Foundations Program Equips NRHS students with Vocational Training 

By Annie Gombiner

Walking through the halls of New Rochelle High School, you might see students working alongside custodial staff. Perhaps when you go to the main office, you notice teens shredding paper. Those are all New Rochelle High School students who are part of the Foundations Program. 

The Foundations Program teaches life skills to foster independence among students with cognitive disabilities, like Autism or learning disabilities. Currently, the program has sixty-one students, whose disabilities make it unrealistic for them to attend traditional classes and go to college. 

Students join the Foundations Program when they start high school at age fourteen or fifteen and usually continue until graduation at age twenty-one. Students with IEPs can remain in high school until twenty-one, and when they leave, instead of getting a regular high school diploma, many earn a Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential, referred to as a SAC.

In their first years, Foundations students learn some basic academics and skills that are applicable to daily life for everyone. They learn how to use calendars, write checks, budget, do laundry, make meals and wash dishes. Mr. Ron Oliver, a job coach in the Foundations Program, emphasized that everyone should get this kind of education, explaining that many students in the traditional school setting don’t even know how to do basic tasks, like their own laundry.

In addition, students work on pre-vocational skills, doing tasks like matching socks or putting erasers on pencils. Some students are even travel-trained, meaning they learn how to use public transportation. They are taught how to use metro cards and spot landmarks while riding the Bee-Line Buses. Learning those skills prepares students for vocational work in their later years of high school. 

Typically around age twenty, many of the Foundations students begin internship experiences at local businesses or within the school. Outside of school, they can work at Barely Vegan, Chicken Joe’s, Deanna’s Pizza, North End Tavern, Absolute Cleaners, Crotty’s Cheesesteaks, New Rochelle Farms, McDonald's, and CVS. Within the school, students can help in the custodial department, the main office, the SPED office, and the cafeteria kitchen. They work during most of the school day and practice filling out job journals to keep track of their schedules when their shifts are over.

Every student has different abilities, and therefore performs different tasks at their respective jobs. A student working in the kitchen might help slice fruits or bag cookies. Someone in the main office might shred paper. At New Rochelle Farms, student workers help bag and put away stock.

These internships provide students with important work experience that can help them find employment following high school. Some businesses provide students with stipends, but most students are unpaid. 

The Foundations Program has helped students develop significantly throughout high school. Ms. Christine Grogan, a guidance counselor for many of the Foundations students, recounts the story of one student she worked with: “I remember one student on the spectrum who came to New Rochelle High School at age fourteen being very rigid and quiet. He would do his tasks, but never speak with others or speak up for himself. When he would finish something, for example, he would just sit in silence. Being part of the Foundations Program and having experiences in the culinary program, BOCES, and Project SEARCH helped him mature a lot. By his graduation right before COVID-19, he was able to communicate with others and advocate for himself. Now, he works a job three times per week and takes Access-A-Ride, a public transportation service for people with disabilities.”

The mother of Foundations student, Adrian Somoza, has seen similar growth in her child. She notes, "Adrian has been more social and independent since he began in Foundations. He is gaining so many important skills that will help him in adulthood. He is learning so many things that will help him get a paying job. It's a journey."