accepted throughout the ninemonth program and an extended summer program is offered in conjunction with the Kateri Day Camp.
“There is a great deal of acceptance and kids feel free to be themselves at Collier,” Bock said. “As a result, they are not afraid to ask a stupid question.”
The school follows all core curriculum standards, administers state mandated tests and accommodates all modifications as set forth in each student’s individualized education program (IEP) prepared by the child study team in each student’s home school district.
Students of all levels of ability are accepted and IQs throughout the years have ranged from very high to low. A good number of Collier’s graduates go to four-year colleges and a majority go on to community college, according to the administrators.
A new middle school program was successfully implemented this year.
At the open house, student volunteers served as tour guides and showed groups the two-building Collier campus.
One tour guide said that if he had not found Collier, he would have dropped out of high school.
When asked how her Collier High School experience differs from that in her sending school, one tour guide in her senior year said the class size is smaller and there is more one-to-one attention.
In addition, she said social workers meet with students once a week on a one-to-one basis to help them work through any problems they may be having in their lives, both in and out of school. She said the teachers take the time to teach the students and to make certain they understand the material, which reduces the stress on the students.
As the guests passed the classroom of Eileen Palazza, the tour guide gave a glowing review of that teacher, not realizing Palazza could hear her.
Palazza, deeply touched, later said of the student tour guide, “I wanted to cry. She is going to be very successful in whatever she does. She was fantastic and she didn’t know it. If that’s what we can do — show everyone they have a learning capacity and can do it — I have one of the best jobs in the world.”
The parent of a Collier student was a volunteer at the open house and she advised the visiting parents to be their child’s advocate .
Bock agreed with her suggestion, saying, “Parents are the most powerful ones in the placement. Once a student is classified and we get the materials, the process takes just a couple of weeks.”
That same parent volunteer spoke with much emotion and inspired some of the parents to bring their children back to see the Collier School on another day.
“It’s an absolutely wonderful place for my child,” the parent volunteer said. “It has helped her tremendously academically and socially. Every teacher cares about the students; they go the extra mile, as do the staff and social workers. It has changed my daughter’s life. She was lost, a little fish in a big sea in her home school district. Now she’s an honor roll student getting all A’s and one B. Don’t give up.”
For more information about Collier Youth Services or to arrange for a private tour, visit www.collierhighschool.com or call 732-946-7832.