Happy Day Play Family Learning at Bernikow JCC (Grown Up and Me Program)

Bishop Patrick V. Ahern High School opened in September 1998 on the grounds of Moore Catholic High School in Staten Island, completing a goal set by the parents who founded the Seton Foundation for Learning in 1985. We serve students with developmental disabilities from age 14 to 21, and we are open to families of all faiths. Our program combines functional academics, social skills training and a vocational work-study program. Every student has work-study opportunities on and off campus, and our partnerships with local businesses give students real job sites where responsibilities are adjusted to build independence. Classes are small and highly structured, and daily living skills are part of the curriculum. Sharing a campus with Moore Catholic gives our students time with typically developing peers every day, through a daily peer socialization program, integrated lunch periods in the main cafeteria, and special events at both schools. We are a private school affiliated with the Archdiocese of New York and accredited by its Department of Education, and our program is funded through tuition, grants, private donations and fundraising.

Our Targee Street center is the Staten Island home of BumbleBeesRus, serving children ages 3 to 5 in the Park Hill neighborhood. We are one of eight BumbleBeesRus early childhood centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island, all licensed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Here we run free, full-day 3-K for All and Pre-K for All classes with the NYC Department of Education, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. The center itself is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., so families can add early drop-off and late pick-up through private pay or a voucher, and we accept HRA-ACD vouchers at this location. Children are served a fresh morning snack, lunch, and supper, and they play outside on our on-site playground. Learning is play-based and hands-on. Our Learning Without Limits enrichment program brings new monthly themes in STEAM, language immersion, social-emotional learning, music, and yoga and movement, and our Pre-K children take part in hands-on STEAM experiments. Extended care and summer program options are also available.

The Joan P. Hodum Early Learning Center of Community Resources sits at 3651 Richmond Road in historic Richmondtown on Staten Island. We run full-day 3-K, 3-K Integrated and PreK-4 Integrated classes, plus three full-day 12:1:2 special education classes for children ages 2.9 to 5, from September through June, and a summer camp in July and August. Our special education classes are funded by the New York State Education Department and are free for qualifying children, including children with speech and motor delays, Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. SEIT services, speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy and counseling are provided as needed, and our director, teachers and therapists meet weekly to review each child's progress. Our staff includes master's level certified teachers, ASHA-certified speech-language pathologists, a licensed psychologist and licensed occupational and physical therapists. Children learn through hands-on, multisensory centers for art, dramatic play, library, blocks and sensory play. They play outdoors every day in our large yard with a jungle gym, playhouse, tricycles and a basketball hoop, and parents can observe their children at any time under our open door policy.