240 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021-2341 (781) 828-2202 Fax (781) 828-2804

From the Director’s Desk

NN E W S L E T T E RE W S L E T T E RW I N T E R 1 9 9 9

JRC’s enrollment continues itsamazing growth. We have more than doubledin size within the last few months and nowserve 100 residential students and adults.Forty-four of these are in our Hope Schoolprogramming track for individuals withdevelopmental disabilities. Fifty-two are inour Walden School programmingtrack for individuals with behaviordisorders. Four are in the RespiteProgram we operate for theMassachusetts Department of MentalRetardation.

To cope with this growingpopulation we have added severalnew residences. We now own or lease17 homes, apartments, and town hous-es in nearby communities. To provideadditional classrooms, the lower floorof our administration/day school

building in Canton is being remodeled. Threenew classrooms are reserved for the openingof Tomorrow, our day school program, and wewill begin enrolling students in this program inthe Spring of 2000.

Several recent developments at JRCare illustrated in this newsletter. In June, we

held our first culmination ceremony for sev-eral of our Walden students (see back page).Also, several students have been placed incompetitive jobs in the nearby community.Our Baby Think it Over program whichteaches the responsibilities of parenting (seep. 2 and 4), continues to be a huge success!

We are now pilot-testing special com-puter software we have developed toteach communication skills to autisticstudents (see p. 5) and reading and mathfacts to all of our Walden students.Finally, we have purchased 75 newcomputers so that each student will haveaccess to one both at school and inhis/her residence.

Matthew L. Israel, Ph.D.Executive Director

Josh and Dr. Israel kick off the Holiday season.

“surf” the internet and their teacher coordi-nates their required assignments. The stu-dents especially enjoy sending and receivinge-mail messages to and from other studentsand staff.

Our after school activities have con-tinued under the direction of our capablephysical education teacher, DoreenGilkenson. During the winter, the most popu-lar activities are the weekly pool tournaments,which are enjoyed by both girls and boysalike. During the spring and summer, basket-ball is the favorite pastime.

On May 2, 1999 the Hope studentsattended the Special Olympic trials held atMilton Academy (see back page). The HopeSchool students participated in the qualifyingrounds for the summer games in track andfield events. The day was a great success andour students won many ribbons and medals.

Our students have been workingdiligently on their academic subjects. Manystudents have in-school jobs and one of ourstudents works in competitive employmentand is studying for her driver’s license!

Alexis Hazard,Director of Education

S c h o o l N e w s

Jesse and Kenya have fun in the Big RewardStore.

Was your pizza good, Eric?

George spends his reward points lounging witha Dr. Pepper.

Christina makes photocopies in her in-schooljob.

Wayne sits with his friend Ronald McDonald.

JRC students at a Providence Bruins game.

Students get their picture taken with Dr. Israel.

Don’t forget to wash the rest of the car!

That’s a cute teddy bear, Shatika.

2

The programs that we have startedthe past year have been flourishing. As newstudents are admitted they have been partici-pating in the Baby Think it Over Program,which has been used in public schools allover the country to teach students the respon-sibilities of teen parenting. The students “takecare” of a computerized baby, for one week,24 hours a day. Some students have com-plained about the lack of sleep they had toendure while caring for the baby. However,they all report that this was a worthwhileexperience.

Our precision teaching curriculumhas continued to grow with the introductionof cards that teach math concepts and doubledigit math operations. Students were recentlytested on the short form of the Kauffman Testof Educational Achievement. All studentsscored higher on the test than they did sixmonths ago! Students have been learningkeyboard skills and some have become excel-lent typists. Many students read an article inthe newspaper each day and develop theirown vocabulary/spelling cards for wordsthat they don’t know. They are encouraged to

Congratulations on both your rewards, Rob!

Antonio and Wilkens share a taste in ties. 3Shatika hangs out with her teacher Jim in theBig Reward Store.

Are you painting your masterpiece, Eddie?The students at the residences havebeen spending their recreation time every-where. Weekends have been filled with funand exciting field trips. Should we spend thenight at a baseball game, or go to an amuse-ment park for the day? How about a soccergame against the students in another resi-dence? During the summer the ingroundswimming pool at Brae house was used daily.Whatever the activity, the students are havingfun!

In the evening the students learn tobudget by cutting coupons for an eveningvisit to the market. Students at some resi-dences plan the menu for the week and taketurns cooking and cleaning up. A weekly visitto a laundromat is also an excellent learningtool. All in all, the students keep busyevenings and weekends enjoying their timelearning new skills and having fun.

Glenda Crookes,Director of Residences

The students take a break from hiking in theBlue Hills Reservation to enjoy the view.

N e w s f r o m t h e R e s i d e n c e s

Terrence and Jose enjoy the barbeque.

Are you excited to go to the hockey game, Erid?

Krista enjoys working in the garden outside her residence.

Hope School students have fun on the field tripto Roger Williams Zoo.

T e a c h e r s R e p o r t t h e N e w s

HOPE SCHOOL 1

We are looking forward to a greatwinter season full of fun in Classroom 1.Ernest is enjoying doing his academics on hisnew computer. He is also enjoying this sea-son’s football games and hopes the Redskinswill go all the way! Luigi and Wayne arekeeping busy on their jewelry assembly work.Jenny, Brendon, and Nick are working ontheir vocational skills with many tasks.Matthew is learning all of his states and capi-tols using Precision Teaching. He has beendoing very well, and maybe someday he willbe able to visit these states and their capitols!

Once a week, all of the students earna well deserved break to go hiking in the BlueHills for enjoyment and refreshment. The stu-dents look forward to the many activities thatare planned for the winter season.

HOPE SCHOOL 3

The students have been workingvery hard this fall on pre-vocational andoccupational tasks, Precision Teaching andacademics. David enjoys earning movies byworking consistently on his phonics comput-er program. Terrence and Cleo are bothexcelling in their communication skills.Malcolm enjoys creating artistic master-pieces for the bulletin board. Lisa hasimproved her reading and math skills.

Both Malcolm and Lisa have con-sistently passed their week-long multi-daycontracts. Malcolm is passing number 6 andLisa is passing number 13. Super work guys!

All of the students anticipate earn-ing Big Reward Store and Field Day privi-leges. As the holidays approach the studentsalso look forward to their home visits.

Over the past few months, Hope 4students have experienced many changes.September saw the arrival of Jeffrey. Sincejoining us, Jeffrey has been practicing hisacademics in order to meet his educationalgoals. October brought two new studentsand a new teacher. Welcome to Miss Mello,Natish and Nicholas. At the end of Octoberthere was a Halloween party. Many studentsdressed in costumes, went trick-or-treatingthrough the classrooms and administrativeoffices and engaged in games such as “bob-bing for apples.” Danielle has only been withus a few months but she has alreadyachieved “Student of the Week.”

All Hope School 4 students contin-ue to make great strides educationally,socially and behaviorally. All students arelooking forward to a great winter semesterand a festive holiday season.

Is it nap time for the “baby,” Bernadette?

HOPE SCHOOL 4

4

Walden 1 has been going throughmany changes these last couple of monthsdue to the recent new admissions of Asa,Chase, Danny and Sammy. All the studentshave been working hard on their PrecisionTeaching decks. Robert has been passingnumerous contracts and has been earningsocial opportunities on a regular basis. Jessehas a special contract for passing his previousbest rate correct on Precision Teaching decks.Anthony is working hard to master his phon-ics cards. The youngest member of our class,Modesto, is looking forward to his home visitfor Christmas.

The class went to the BostonMuseum of Science to learn about Egypt.The students have many more field tripsplanned for the rest of the winter months.

Great job passing those math decks, Shatika!

WALDEN ACADEMY 1

HOPE SCHOOL 2

The students in Hope School 2 havehad many achievements this fall! Janine ispassing many of her multi-day contracts. Shehas earned shopping at the mall with herfavorite staff. Brandon enjoys matchingshapes on the computer. He also enjoys danc-ing during his leisure time. Duane is passingmulti-day contracts, earning rewards such asfrench fries, and a van ride. John is earningcheeseburgers and trips to the park. Way to goguys! Caroline enjoys working on the sewingtasks after going on her daily walk around thebuilding to say hello to staff. Andrew contin-ues to earn ice cream sundaes for passing hisspecial contract. Hope School 2 studentsenjoy weekly trips to the bowling alley or hik-ing trips to the Blue Hills.

WALDEN ACADEMY 2

In the past few months, all of thestudents in Walden 2 have made incrediblestrides towards their goals.

We have welcomed Joe, Ivan andShawna as new students to the program andto our classroom. Kevin and James havejoined us from Walden 1.

In September, the entire classentered a teen smoking essay contest throughthe Providence Journal newspaper. Terence,Jackie and Fawn earned honorable mentionsand one essay was published. This studentwon 15 dollars! Congratulations to all stu-dents who entered this contest.

To celebrate Halloween, the stu-dents went on a field trip to Salem,Massachusetts. They learned many interest-ing and spooky facts about the history of theinfamous Salem Witch Trials. This was anexceptionally interesting trip and the studentsare eager to go again. They are also lookingforward to the many field trips the winterseason has to offer.

Precision Teaching in action!

WALDEN ACADEMY 3

Cleo enjoys using his touchscreen computer.

Walden 3 is looking forward to agreat holiday season. Daphne is doing verywell with her Precision Teaching assign-ments. She has completed all of the math factsin the JRC curriculum and has moved on tothe math concepts series. Shatika is also doingvery well with her math Precision Teaching.She is consistently meeting her goal with arate of 92 correct cards per minute. Eli isdoing a very fine job with managing hisbehavior in the classroom and is beginning topass his week-long multi-day contracts con-sistently. Alexis, the newest member of ourclassroom, has adjusted nicely to his newenvironment.

The Walden 3 students have recentlygone on field trips to Plymouth Plantation andto Battleship Cove in Fall River,Massachusetts. We are also ready to begin thesecond annual JRC chorus so that we maybring holiday joy to those less fortunate.

WALDEN ACADEMY 4

Fall was a very busy season for thestudents of Walden 4. Two of our studentsearned “Student of the Week” honors. Our bi-weekly trips to the public library haveincreased our students interest in books.Stephen King is a favorite choice for leisurereading. We also went to the Boston Museumof Science. Rhonda took the day off from herjob at a local restaurant to join the class.

Jennifer and David both have in-school jobs. They balance their work with afull school day and are doing a great job keep-ing up their grades.

Marlene and Stella are showingmuch improvement in their math facts. Theyare passing decks and earning many points.Terence and Richie love to work on the com-puter and send e-mail messages. Everyoneloves the new Computer ApplicationsPrecision Teaching series.

As the winter approaches, the stu-dents look forward to possible snow days andthe upcoming holidays.

Walden 5 students have been work-ing very hard on their academics. Joseph hasbeen moving through his math facts decks atan unprecedented rate, earning reward timeon the computer. Jonathan has greatlyimproved his reading skills and the confi-dence that comes from this success has car-ried over to his other academic subjects. Joseis quickly becoming a more accomplishedreader. He is up to over two hundred wordsper minute in his repeated reading assign-ments! Jessica has been working very hardon her reading and has taken out some greatbooks at the library. Joel and Shmuel areimproving their math skills while Johannexcels in his ability to read and understandthe classified section of the newspaper. Thiswill eventually help him find his own job.Star enjoys expressing her ideas in writing.

Walden 5 has done exceptionallywell in the “Life Skills” curriculum. So far,the students have worked on filling out bankforms and writing personal checks. Most ofthe students have also learned how to fill outa job application properly.

WALDEN ACADEMY 5

5

Joel fills out bank forms as part of the “LifeSkills” curriculum.

The fall season was extremely pro-ductive for JRC’s newest classroom! All ofthe students have been working diligently ontheir academics. Recently, Marie and Arriecompleted their math facts decks with rates of104 correct per minute and no errors. Bothgirls earned preferred field trips as rewardsfor completing the series. Congratulations,girls! Victor’s reading rates have beenimproving tremendously as well as his ratescorrect on his phonics cards.

All of the students are consistentlypassing their multi-day contracts. Tyshon hasjust earned physical education independenceand has passed over twenty multi-day con-tracts! Chris is also passing multi-day con-tracts and has also earned house indepen-dence.

The students are planning to see theNutcracker at the Wang Center forPerforming Arts in Boston.

WALDEN ACADEMY 6

Elly smiles while doing his assembly work.

WORK ACTIVITIES CENTER

The Work Activities Center current-ly has eighteen individuals working on con-tracted jobs. We have three businesses fromwhich we receive contracted work. One ofthose businesses will be selling its products atlocal Toys R Us stores. The students workvery hard on these jobs and make sure thatthey deliver the work to the distributor ontime. The Work Activities Center recentlyfinished a job and enjoyed a field trip toPlymouth Plantation as a reward.

Guo has done very well completingthe work that is assigned to him. Lynne andMaryBeth are our new respite clients.Welcome to both of them! They are bothdoing well and are earning big checks fromour workshop. We all look forward to beingvery busy this winter!

Going to the Contract Store again, Shmuel?

R e s i d e n t i a l C o o r d i n a t o r s R e p o r t t h e N e w s

LORUSSO HOUSE

“Student of the Week” and “Studentof the Month” is something almost every stu-dent at Lorusso has achieved. The LorussoHouse girls all excel at academics and inde-pendent living skills. They are learning socialskills by living together as a group.

Marlene, Star and Kashawna enjoylistening to music in their free time. Jessica,Daphne and Arrie prefer to watch movies.Lisa likes to play with the dolls she hasearned from the Contract Store. Marie is thesports buff of the house. We can count on herto know what is going on in the sports world.Keep up the great work girls!

COUNTY HOUSE

At the County Street residence, weemphasize a family-like structure among ourboys. We encourage and ensure considera-tion, cooperation and independent livingskills.

Group activities such as basketballand football are just some of the regularlyoccurring events at County. Our basketballcourt is frequently used by the students onthe weekends as well as after school.Sometimes students from other residencesjoin in the games. When the guys feel theneed for activities other than sports, they goto the mall, to movies and to go-kart racing.

The students prepare a healthy din-ner together each evening. Recent group aca-demic assignments have included mini-playsdepicting events in American history as wellas building a six-foot replica of the Statue ofLiberty!

We have had some exciting timesduring the past several months. Brae Houserecently had a new kitchen put in. It looksgreat. The students have gone on many fieldtrips. The Chucky Cheese arcade is a big hit.There the students enjoy a mechanical pup-pet show, video games, indoor slides and agreat pizza party. On weekends, weather per-mitting, the students go to Goddard Parkwhere they enjoy going on walks and playingsoccer.

During the week the students some-times go to the movies and eat lots of pop-corn. Back at the house the students workhard on their independent living skills, suchas preparing dinner, doing laundry and mak-ing delicious desserts.

Eddie, are you going to wear those tomorrow?

BRAE HOUSE

6

Elly gets his ironing done every night.

On a typical weekday evening,Norton students usually arrive at the house at5PM and spend about ten minutes changingout of their school clothes. They then spendabout half an hour on homework. Dinnertime is at 6PM, and is usually prepared by thestudents themselves. After dinner the stu-dents perform their nightly chores. They arevery good at helping each other out. Whentheir chores are done, the students have timeto relax.

On the weekends students enjoyfield trips such as hiking in the Blue HillsReservation, going to movies, or shopping atthe Emerald Square Mall in Attleboro.

Eric loves spending time in his bedroom.

NORTON HOUSE

FRENIER HOUSE

Brian and Ed enjoy playing Twisterwith their housemates. During the fall the stu-dents enjoyed picking out pumpkins andcarving them. Eric and Lynn make excellentbrownies and cookies for everyone. Natishand Sharon prefer to go to McDonald’s andsee a movie. Eric and Nick occasionally bowla strike at their favorite bowling alley.

Now that the winter is on its way, thestudents are looking forward to buildingsnowmen and going sledding.

MOBERG HOUSE

Greetings from Moberg House!Here at Moberg we keep very busy. Twonights a week the students go to the laundro-mat and one night a week they enjoy eatingdinner out. The students do their own groceryshopping and Terrence loves to pick out hisfavorite snack.

Evenings are spent doing chores andrelaxing. On the weekends we plan fun andinteresting trips. Peter likes to go to theBoston Museum of Science. David enjoysseeing shows at the Providence PerformingArts Center. There’s always something tokeep the students busy.

ARBORETUM II

Arboretum II is JRC’s newest resi-dence. The girls who live there have been onsome interesting field trips. They went to seethe play “Footloose.” They also went to theirfirst concert to see the band “TLC” and otherartists. On Friday nights the students usuallygo to a Providence Bruins hockey game. Theyare all looking forward to seeing the play“Titanic” at the Providence Performing ArtsCenter.

The girls are doing very well inschool. All three recently made honors ontheir report cards. Krista made honors withA’s and a few B’s. Rhonda is taking anInterior Design class on Saturday mornings inBoston. Stella is working hard on her aca-demics and is looking forward to graduatingin June. She plans to attend a junior collegeand pursue a nursing degree.

Arboretum II students have alsobeen practicing their cooking skills. Kristamakes an excellent apple crisp and Stella’sshrimp dishes are to die for! They will soonbe putting together a food basket for theneedy.

DEDHAM HOUSE

What a beautiful smile you have, Lisa!

Dedham House is the new JRC resi-dence conveniently located near the school inCanton. This newly built, two-story house iscurrently occupied by four young men,Richard, Jose, David and Chris.

Our evening routine is generallycompleted quickly and includes academics,chores and a nice dinner prepared by a stu-dent and eaten together. After dinner the stu-dents relax. They listening to music, playvideo games, read, watch television and playchess.

Weekends are an especially enjoy-able time for us. Our field trips often find usshopping, hiking or playing sports.

How’s the water, Cleodell?

CRYSTAL VILLAGE

The girls at Crystal Village havepassed over 80 multi-day contracts! The girlsmake their own menus and look forward togetting bargains at the grocery store. Theyexhibit teamwork when it comes to nightlychores. Jennifer just completed over 30 hoursof Drivers Ed training! She has also excelledin her academics as well as in independentliving skills. Fawn spends a lot of her time onacademics at night. She knows that every bitof knowledge she takes in will help her reachthe goals she has set for herself. Jackie justcompleted the Baby Think it Over program.She lost many hours of sleep but found theexperience to be very rewarding. Jackie alsoenjoys reading and writing poetry.

The Highland House residents areJennifer, Heather, Gabe, Eric, Nelson, andElly. All students are adjusting wonderfullyto their beautiful new home and to theirroommates.

This past fall, they enjoyed going tothe movies, bowling, roller-skating andwalks in the park. The students enjoyed plan-ning a surprise birthday party for Gabe andEric. Both parties were a complete successconsisting of games, balloons and chocolatecake! Nelson has been working very hard onhis homework every night!

Highland House is famous for itsTuesday night Bingo Tournament. Studentsare extremely competitive in trying to winthe M&M jackpot. On Wednesday nights,students have been brushing up on theirsinging.

HIGHLAND HOUSE

The first few months here at thenew Stoughton residence have been veryexciting. Between meeting the neighborsduring open houses and the new pool tabledownstairs in the recreation room, the stu-dents have had a lot to keep them busy.

The students have a routine thatthey follow every night. An hour and a half isspent on academics and chores such aspreparing a delicious meal, and cleaningtheir beautiful home. The students also maketheir beds, do laundry, and iron their clothesfor the next day. At the end of the nightTerence and Tony go head to head at the lat-est video game on the new Sega Dreamcast.Other students enjoy watching TV, reading orplaying a board game.

During the weekend Tony likesgoing to the mall to visit the music store.After working hard at school, he sometimesgoes to a Boston Celtics game.

STOUGHTON

7

Looks like Jacque is about to do some laundry.

Rehoboth houses eleven students.Their residential life consists of learning newindependent living skills and perfecting oldones, such as cooking, cleaning, answeringthe phone, ironing clothes and doing laundry.

A favorite pastime of the students issocializing with their housemates through avariety of games. Community interaction isanother big part of their lives. Lately, they’vebeen out pumpkin picking, hiking and bowl-ing. All of the students look forward to homevisits.

REHOBOTH HOUSE

BOLIVAR

On Tuesday, the girls who live atBolivar go grocery shopping and pick out theitems they need to prepare dinners for theentire week.

After the students finish dinner andcomplete their nightly chores, they eitherwatch a movie or play video games together.They love watching Spanish soap operas!

Shatika, Christina, Bernadette andSusan look forward to seeing their familieseither on home visits or when their familiescome to JRC.

ARBORETUM I

Arboretum I houses four students,Greg, Johann, Chris and Tyshon.

Greg spends his leisure time work-ing on his hobbies. He enjoys constructingmodel kits and practicing his guitar. Johannlikes to play video games and watch TV.Chris, the newest addition to Arboretum I,enjoys playing with his pet guinea pig,Millhouse. His favorite shows to watch ontelevision are Felicity and Dawson’s Creek.Tyshon is the youngest in the apartment andthe most studious. Tyshon really enjoysworking on his academics.

When it comes to chores, the boyspull together as a team. After school they pre-pare dinner for themselves. Then they dotheir ironing, laundry or whatever else needsto be done for the next school day. Whenchores are completed, it’s time to relax!

“The Get Along Gang” pose in their WoodsEdge apartment in Attleboro.

Matthew and his mom at Parents Visiting Day. Alexis Hazard presents Luis with his certificate.

Case Manager Bruce Hemond congratulates Kenya. Johann is happy to see his parents.

You seem very happy to see your dad, Mike.Students and staff take part in Culmination 1999.

That’s a great medal, Gabe!

Special memories are made at Parents Visiting Day for Stella and her mom. R.J. Gugliotti presents Jen with her certificate.

Mike, Gabe and Eric wait for the next eventat the Special Olympics.

Luis and Kenya with Dr. Israel at theCulmination Ceremony.

JRCPhoto

Gallery