P’ville School District, Pace Celebrate First Year of Lab School
By Molly Stazzone
Preparing pupils to be ready for life after they graduate is an essential mission of almost any school district. It’s no different for special needs students.
The Pleasantville School District and Pace University’s School of Education have partnered on a new project this year that helps 18- to 21-year-olds acquire the vocational and social skills needed to succeed once school is over.
Pleasantville and Pace launched the Lab School at the university, which opened on Sept. 9 with 10 students. It’s a transitional initiative for students in Pleasantville’s over-18 Individual Support Program (ISP) and similar programs in other districts throughout the region that focus on providing young adults with independence.
“We started [ISP] in the high school about seven years ago. In the program we have students who have cognitive and intellectual disabilities,” said Pleasantville special education teacher Michael Voron, the program coordinator, during a Lab School open house last Thursday afternoon.
Voron said once ISP students graduate from Pleasantville High School they can enter the new program at Pace.
Students are not only equipped with job-training skills, but they learn how to live independently. The Peekskill-based Keon Center and the Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) helps transition the program’s participants from public school to adult services.
Roman Diham, a JCCA representative, said staff helps students by stressing punctuality and self-confidence. They also help them obtain necessary work experience through internships, which can lead to employment, he said.
Carolyn McGuffog, the Pleasantville School District’s director of educational services, said the Lab School provides the students with a college-type program that represents the next phase in their lives.
“We didn’t want students in ISP who graduated to return … to high school classes, so we approached Pace,” McGuffog said. “They go to their own classes on campus and they go outside the campus to socialize.”
There are also 15 Pace interns in the Lab School who work with the students. Most have taken courses of study in the School of Education. One intern, Jess, a senior and a psychology major, learned of the program through her peers.
“They knew Mike and I had a meeting with him,” she said. “We go to the classroom with them and help them with math, vocabulary and computer skills.”
Several students talked about their classes and their experiences during the first few months of the program.
Thomas Devitterio, 21, worked as a camp counselor over the summer and likes to sing.
“I like the program because I can be myself and learn and be humble,” he said.
Sam Frankle, 20, said he has enjoyed how Pace has had a welcoming environment.
“Pace is a wonderful place,” Frankle said. “I work at the bookstore and everyone is friendly.”
In a video about the program one student said, “I was a transfer student at Pace and was new. These kids bring you in like it’s nothing.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
