St. Matthew's School

St. Matthew's News

St. Matt's Students Make Special Delivery to Grace Church

A group of six students and four staff members in the SWBOCES program at St. Matthew’s School made an important delivery to Grace Episcopal Church in White Plains on Dec. 23 – bags and boxes of flip flops/shower shoes, toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant that they had collected in a donation drive. They walked about a half mile down Mamaroneck Avenue to the church and dropped off the items at the soup kitchen. It was a brisk day, and some sang Christmas carols like “Jingle Bells” as they walked.

The items are much needed by people Grace Church serves who are unhoused, said David Nisenbaum, principal of St. Matthew’s School.

“Before the pandemic began, St. Matthew's School had a long-standing partnership with Grace Church. Our students would work or volunteer at the soup kitchen,” Principal Nisenbaum said. “As with many organizations, Grace Church could not allow us to continue our volunteer work due to state regulations and for the safety of all parties. Subsequently, we came together and brainstormed what could be done to still be a part of that community and continue our acts of service in whatever way possible. We collectively decided to have a drive for their most needed items.”

St. Matt’s received donations from staff members, students, families and other members of the SWBOCES community. Students used their vocational skills by sorting and organizing all the contributions and making a spreadsheet to fill out the donor form for the church.

Thank you to everyone who donated!
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Meet the new principal at St. Matthew's School!

David Nisenbaum has come full circle in his career in education with his arrival at St. Matthew's School in White Plains. "I just felt always this connection to serving a population of students that for me held a very special place in my heart,” he says.
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Autism Awareness Day at St. Matthew's

On April 15. 2021, the staff and students of St. Matthew's School celebrated Autism Awareness. Students and staff have spent the month of April learning about Autism. Students and staff celebrated by wearing blue, decorating the building in puzzle pieces and blue balloons and creating individual puzzle pieces with things they have learned about Autism. In addition, each classroom created learning activities for their students that were individualized to their abilities all centered around Autism . A big thank you to our Culture and Diversity team and Ms. Maggie Donaghy who helped to spear head this special day!
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St. Matthew's students recite the Pledge

Students from St. Matthew's were asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance on camera for reply at the start of the SWBOCES Board of Education's April 21, 2021, meeting. Each Board meeting features the Pledge recited by a students from a different program. Their enthusiastic participation is greatly appreciated. Well done!
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Women's History Month at St. Matthew's

St. Matthew's students celebrated our remarkable women during Women's History Month.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK

Dear St. Matthew’s Community,

My name is David Nisenbaum and I am honored and proud to introduce myself as the newly appointed Principal of St. Matthew’s school. It is with great excitement that I prepare to join this wonderful community of learners, staff, parents and guardians.

A little about me: I have been passionately involved in education for over 15 years. I first fell in love with this work when I began my career as an individual aide at Nassau BOCES, after which I went on to become a special education teacher at the Reece School (a private school in New York City for students with special needs), where I later transitioned to a leadership position as the Director of Instruction. In those various roles, I continued to be inspired and energized as I witnessed our students’ growth into confident, kind, and engaged young adults.

I believe that everyone involved in a child’s life plays a pivotal part in supporting them on their path to success, and I am eager to work with and get to know all students, families, and staff with open communication and a strong collaborative spirit. My door is always open.

Warm Regards,

David Nisenbaum

Principal, St. Matthew’s