Our collaborative teams are supported by our school social worker (link) school psychologist, teacher coaches, and learning disability teacher-consultant. Each family has a designated P.G. Chambers School case manager who serves as the liaison between the sending school district and P.G. Chambers School. This case manager is also available to be a liaison between the parents and the student’s team for day-to-day discussions or problem-solving. In addition, P.G. Chambers School employs a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Teacher of the Deaf to ensure that appropriate services and accommodations are provided to address student needs. These professionals coordinate and collaborate with the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the NJ Deaf Blind Project and a contracted school audiologist to further enrich our service delivery.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an integral part of the school day. The student’s ability to regulate themselves and create prosocial relationships has a profound effect on self-esteem, self-advocacy, and active community membership. We utilize the Zones of Regulation SEL curriculum, where feelings are categorized into colors to help students identify their feelings, along with effective coping strategies and tools to regulate themselves. In addition to our SEL curriculum, P.G. Chambers School utilizes Positive Behavior Supports, a tiered system of support which focuses on implementing strategies which prevent problem-behaviors from arising. All students have access to Tier 1 Universal Supports that focus on strategies that create an environment which aids student success and engagement for learning. Strategies include: establishing clear and achievable expectations, maximizing classroom set up to enhance independence, and making opportunities available for all different types of learners. P.G. Chambers School has a Positive Behavior Support team, which consists of the school social worker, the school psychologist, and two senior therapists from the occupational department. They work together to triage student behaviors, to develop additional strategies to encourage prosocial behaviors, and to enhance the team’s integrated approach to meet the student’s needs. Families are encouraged to participate in lessons, join parent groups and support the many school activities. At P.G. Chambers School, parents are a crucial part of each child’s team and we encourage regular communication with team members and with our community. The teachers share “Learning Links” with the families, which detail lesson themes, books, and other activities that the classroom will be focusing on to allow parents to carry over skill development at home. Teachers and therapists provide weekly updates to families on student progress and engagement. P.G. Chambers School’s Home School Association (H.S.A.), is a group of dedicated parents that work together to build community between parents and the school program. P.G. Chambers School hosts monthly meetings with H.S.A. members and staff personnel to plan school events, identify topics for further parent training, and identify ways to strengthen our school community, such as through the Class Parent Program. Parents are welcome to volunteer for special events at the school or to lead classroom activities.

Health and Safety serve as important foundations of a successful school program. Our nursing staff of five full time nurses collaborate with classroom staff and related services personnel to ensure that state and local health standards are maintained and that our classrooms, hallways, and therapy rooms are free of any barriers to healthy and safe operations. Nurses have extensive training and experience working with children with complex medical needs. Our team is always willing, with parent permission, to collaborate directly with private medical professionals and specialists. Nursing coordinates regular appointments with our consulting physiatrist for families and school teams. Our nursing department also maintains student medical documentation through a secure electronic medical record.

All personnel receive training in the basics of health and safety, the importance of movement in the school setting and safety for mealtimes. All lifting and student handling is supervised by our Physical Therapy department and only trained and cleared staff may support student movement. The physical and occupational therapists coordinate a powered mobility program. The powered mobility program offers our students self-initiated movement for exploration and learning, creates a powerful incentive for students to build physical strength and endurance, and allows for equipment evaluation for prospective users and increased proficiency for regular users. It also develops and strengthens skills essential to literacy: visual attention and tracking, and other sensory skills needed for academics.