Walking Down the Long and Winding Road Presenters

Walking Down the Long and Winding Road

Presenters Harold Dunsavage, Superintendent Daniel Kerr, Assistant Superintendent

New Jersey Somerset County is in RED

Somerset County, New Jersey

✔ Bedminster ✔ Bernards ✔ Bound Brook ✔ Branchburg ✔ Bridgewater-Raritan ✔ Franklin Township Who We Serve ✔ Green Brook ✔ Hillsborough ✔ Manville The Eighteen (18) School Districts in Somerset County ✔ Montgomery ✔ North Plainfield ✔ Somerset Hills ✔ Somerset Vo-Tech ✔ Somerville ✔ South Bound Brook ✔ Warren ✔ Watchung Borough ✔ Watchung Hills Regional

Our School Programs ► Somerset Elementary Academy for Special Education Students ► Alternative Middle School ► Somerset Academy for Special Education High School Students ► Alternative High School ► Career Center for Special Education High School Students ► New Dawn Academy

Who is Our Competition? ► Public Districts ➢In-house programs ➢Satellite programs ► Private Schools ► Other Educational Services Commissions

Other Obstacles to Success ► Out of district special education costs are skyrocketing ► Districts are dealing with the 2% cap on their budgets ► Special education transportation costs can exceed the cost of an out of district student placement

It’s Sink or Swim ► We receive no State or Federal aid ► We function as a public school district – mandates, unions, audits, etc. ► We must earn our own keep.

How do we survive and grow? ► Hosting Professional Development Programs Mindfulness Meditation Countywide meetings and events ► Attending Curriculum Meetings - Assistant Superintendent ► Attending Directors of Special Education Meetings ► Booth at New Jersey Board of Education Conference ► NETWORKING ► Yes, we can…. ► Utilizing Constant Contact to promote our programs

Innovative Programming

Life Skills Program ► Multiple Disabilities Students, Grades 9 -12+ ► Instructional Independence Skills: Functional academics Personal/social skills Hygiene Cooking Employment

Life Skills Program ► Unique Learning Solutions: Life 3 Skills Promethean slate ► Life Skills classroom Kitchen Washers and dryers ► Students utilize our in-house Shop. Rite supermarket

New Dawn Academy Alternative Learning Environment for Students Needing Preventative Care and beginning Psychological Services "Where every day is a new to a better future. ” Mission: To provide an engaging, supportive, and secure academic setting combined with mental health services and medical supervision through Rutgers University Behavioral Health. The New Dawn Academy believes collaboration between students, family, and staff more effectively prepares adolescents for adulthood with progressive lifelong prosperity.

New Dawn Academy ► Recovery Program The Recovery Program is designed to provide a learning environment that reinforces sobriety efforts while aiding in academic goals and success. ► Therapeutic Program is designed to provide wrap-around therapeutic supports and coping skills development in an enriching educational environment. Website: https: //sites. google. com/somersetcountyesc. org/new-dawnscesc/home

New Dawn Academy Overview : ● General Education - Grades 612 ● Secure, Nurturing Classes ● Flexible, Individualized Instruction ● Integrated Therapeutic Support ● Mentoring, Peer Support, and Youth Development ● Activities & Field Trips Services: ● Individual, Family, and Group Counseling ● Substance Use or Dependency Counseling ● Psychiatric Consultation and Evaluation ● Medication Management Benefits: ● ● Crisis Intervention Character Development Unified Recovery Plan Reduced Home Instruction ● High School Graduation Opportunity ● Post-Secondary Endeavors

Why a Recovery Program? Research by Andrew Finch, Associate Professor at the Department of Human & Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University, finds that about 85% of teens who return to their original schools after rehabilitation use drugs and/or alcohol again within the year. New Jersey has the sixth highest rate of fatal youth drug overdoses in the country, according to a 2015 report by the watchdog organization The Trust for America's Health. 10. 7% of all deaths among people ages 12 -25 are the result of a drug overdose.

Why a Therapeutic Program? New Jersey School Boards Task Force “Building a Foundation for Hope” ► Eighty-four children between the ages of 10 and 17 died by suicide in New Jersey, and an additional 199 young people between the ages of 19 and 24 killed themselves, according to the 2017 New Jersey Youth Suicide Report, from data for suicides occurring in the years 2013 through 2015. These are the latest statistics available. ► From 2013 through 2015, 2, 731 youth (ages 10 to 24) were treated in New Jersey hospital emergency rooms for attempted suicides or self-inflicted injuries. ► Studies show that as many as one in eight children, and 25% of teens, are contending with diagnosable anxiety disorders.

Long and Winding Road

Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) "are English language learners who have experienced interrupted education due to war, civil unrest, migration, or other factors; who have never had the opportunity to participate in any type of schooling before entering school in the United States; or who have experienced limited education in their home countries due to lack of resources or trained teachers, the type of schooling they participated in, or other circumstances. " (De. Capua & Marshall, 2010)

SLIFE Components ►English Language Skills (Written and Oral) ►Vocational Training: Construction Landscaping Small Engine Repair Culinary Arts Retail/Service Computer Information ►Pathway to Documentation ►Legal Employment

SLIFE Obstacles ► Program Funding ► ESL Staffing ► Students ‘aging out’ ► Achieving Documentation (work)

A Few More Steps. . . ►Transition Program for students ages 18 -23 ►Therapeutic Program for grades K-5 ►Internship Program for MD students ages 14+

Questions? ?

Contact Information ► Daniel Kerr, Assistant Superintendent ► dkerr@somersetcountyesc. org ► (908)707 -0070 x 702 ► Twitter - @mrdkerr ► Instagram - mrdankerr