February 2, 2015

BCSSSD Families

DearFamilies:

We are honored to serve your children; and, continue to work hard to refine and improve our programs and services.

To that end, BCSSSD Westampton is undergoing a restructuring for 2015-16, expanding services to provide a full continuum of special and alternative educational programs. The restructuring includes the organization of campuses by age, rather than disability. Therefore, for the upcoming year, the main BCSS Westampton building will house:

  • The Elementary Campus (ages 3 through grade 5)
  • The Middle School Campus (grades 6 through 8)
  • The High School Campus (grade 9 through age 21)

Placement on a campus shall be per each student’s IEP. The Pioneer Autism and Sensory Center shall continue to serve our students with Autism. Autism classrooms will be clustered on each campus, so children are grouped with like-age peers. Therefore, there will be a cluster of Autism classrooms on the elementary, middle, and high school campuses.

The BCSS Westampton main building shall operate under the direction of one principal. A Supervisor will be stationed on each campus; and, a Director of Autism shall oversee and administer the PASC program on all campuses. The Assistant Superintendent for Special Education (shared with BCIT), Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction (shared with BCIT), and an additional Program Supervisor will support all BCSS programs.

BCSSSD will continue to operate elementary and middle school Autism programs hosted by the Edgewater Park School District. Operations on the Lumberton Campus have not been altered. BCSSSD shall also administer the Burlington County Alternative School for middle and high school students on Briggs Road, Mt. Laurel. BCSSSD/ESU shall administer the Burlington County Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bridge Program at Eastampton Community School. BCSSSD is also aggressively pursuing the development of a Day Habilitation program for disabled adults. This is a direct result of my many conversations with parents about the need for such a program. More information on this program shall be forthcoming. Below is a map of the restructured BCSSSD Westampton Campus.

As local district Child Study Teams are preparing IEP’s for the coming year, placementswill designate the campus (Elementary Campus, Middle School Campus, High School Campus, Lumberton Campus, Burlington County Alternative School, B.C. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bridge Program, Eastampton) and the program (MD, BD, Autism-PASC, Sensory, Pre-School Disabled, and Auditory Impaired).

If you have any questions, you may contact Mrs. Ellen McHenry, Director of Special Education, , or of course you may reach out to me directly.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christopher Manno,

Superintendent of Schools