Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Special Services

News from our schools

• featured post

  SEPTA to host "What's Next: An Introduction to Transition Planning"

  Join our remote discussion to learn about the transition process from school to adult life, including diploma and post-secondary options, and get an overview of services for adults with disabilities. Download the flyer attached below. 

  Presenter: Kit Casey, MA, LMHC, Transitional Specialist Lower Hudson Regional Partnership Center

  When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 29, 2021

  Zoom Link
  Meeting ID: 996 8357 6103
  Passcode: 959552
  By Phone: +1 646 558 8656
  Find your local number

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• St. Matthew's in the News!

  St. Matthew's Sets Up School Store

  St. Matthews

• St. Matt's School Store Provides Work Experience during Pandemic

  At Southern Westchester BOCES’ St. Matthew’s School site, one of the formative experiences in the Therapeutic Support Program is off-site vocational training and skills development. Since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible this year, staff members came up with an alternate option: Open a school store where students can purchase rewards items and gain work skills.

  “We cannot go outside to work or interact with the community, so we are instead bringing the world of work and community practices to St. Matthew’s,” said Patrice Cookes, a teacher in the Therapeutic Support Program for Developmentally Delayed (TSP-DD) students.

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• Reminder

  Tappan Hill will be closed for  Spring Recess from March 29- April 2, 2021. 

  School reopens on Monday, April 5, 2021. 

  Tappan Hill

• Women's History Month at St. Matthew's

  St. Matthew's students celebrated our remarkable women during Women's History Month.

  St. Matthews

• Activities from the classroom

  Students and staff in Ms. Donaghy's room spent some time honoring Black History Month by learning about the Underground Railroad.  Students read Follow the Drinking Gourd, learned and made their own gourds in honor of the story.

  St. Matthews

• Tappan Hill Celebrates Black History Month

  Tappan Hill School celebrated leaders, innovators, artists, musicians, politicians and other Black historical figures during Black History Month, including Frederick McKinley Jones, who developed equipment for refrigerated transport of food and blood during World War II;  George T. Sampson, who patented the automatic clothes dryer in 1892; poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou; former President Barack Obama; civil rights and women's rights activist Dorothy Height; and others.

  Special thanks to security guard Dwayne Welcome for helping put up the display in our lobby! 

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• SEPTA Gives Donations for Classroom Celebrations

  Since the Special Education PTA couldn't hold its annual holiday party in December, the group donated $5 for each student in Center for Special Services programs.

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• Love is in the Air

  2/12/2021

  Love is in the air at St. Matthew's. Staff and students practiced their writing and speaking skills expressing what they each loved about St. Matthews and what makes St. Matthew's so special. The most common response was that at St. Matthew's we are all family. 

  In addition, our school store staff practiced acts of kindness putting together valentines kindness bags for students. Happy Valentines!

  St. Matthews

• Welcome to Health Class

  Health Education is coming to St. Matthew's. Students in both TSP-DD and AIIM will be participating in weekly health classes with Ms. Jane Shields. 

  Ms. Shields holds a  BA from NYU in Dramatic Writing, an MS from SUNY Brockport in K-12 Health Education. Currently Ms. Shields teaches health in four different SW BOCES program sites and is passionate in providing health education to support students growth towards independence. 

  In the last few weeks, Ms. Shields has been busy introducing herself to all the students and getting to know their interests, personalities and assessing student health education needs. 

  In AIIM, students will be starting to work on identifying emotions. In our TSP-DD classrooms, students are starting a unit on  relationships and sexuality and nutrition.  Welcome aboard Ms. Shields!

  St. Matthews

• Winter Recess - School Closed, February 15th-19th

  School reopens 2/22/2021

  Rye Lake Lower Campus

• January 2021 Newsletter

  The January 2021 RLC MS/HS Campus Newsletter was emailed to all parents/students.

  Rye Lake Campus Middle/High

• Weather Closings

  Pocantico Hills ES is closed for a Snow Day today.  Irvington MS/HS are Remote for today.  

  Center for Special Services

• SEPTA Offers Workshop on Childhood Anxiety Disorders

  Fear and anxiety are a normal part of childhood development, but there are times when children get stuck and need to be evaluated for anxiety disorders and treated, psychiatrist Sheree Krigsman explained during a recent SWBOCES Special Education PTA event. “Childhood anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health problems in children and adolescents,” said Dr. Krigsman, who works with the Tappan Hill and Pocantico Hills programs.

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• Center for Special Services Welcomes New Administrators

  Southern Westchester BOCES has welcomed four new educational leaders across Center for Special Services campuses this year.

  • Marvin Elliott is the new Rye Lake Middle/High School principal.  
  • Amanda Allison moved from assistant principal of Tappan Hill School program to principal of the St. Matthew’s School program.
  • Susana Boyko is interim principal of the Rye Lake Lower Campus.  
  • Francesca Fernandez is assistant principal of the Tappan Hill School program.

  News Feed - Center for Special Services

• Tappan Hill Student Excited to Vote in Presidential Election

  Friday, Oct. 9, was an exciting day for Tappan Hill School student Christopher Thompson because he independently filled out an application to become a registered voter.

  Chris, who is often discussing current events and politics, has been talking about registering to vote for a long time. During a recent counting/graph lesson about voting, Chris said he wanted to be counted “for real” and exercise his right to vote. His interest led to a social studies/civics lesson on current civil discourse, said Erroll Rivera, Chris’ teacher.

  News Feed - Center for Special Services