the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Public School District is proud to announce that our 18 to 21-year-old program has moved into a centralized location within the community. Ridgewood’s School Transition and Employment Program for Student Success, aka STEPSS Program, is now located at 30-38 Oak Street, the original home of the village’s Post Office & News Building.
STEPSS is a New Jersey state-approved transition program for classified students that have met high school graduation requirements and are between the ages of 18-21. Many of our Ridgewood’s STEPSS students continue their learning from our in-district special education programs by participating in continuity of instruction and an expansion of training and practice of skills within their own community for jobs, transportation, and daily living.
Now located in the heart of the community, the STEPSS Program offers a wide range of programs and services to our adult students. The program is individualized, providing differentiated instruction as per IEP mandates, and includes vocational and employment/transition, life skills transition, social skills/recreational transition curriculum, and job sampling with job coaches. Our STEPSS students are accessing our local businesses and locations, including the library and YMCA. They are volunteering and working in places where they may develop long-lasting relationships within the community.
STEPSS looks forward to hosting a Community-wide Open House later this fall.
Building is owned by John Saraceno. Hmm.
This puff piece, obviously written by somebody at the Board of Education, fails to point out that the space is located in the basement and has no windows.