Education from Legacy Treatment Services in NJ
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800-433-7365

Services:

Education

Education

mary dobbins

At Legacy, we recognize that education is an important component to every child’s overall well-being. We operate a certified special education school located in Mount Holly, a school-based support program for Pemberton Township High School students and a Burlington County tutoring program for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

Mary A. Dobbins School

School Principal – Lana Altimari

(609) 267-1550, ext. 3152

Our state-approved Mary A. Dobbins special education school offers a strong academic program with a highly therapeutic environment for boys and girls, ages 8-21. Students come from our residential treatment programs or are day students referred from local school districts. The school’s Learning Center Model curriculum guarantees small class sizes and individualized instruction for all students. All of our teachers are Special Education-certified and each classroom includes two teacher’s aides. Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are established for each student and a strong emphasis is placed on their social, emotional and educational development.

In addition to standard course instruction, students are afforded opportunities such as consumer education, computer-assisted instruction, vocational programs and a reading tutorial program for those experiencing difficulties in this area. A learning disabilities teaching consultant is also available to meet the needs of all IEPs. Additionally, we provide a full-time guidance counselor, school social worker and a full-time nurse to attend to the students’ medical needs.

We are committed to the optimal development of every student; and believe in creating positive, safe and health-promoting learning environments at every level, in every setting, throughout the school year. For more information about how we do this, please view our Wellness Policy and Assessment below.

Also, click below for information on summer meals for kids and teens being served in your community!

Click below to view our Water and Lead Testing Results 
Click below to view the Mary A. Dobbins School Virtual/Remote Instruction Plan 2022-2023

MARY A DOBBINS SCHOOL RE-OPENING PLAN SEPTEMBER 2020

Purpose

Plan to reopen in September 2020. (COVID epidemic)

District Demographic Profile-100% Students with Disabilities

Total students served-75

Our reopening plan for September is based upon the guidance from the DOE “The Road Back”, CDC and DOH.

Mary A Dobbins School (Legacy Treatment) wants you to know that the health and wellbeing of our students, employees, families, and community remains our top priority as we monitor the evolving situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In preparation for our re-opening on September 8, 2020, Mary A Dobbins schools have implemented additional safety precautions to help protect everyone. Prior to reopening, all employees will be trained in these safeguards during a 2 day orientation, including but not limited to Infection Control Standards, use of Personal Protective Equipment, Signs/Symptoms of COVID-19, Hand washing and Hygiene Etiquette, and Cleaning/Disinfecting Practices.

Additionally, posters from the CDC and other signage will be displayed throughout the buildings as reminders of the importance of safe practices.

Depending on your student’s sending school district and his/her IEP, remote learning, in-person instruction, or a combination of both will be available options to your student at Mary A Dobbins.

DAY STUDENTS – School social workers will contact parents to inquire what type of learning they prefer for their child: remote or hybrid.  Upon obtaining that information the school social worker will reach out to sending districts to inform them of the parent’s request. At this time, transportation, if required, will be facilitated by the student’s sending district. We will honor any parent’s wish who prefers 100% remote learning and remote instruction will be provided. For those students who do return to the building on September 8th, the following safety protocols have been put in place:

HEALTH AND SAFETY

  • Legacy Treatment has a Pandemic team that addresses all issues relating to the COVID 19 pandemic. This team consists of the COO, VP of Risk Management, Director of Nursing and other staff from the management/leadership team.
  • If the child or employee, or anyone in their household, shows COVID-19 symptoms (fever, shortness of breath, fatigue and muscle/body aches, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, new loss of smell/taste), he/she should remain at home and follow medical advice for testing and isolation. Please contact the school to let them know of the situation. Any student or employee who resides in a household with someone who is showing signs of COVID-19 should expect to quarantine for 14 days before returning. Any student or employee in the Mary A Dobbins schools who is COVID symptomatic should follow the advice of their physician and CDC guidance on isolation and will need medical clearance before returning to the school.
  • Prior to entering the school building, staff and students will be screened daily for fever and will answer a short survey of questions. A contactless thermometer will be used. Anyone showing signs/symptoms of illness or with a temperature of 100.4 or over will not be permitted to enter the building and will be sent home.
  • Anyone who becomes sick while at school will immediately be isolated to a designated area away from others while waiting to be picked up/transported. He/she will be advised to seek medical attention as needed and will require medical clearance to return. The classroom/area will be evacuated, closed off to others, and disinfected thoroughly. Staff who accompanies the sick child must wear appropriate PPE.
  • A daily log of screenings for all staff and students will be kept. In addition, all student and employee absences, and the reason for such, will be documented.
  • Upon entering the building, all students and employees will be directed to wash/sanitize hands immediately. Hand sanitizer dispensing stations are located at entrances and throughout the buildings.
  • Face coverings, which cover the nose and mouth, will be required for anyone entering the school, and will be provided to anyone who does not have one. Students will also be expected to wear face coverings as tolerated and students who are unable to tolerate a facemask will have an implementation teaching plan to attempt to have the child tolerate the mask. Please note that face coverings are not meant to be re-worn. If disposable, they should be discarded after use; if cloth, they should be washed after use.
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including but not limited to face coverings, face shields, gowns, and gloves, will be provided as needed by Mary A Dobbins.
  • Accommodations will be made for any staff or student with underlying health concerns.
  • Frequent hand washing, which is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infection, will be expected throughout the day and will include at time of entering the building, before/after meals/snacks, after using the restroom, before/after medications, after outside play, after touching nose/mouth or removing face coverings, and after contact with frequently touched surfaces/items. Soap is available at all sinks, and 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers are available at all entrances, in every classroom, and dispersed throughout the building. Students and employees will be reminded and encouraged to hand wash often.
  • Students will be grouped together with no more than 10 bodies to a classroom. The same group will remain together all day in the same space as much as possible, including during meals and breaks. The Art and Music teachers will come to classrooms to minimize movement through the building when appropriate. All classrooms comply with guidelines.
  • All classrooms have adequate ventilation and the maintenance team monitors the HVAC Systems and filtration.
  • Breakfast and lunch will be prepared in the kitchen which will be sanitized before and after making meals. Only the kitchen staff using proper PPE and following CDC guidelines will be allowed in the kitchen. Meals will be prepared and placed in individual containers with lids and delivered to the students.  Individually wrapped foods will be used as much as possible. Students will eat in the classroom or outside while social distancing.
  • If there is an incident that necessitates a hold (SCM) and more staff need to enter a classroom to assist, the other staff and students will remove themselves from the area to ensure safety and social distancing.
  • Desks and tables have been reconfigured to maximize physical distance between students. Signage has been posted and 6 feet markings have been placed on floors as reminders to practice safe social distancing in hallways, restrooms, cafeterias, and the like.
  • All rooms in the building will receive a deep cleaning by Legacy’s cleaning and sanitizing department before reopening the schools, and cleaning will be maintained by that department on a daily basis thereafter. High-touched items/areas and common surfaces including but not limited to front desk/main office, restrooms, doorknobs, light switches, counters, tables, and desks will be assigned to school and custodial staff for cleaning several times per day. Offices and classrooms will be equipped with sanitizing wipes and EPA approved disinfectants including a spray-and-leave product to be used as needed.
  • A maximum number of students will be allowed to enter the restroom, depending on the size of the restroom. Staff is instructed to sanitize the bathrooms after every use. There is also as schedule posted for more frequent cleaning of the restrooms.
  • Instructional toys and learning items that cannot be sanitized will not be used unless disposable, single use, or individually packaged so that they cannot be shared. For example, students who use manipulatives will have their own bin/bag for these items that is only theirs to use and will not be shared. These items will be disinfected multiple times each day.
  • At this time, there will be no field trips, no special performances by outside persons, no assemblies/large gatherings, and no contact sports.
  • Visitors will able to enter the school by appointment only and will be subject to the same screening and face covering requirements.
  • Any staff or student who travels by plane will need to quarantine for 14 days before returning to the school. Documentation will be kept for anyone who has traveled to a location identified by the CDC as a level 3 travel alert areas. You can access the list of states that meet these criteria by dialing 511.
  • If there is a confirmed positive COVID-19 case, the incident will immediately be reported to the Department of Health, DOE, and other governing entities where required. Employees, students, and families who may have been in close contact with the person will be alerted to possible exposure.
  • Contract tracing is completed by the VP of Risk Management at Legacy Treatment Services. A deep cleaning of the facility will occur. Instructions provided by local authorities will determine if further testing or revisions in screening protocols are needed, or if school closure is warranted.

SCHEDULING, INSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY

The school day will be a 6 hour day.  Students will arrive at 8:15 AM and be dismissed at 2:15 PM.

  • We plan on instituting a staggered hybrid schedule for the students to ensure a safe environment. The classrooms will be split into 2 groups, group A and group B.  Group A will attend in school class on Monday and Wednesday, with remote instruction Tuesday and Thursday. Group B will attend in school class on Tuesday and Thursday, with remote instruction on Monday and Wednesday.  All students will be learning remotely on Friday.  The schedule will continue like that until further notice.  Once a schedule for a student is in place, the schedule will stay the same through the first marking period at the least. This schedule will allow each child to have 2 days of face to face instruction every week.
  • Every student will be given a Chrome book for remote instruction. The Chrome books will be equipped with Google Classroom and White glove protection. Parents without internet access should contact their Child Study Team case manager to discuss connectivity.  Depending on the home technology capability, some or all work will be web based.
  • Most students are in Legacy residential facilities and ALL have access to the internet.
  • Students who are on similar levels are given class times to log on, so the teacher or therapist can present. Teachers have also recorded lessons and sent as an attachment to students/parents, since most of them have cell phones, even if they do not have other means of technology.
  • Students’ on academic levels from 5th to 12th grade have a hybrid program to support differentiated instruction including online instruction; online follow up activities, hands on activities, projects involving research and critical thinking. File folders of paperwork is to be utilized for reinforcement activities. All of the different modes of access for the students are meant to keep them motivated to learn.
  • The students are sectioned by age and developmental abilities. The teachers use IEP Direct for creating lesson plans that are submitted and reviewed weekly by the Principal or Supervisor. It is an online program that can be accessed from home.
  • Care logic is our attendance tracking system and 5 day letters will be sent to districts if a teacher is unable to make contact with a student for 5 consecutive days.
  • Students in elementary grades are given appropriate learning activities to broaden their knowledge of information correlating to the IEP goals and individual grade levels. High school students have new materials introduced to them through google classroom or zoom with follow up supporting activities to reinforce learning.
  • Students, who are non-academic, will be given plans for completing IEP goals and objective through functional and daily living skills activities. Included in the folders will be skill appropriate activities and/or directions for everyday independent living skills. (Sequencing, categorizing, matching etc.)
  • Teachers have appropriate work/project in the core areas prepared for students and will be consistently delivered to each student’s residence if web-based instruction is not applicable to the student.
  • Each student has an individual work file and supplemental reinforcing activities. The files contain all appropriate assignments with directions on completing as well as expectations.
  • The activities meet the individual needs of each student.
  • Physical Education will be conducted outside whenever possible where social distancing standards will be in place. If Physical Education needs to be in the gym, the amount of bodies in the gym will not exceed 15.  Markers for social distancing are placed on the floors throughout the gym.  Students will wash their hand immediately following any physical activity.
  • Recess in form of some type of leisure activity will be scheduled in for students in 5th and 6th
  • All assignments address the IEP goals and objectives. Goals and objectives will be tracked for mastery on an ongoing basis. Teachers can access IEP’s online as we use a web-based system (IEP Direct). Logs and journals are kept for each student, as well as completed work that has been turned in. Report cards will be distributed on their scheduled dates.
  • The teachers have made available his/her email address and/or website (google classroom, etc) for parents/guardians to contact them.
  • Teachers will reach out to homes daily by phone or technology to answer any questions and check on assignments.
  • Related Services-OT, PT, Counseling and Speech have created activities to be done at home to address IEP goals and support the educational needs, they will also be available to students via the best mode of communication that has been identified. Related services are delivered through google classroom and zoom where appropriate. Material for OT, PT and Speech will be sent home to the students or they can utilize a list of materials provided that most people have at home.
  • Related service logs containing frequency and duration of service given are on file.
  • One to one aides report to school or the resident that the child lives in (for residential students) daily to support that child’s educational needs. Day students will have their one to one assistants in school when they arrive.  If it is a day school student’s remote day, the one to one will be in contact with the student to support their needs as well.
  • All communications will be documented.
  • Staff are communicating and using various platforms to remain involved in the student growth, both academic and personal/social by interacting with them.
  • For a pivot over to all remote, the academic standards that we have in place for the partial remote/hybrid schedule will activate full time. The teachers will have a google classroom schedule to work face to face with the students they instruct. All of the one to ones for the students in residential homes within Legacy Treatment will report to the assigned homes each day for educational support.  Work will be documented and progress reported as normal.

ATTENDANCE

  • Attendance is kept through our online system. Any child that we are unable to reach for 5 consecutive days will be marked absent.  The district will be notified via phone or email by an administrator and if they are unable to make contact, a 5-day letter will go out to the home and the district.

DISTRICT CONTACTS

  • All district inquiries will be answered in a timely manner by an administrator from the appropriate school.
  • Updated school closure plans will be sent out to all sending districts, as well as on the school’s website, www.legacytreatment.org.

PROGRESS

  • All progress will be documented on an ongoing basis. Completed work will be returned via Mary A Dobbins pick up, USPS, fax, on line or email. The returned work will be graded and averaged for report cards.
  • *Annual reviews and district meetings will be completed on schedule through google meet, zoom or any other platform that the sending district requests.

MEAL DISTRIBUTION

  • Mary A Dobbins Programs will participate in the school breakfast and lunch program. We will collect reimbursement on meals and provide meals for the days we are not providing in school instruction.  The day student families will be notified that the students can collect meals from the home school district.

TRANSPORTATION

  • Transportation will be provided by your home school district.

We know this is a long list of information and rules, but everyone’s safety and peace of mind is of the utmost importance to Mary A Dobbins. Please note that the above is subject to change based on federal and/or state directives and best practices for Mary A Dobbins Programs. Should anything change, Mary A Dobbins reserves the right to make a last-minute decision of switching to remote learning all together without notice.

We will continue to follow guidance from local authorities regarding further developments and continue to keep students, employees, and families abreast of any changes, all of which will be approved by Legacy Administration. Any revisions will be submitted to the county in a timely manner.

School Based Youth Services Program

Located inside Pemberton Township High School, the School-Based Youth Services Program provides an array of free services to help students navigate their time in high school while simultaneously gaining skills that help lead to graduation and employment or continuing education.

School Based Youth Services are accessible on site, free of charge, and are available to all Pemberton Township High School students and their families.

Core services include counseling; violence / pregnancy / drug and alcohol prevention programs; access to health services, employment skills development, learning support services and family supports.

For more information, please call (609) 893-8141, extension 2921.

The Learning Academy Tutoring Program

The Learning Academy is a free tutoring service open to Burlington County children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Bachelor level teachers offer tutoring in all subjects during the school year and work to increase academic skills, develop confidence and improve attitudes toward school and learning.

Each student who attends The Learning Academy works with his or her tutor to develop an individualized plan that addresses the areas of academic difficulty and sets specific academic goals. Due to the high demand for services, priority is given to those families demonstrating financial need.

Tutoring sessions must be scheduled in advance. For more information about the program, please call the number for the location closest to you.

Browns Mills Library
16 Broadway
Browns Mills, NJ
609-845-4421

The Family Success Center of Burlington County
45 High Street
Mt. Holly, NJ
609-267-4001

The Kennedy Center
429 JFK Way
Willingboro, NJ
609-668-2087