Celebrating The End of This Year And Looking Forward To A New Year and New Opportunities
School Age Program Update
The school year is down to the final week! This last trimester looked very different from the previous two, consisting almost entirely of distance learning. We are so proud of our staff for continuing the education process without missing a beat and of our students who were willing to try a new way of learning.
Our graduates received a surprise from their teachers and me. We delivered yard signs, gifts, and their caps and gowns. They were thrilled with the gifts! There will be a graduation ceremony when we are permitted to gather again.
In addition to graduation, the end of the school year includes other annual events. A huge shout out to our friends at Berks Catholic for creating a video for our students since we couldn’t come together for Fun & Field Day. Berks Catholic seniors shared how much they missed spending this special day with our students. They challenged our students to do a dance and be active just as they would have been during the event. Their mascot even made an appearance! Thanks for sharing the love!
Our staff decided that our yearly pizza party had to go on, even if we couldn’t gather together in one location. As you will see later in this eNewsletter, it was a team effort to put together pizza kits for each one of our students and adults. There was no way that we were letting this tasty tradition go unnoticed!
We will be offering an Extended School Year (ESY) program this summer. It will begin in July and we hope to be able to provide it at the center. As we close out the year our minds begin to look toward the new school year.
It’s a little difficult to know where the world will be at that point, but we will be prepared. We will be ready for a few different scenarios. Whether it be virtual, in person or a combination of the two, we will provide it. We learned a lot during this closure, and we are much stronger because of it.
Adult Program Update
Our Adult Program remains closed until we move into the green phase. Staff are staying connected to the families through phone calls and Zoom meetings. The meetings consist of craft activities, music therapy, reading or just hanging out to talk about their day.
Plans are underway to provide programming in the community and in the home once we move into the yellow phase on June 5. We anticipate continuing to provide community only services for our adults who would thrive in this environment.
The closure helped us to look at the possibility of adding new services to enhance the lives of our adults. The hope is to open the adult program by mid-summer. It will look very different, too, as we transition back into the center, but the safety of our adults and staff will remain paramount as we do so.
