‘A school of possibilities and opportunities’

Bishop Dennis Sullivan and Kate Flynn, principal, visit one of the classrooms at Archbishop Damiano School, Westville Grove.

Photo by Alan M. Dumoff

WESTVILLE GROVE – At Archbishop Damiano School here, wheelchairs and walkers are lined up outside of the classrooms.
Archbishop Damiano is a private, special education day school which serves students with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities ages 3-21, at no cost to families. On any given day a variety of activities are carried out in the classrooms, specialized rooms, garden and grounds.
The staff includes physical and occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers and nurses, as well as teachers, administrators and support staff.
“When we welcome these students, we’re not just welcoming them to the school,” said Brother Thomas Osorio.
“We’re welcoming them to learning and fun, and creating a school of possibilities and opportunities,” he said.
Brother Thomas is director of vocations for the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, the community that helped establish Archbishop Damiano School and St. John of God Community Services.
At Archbishop Damiano, teachers work with students on basic skills instruction, including socialization, language, motor, cognition, and communication development. Students also learn “life skills” to help them at home and in the community.
Nonverbal students work with augmentative communication devices, which help them learn how to express themselves. The goal is for the student to learn to communicate verbally.
In specialized rooms, therapists work with students in speech, occupational, or physical therapy.
This year, the school is growing trout, teaching students about the growth of the fish, and about conservation. (Eventually, the trout will be released into a body of water in Jackson, N.J.) There are also birds, hamsters and hermit crabs. In the “not-so-secret” garden, students learn about horticulture and help grow tomatoes and string beans.
The school also offers religious education through an after-school program that includes religious instruction and sacramental preparation.
“I truly believe in the love, care, respect and hospitality that we show to all of the students we have the privilege of serving here in our school and in our facility,” said Kate Flynn, principal.
The more than 200 staff members are “dedicated to the students they serve everyday in a professional and loving manner,” Flynn said, adding that Archbishop Damiano provides an “educationally sound and loving curriculum to help students reach their greatest potential.”
“We’re value-driven, in what we do, and how we do it each day.”
Archbishop Damiano School is part of St. John of God Community Services, a non-profit, non-sectarian agency where individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities can participate in educational, therapeutic and vocational programs, and community daycare.
The work of St. John of God goes back to 1965, when five members of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (Father Damien and Brothers Thaddeus, Canice, Euenan, and Cornelius) came to Haddonfield to provide early intervention services.
The program soon expanded, and the agency moved to a new and larger location at Westville Grove in 1968.
Today St. John of Community Services offers many programs, including:
– In the Early Intervention Program, families with a child under the age of 3 with developmental delays are aided with a team of licensed speech, occupational and physical therapists, special education teachers, registered nurses, social workers and family therapists. This program is offered at both the St. John of God Westville Grove location, and its Pittsgrove location.
– In the Here We Grow Learning Center, with locations at Pittsgrove and Westville Grove, the play-based curriculum offers working families and school districts an inclusive option such as full or shared-time preschool, and full- or part-time child care, for children 6 weeks to 5 years old with disabilities.
– Vocational Rehabilitation is a post-education program in which adults with disabilities learn job skills, such as training in food service, to ready them for sheltered, supported or competitive employment.