Iona Prep Students Help Get New SAIL School Ready for Fall

Students from Iona Prep in New Rochelle are traveling to Hastings-on-Hudson this week to help prepare the new location of the School for Adaptive and Integrated Learning (SAIL) for students this fall. SAIL, which had been located in Yonkers, will temporarily take over space at the former St. Matthew’s School in Hastings.

Below is a press release from Iona Prep describing the project:

When Iona Preparatory School K-12 received a call for help from the School for Adaptive and Integrated Learning (SAIL) last week, it was no surprise when the students jumped at the service opportunity.

SAIL has been a monthly service site for Iona Prep students since 2011. It is a school for children with developmental disabilities and was growing increasingly strapped for space at its Yonkers location. Having recently leased St. Matthew’s School, 16 Villard Avenue in Hastings, N.Y., on a temporary basis to hold classes for its students, SAIL asked the Prep for help to get its new facility shipshape for September.

“With the need for renovations to the existing site taking priority to make the space ready for the opening in September, the involvement of the young men from Iona Prep is greatly appreciated,” SAIL Director of Behavior Services AnnMarie Gronowski said. “Their participation in this project and their ongoing support for the SAIL program throughout the year only demonstrates the type of caring and sensitivity to our students that typifies the student population at Iona Prep.”

Prep Director of Campus Ministry Anthony Casella asked for volunteers the Wednesday of the call. By that Friday, he had more than a dozen students for each of the three initial service days.

“This is a great opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Edmund Rice,” Casella wrote to the Prep student body, “and help children of little means obtain an education in a welcoming setting.”

The Prep students will be at St. Matthew’s School today through Friday, Aug. 6-8, laying down fresh coats of paint and moving furniture. The student volunteers will begin at 10 a.m. and work until about 3 p.m. each day.

“I think it’s really good helping the community at SAIL by improving their educational environment,” rising senior Christopher Winteroll, 17, of Scarsdale said.

Photo credit: School for Adaptive and Integrated Learning