Update from Executive Director Patty Sly
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Congratulations
P.G. Chambers School
Class of 2020
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On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, we celebrated the graduating Class of 2020 with a virtual program featuring memorable slide shows, music, and wonderful tributes to our newest alumni.
We are so proud of what they have achieved and know that they will accomplish great things ahead!
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P.G. Chambers School Finds Success with Virtual Services to Support Our Students and Families
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This year has been like no other, and despite the many challenges and changes, our students continue to accomplish so much and we could not be more proud. They have put their hearts and minds into achieving their academic, therapeutic, and personal goals. Our teachers and therapists used their expertise and creativity to create a virtual classroom experience that motivated and inspired students. None of this could happen without the dedication and support of our students’ parents and family members, who are at the heart of the team. With everyone coming together, our students continued to thrive.
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Pictured above
Paraprofessional Brenda Jaarsma
, and
teachers Erin Natoli and Laura Jaarsma find creative ways to teach Math and an Earth Day lesson virtually. Students enjoy their lessons and the time to connect with their teachers and classmates.
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Providing therapy in a virtual setting requires innovative thinking and thoughtful planning, in order to ensure students can continue making progress towards their individual goals.
Tracie Murray, MSPT, Staff Physical Therapist. gives us a glimpse into her approach and the importance of the team dynamic.
“
What parents, students, teachers, and therapists have accomplished in the past few months is truly amazing. For preschoolers we are using books to provide movement opportunities. For example, the book “Bear Sees Colors” by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, takes the students on a scavenger hunt looking for colors. The bear in the story meets several animals along the way and we walk like the bear, hop like the hare, and stomp like the badger. We explore the environment searching for colors that match the book’s description. Many of the parents purchased their own hard copies of the books to follow through with the activities at home outside of therapy time. We are all changing roles and learning new ways of working together so that we are providing the best possible outcomes for the children."
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Early Intervention
Supporting Infants and Toddlers in a Virtual Setting
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After a brief closure in March to learn and prepare, the P.G. Chambers School early intervention program began reaching children and families via the telehealth platform on April 1.
Amber Hummer, DPT, director of early intervention, explains,
"
Telehealth has allowed us to continue to support families during a stressful and uncertain time. Early Intervention is a family training model, thus we were already in a position of empowering families to be their child’s best teacher. Through telehealth we continue to coach families by helping them identify what is going well, what routines are challenging, and collectively providing strategies to address challenges. We show how to use play and daily routines to help their child learn and grow. Families are pleased that their children are showing improvements in their development and it really shows parents that they are their child’s best teacher."
While pivoting to a new mode of program implementation has its challenges, our early intervention team recognizes some unique benefits that emerged, including changes in the way parents engage with their children and how they are using play and everyday routines to support their child’s development. Some parents whose work schedules prohibited them from attending sessions before are now able to participate. As parents implement the skills they learn, there is an observable increase in parental confidence. Older siblings are joining in some sessions and are eager to learn how they can help their sisters and brothers.
What parents are saying about Telehealth:
"Through his daily therapies in DI, Speech, PT and OT, our son has shown much growth in the areas of learning language and communication, social-emotional performance and behavior. Both his fine motor and gross motor skills have also become much stronger. We are grateful for the telehealth services being offered by P.G. Chambers School. It has proven to be an effective method of therapy for our son."
"
With guidance and encouragement from my son's wonderful therapists, I feel more empowered to provide opportunities for growth for him in our everyday life. We are thankful P.G. Chambers School
has been able to offer telehealth session with these vital individuals in our son's life."
With parents and therapists working together, providing early intervention using telehealth has been a huge success, and most importantly, it is allowing infants and toddlers to continue receiving the services they need.
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On May 7, 2020, P.G. Chambers School held its first-ever virtual
Menus for the Mind event where over 300 people joined from the comfort of their homes to pay tribute to students and celebrate the 65
th anniversary of P.G. Chambers School.
Menus for the Mind raised much- needed funds to support the children’s learning and therapy needs today, including an expanded powered mobility program. Gratitude goes to
Menus for the Mind co-chairs Jerry Rose and Joanne Balady for their leadership in making this a successful event for the P.G. Chambers School community. Rose and Balady share a passion for giving back to those who need it most, and together they led a group of 27 volunteers to create this annual event, which was quickly transformed to a virtual event to abide by social distancing regulations. This history-making event can still be viewed on the school’s website.
Menus-for-the-Mind 2020 webcast
P.G. Chambers School’s annual
Walk.Run.Fun 5K also went exclusively virtual this year, with participants completing their 5K and Children’s Races from their own neighborhoods, then sharing and connecting through social media. Students, families, staff members, and friends from all over participated in the event this year and everyone had fun sharing photos and cheering on one another’s success. Event co-chairs Abbey Horwitz and Eric Elbell led the event to success.
"As a P.G. Chambers School parent and board member, I see the impact that the pandemic is having on our children and families. I also see the resiliency of the teachers and therapists, as they continue to provide creative and engaging virtual instruction and therapy to our children with special needs. The funds raised by both the 5K and Menus for the Mind are so important in making this exceptional programming possible during these unprecedented times.
“-
Abbey Horwitz (Pictured with her daughter Jillian)
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Pre-school Graduates
2020
Honored with Special Book Awards
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P.G. Chambers School preschool
teachers recognize and celebrate
their graduating students with unique
and personal awards. Each child is
honored with a book title that reflects
their personality and/or accomplishments.
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Courtney . . .
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
for her love for eating all of her food
Paige . . .
The Little Engine That Could
for persevering through her daily activities
Rebekah . . .
I love It When You Smile
for brightening our day with her fantastic smile
Isabella . . .
Fancy Nancy
for her great style and imagination
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Joseph Pierre . . .
How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow
for his love of art and colorful imagination
Thomas . . .
The Cat in the Hat
for always having a sense of humor
Preston . . .
Baby Shark
for his love of water play and his family
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Congratulations to our 2020 Pre-school graduates as they move on to kindergarten!
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P.G. Chambers School Leadership Honored for their Expertise with New Appointments
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Amber Hummer, Early Intervention Director, was chosen to serve on the
NJEIS
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (
IDEA
) stakeholder task force. The IDEA task force was asked
to help with determining service needs and prioritizing use of
staff as NJEIS plans for returning to in-person service
.
They made recommendations in the areas of: (re) evaluation and assessment, individualized family service plan meetings, and service delivery. The task force also considered service delivery for underserved families, strategies to ensure equitable access, and a contingency plan in the event of increased incidence of Covid-19.
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We are pleased to announce that our school principal, Heather Gilliland, was recently elected the Region II Chair of ASAH, a nonprofit organization comprised of 129 schools and agencies in New Jersey providing services to infants, children, and young adults with disabilities. We are incredibly proud of Heather as she shares her expertise and strong leadership skills in support of children with disabilities and their families across the state.
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Notable Grants Support Our Students
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Thank you to
The Hyde and Watson Foundation
for a grant to support the purchase of updated Soundfield systems in five of our classrooms. This contribution will benefit all of our students and in particular children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing.
We are so appreciative of The Summit Foundation and The Hyde and Watson Foundation for recognizing the importance of the services provided by P.G. Chambers School to students with disabilities. We are stronger together because of you!
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P.G. Chambers School is currently raising funds to support our Powered Mobility Program. The program is our response to the growing need among our students for increased programming related to using powered mobility. The main objectives of the program are to utilize powered mobility as a therapeutic tool; introduce and evaluate powered mobility options for students; and teach students to use their power wheelchairs more proficiently.
We are excited to report that we have raised $37,000 in support of this important program but we still need to raise an additional $88,000 to move forward with the expansion of our program to meet our students’ needs. P.G. Chambers School parent speaker Victor Talamini shared at our virtual
Menus
event how powered mobility has impacted his daughter, Frankie.
“Her wheelchair is not a convenience. Her chair serves as her feet. It has opened a whole new world to her…It has, as predicted, allowed her to be independent. It has changed her life and ours.”
For more information on how you can support this project, please contact Kathleen DeSantis, Director of Development at
[email protected]
and/or click below to visit our website.
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Be sure to visit our
website
and follow us on Facebook and Instagram
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