Arnet St. | Culpeper St. (1) | Culpeper St. (2) | Culpeper St. (3) | Holyoke Dr. (1)
Holyoke Dr. (2) | Holyoke Dr. (3) | NEW! Holyoke Dr. (4)
After twenty years of operation, it became clear that increasing numbers of students would not return to school situations but rather would be seeking to enter the job market. In order to enable students to be ready for the job market, the Foundation realized that more comprehensive work experiences, supervised by Leary School staff, would be needed.
To meet this need, the Leary School Off Campus Work Experience program was developed. Initially begun during the 1986-87 school year, this program has allowed a number of Leary School students to attend school in a very nontraditional manner. Within this aspect of the Off Campus Work Experience program, participating students are given the opportunity to learn about and experience real work in a structured learning environment. They learn about carpentry, engineering, plumbing, landscaping, electrical wiring and all aspects of new home construction, not in theory or from a demonstration laboratory, but by actually building real houses.
The students who are part of this program spend their entire day and receive all their schooling at the site, where there is a complete staff, including a special education classroom teacher, a full time teaching assistant, a therapist, and three vocational instructors (one of whom also is the jobsite coordinator).
Each student spends, on average, half the day in a trailer on the site working on academics; the remaining half of the day is spent working on the house, learning the construction trades. The students are divided into two groups so that during each part of the day, some students are in the trailer and some students are working in the house.
In addition, all students receive individual therapy from a therapist who is assigned full time to the job site. The students also come together weekly with all the staff for group counseling, where they can work on social skills and problem solving involving the entire group.
Those students who have been identified as needing related services such as speech/language therapy are provided that service at the job site.
What started as a pilot program in 1986 as a project to renovate a home is now a permanent part of the Leary School program. As a result, many students who have been or will be part of this unique program will leave school not only with high school diplomas or certificates of completion but also with the skills and knowledge that they can be successful at work, and actual experiences in doing such. These students have successful learning and work experiences upon which a happy, productive adulthood and working life should follow.
