Jawonio to Start Afterschool Program in New City

For the first time since opening in 1947, Jawonio is going to offer an afterschool program starting this fall.

The program, which will run on school days from 3 p.m. to 6 for ages 5-11, is open to both children with and without special needs. The Jawonio School Age Care will start on Sept. 7 at the organization's location on Phillips Hill Road in New City.

"This is something we've been ready to go into for awhile," said Jerry Staller, the director of educational and clinical services at New City-based Jawonio. "We've felt more pressure to start this year than in years past, so we decided now was a good time."

The pressure Staller mentioned came from parents of children in other Jawonio services. Jawonio has a universal pre-kindergarten, special education preschool, day care for kids up to 5-years-old, summer education program and an infant development program. Staller estimates that during the year, they take care of roughly 300 kids a day.

 "A lot of kids in our programs were graduating and moving on," said Gail Nachimson, the program director of educational services at Jawonio. "So they could go to after school programs at their day schools, but those programs are typically very large, with anywhere between 50 to 100 kids. For a child with significant disabilities, that's not a proper setting."

Nachimson also mentioned that after school programs at other schools might not have the proper equipment for special needs children.

"Not only do we have all of that, but we have a staff trained to take care of children with special needs," she said.

At the afterschool program, the children will participate in arts and crafts activities, get to play outside and eat snack. Nachimson also said there will be cooking activities and science projects for the students old enough, as well as assistance with homework.

"That's up to the parents, though," she said. "Some parents want to supervise their children's homework, and others want them to come home with it already done."

The program costs $10 an hour, and there is a non-refundable $25 registration fee that guarantees a spot in the program, which has a max of 18 children. Nachimson said if the program gets up to 18, they will be split up into two separate classrooms based on age and need.

It's also open to children who live outside of the Clarkstown Central School District. For students in the Clarkstown school district, however, transportation can be provided from the child's elementary school to the building, located at 155 Phillips Hill Road in New City. Students in the East Ramapo School District can be bused to the Jawonio TECH Center in New Hempstead, and then brought to the New City location, and students from other districts have to provide their own transportation. And all children have to get their own transportation home at the end of the day.

Having the program open to children with special needs and children without is something Staller said can help the development of both groups of children. During the summer, he said some kids are in the special needs program in the morning and then in day care in the afternoon. The day care program has children with and without special needs interact daily, and Staller said the children all get along.

"They don't care," he said. "There's a boy in a wheelchair in one of the classes, and if you asked the other children which one he is, they'd tell you he's 'the one with brown hair who likes cars.'"

"And is a Mets fan," Nachimson added.

Staller said the program will give the children they get from the other programs during the year, where no one class has just a teacher and no additional trained aids in the room.

"Our main goal is to teach and train the children," he said. "We want to make sure the needs of all our children are met."

Anyone interested in the program is asked to e-mail Nachimson at gail.nachimson@jawonio.org or call her at 845-708-2000, extension 3255.