 The Tri valley Academy was first thought of during the school year  Three districts Bergenfield, Dumont and New Milford decided to work together to see where they can reduce costs by sharing services  The districts agreed to share transportation, professional development and special education programming

 All three districts agreed they had a need to start a program for students with autism  The three districts had many students placed in private or public separate settings and the cost for many of these students was over $100,000  The three district were all part of region V.  Region V with two other regions were part of the Valley program for students with Autism

 The Valley program a well established program agreed to support the new program and saw this as the wave of the future  The Valley program provided the new program  consultation,  curriculum,  trained our initial staff  linked us with the eden Institute for consultative services

 The program began in the school year  We started with one pre school class and one primary class  The ratio  in the pre school classes was 1-1  Primary class 1-3  We had hired the following staff  Behaviorist  Two teachers  10 Para professionals  1 speech therapist  OT/PT was provided by in district staff

 The program got off to an excellent start  By the end of the first year we had to add an additional class.  The three districts worked very closely to resolve issues  The set up for resolving issues was first the three director would meet and then the directors, superintendents and Business Administrators would meet to discuss the solution and choose one.

 For example  The original agreement was to start with two class each district being able to place 4 students in the program  In March the program was full and the districts needed to decide were they going to start another class or send out to other school students.  The three districts decided to start another class and made a commitment to meeting the needs of their students in this program.

 We were able to provide a excellent program to the student of Bergenfield, Dumont, and New Milford for about $63,000 this was reduction of almost $40,000 per child  We also we able to secure a donation from the three towns Elks. Clubs this donation was substantial and we have used the money to increase community based instruction and home programming  The program working with the United States Golf Association(USGA),Bergen County Parks Department and Knickerbocker country club developed a golf program for students with Autism for the summer

 We started the second year with 2 pre school and one primary class all housed at Lincoln school in Bergenfield  The Primary class was a new class the districts agreed that each district could place two students in the class to start.  The class would be housed at Lincoln the class ratio would be 1 staff member for every two children  Based on our experiences from the first year we changed our summer program to mostly a recreational program and had the student day end at 1pm.  we found during the summer of the first year that the students in the afternoon after their morning outings were exhausted and were not benefiting from education in the afternoon. Nor did we have time to prepare for the new school year  The teachers day however ended at the normal time this gave us time over the summer to train teachers and Para’s and to prepare for the start of the new school year.

 We also started to do our own training of teachers and Para Professionals rather then have the Valley program do it  We continued our consultation with the Valley Program and Eden Institute  We began planning for a high School program and moving the primary classes to Dumont  We expanded our summer golf program through grants from the USGA and Autism speaks?  We maintained a quality program at a reasonable cost.

 We felt our growing pains this year  We started a high school program in a rented school building in Dumont.  The high school program was needed because the districts had students aging out of programs with no place to go.  We decided the high school program would have a strong community based instruction component and we would use Eden Institute as our consultants

 The staffing ratio for the High School program was to be three students to one staff member  We hired  Two teachers  Four Para  One Job Coach  One speech therapist split between two buildings  One OT split between two building

 Being in three buildings put a strain on the administration of the program.  It was decided by the three districts to hire a supervisory who would report to Bergenfield Director of Pupil Personnel services  This was needed because the program was no longer in one building and had grown to a staff of 32. with 44 students attending the program

 Next year we plan to add  1 upper primary class  1 high additional high school class

Mission Statement To provide comprehensive educational services based on best practices for students with autism in grades K – 12 for independent participation in Society

 Teaching is based on the principals of applied behavior analysis (ABA)  ABA consists of defining a behavior or learning task in observable terms  The learning task is broken down into small learning units and sequenced from beginning to end of the learning task  At each phase of teaching data is kept to determine the effectiveness of the teaching methodology  If the data does not show progress the task and the students responses are further analyzed to determine a different procedure for teaching the student  Reinforcement is used to develop and maintain skills and behaviors

 The teacher maintains a binder for each student that contains all the programs the student is working on  At the end of the day the Para’s input the data and the teacher reviews the data  The data drives all decision making  The teacher during the day works with individual students and observes the Para to insure they are implementing the programs as planned  The teacher models the program for the Para and gives them feedback while they are working with the students

 The teacher works with the behaviorist assigned to the class to develop the programs for the students.  All programs are based on the principals of applied behavioral analysis  Take baseline data what can the student without being taught  Break task down to its components  Develop step by step method of teaching each component the student could not do based on base line data  Teach as planned  Check for accuracy of implementation of the program  Keep data on students responses  Change or maintain program based on student data  Use reinforcement principals to increase behavior

 One method used is discrete trial  This is only one of many methods  It is called discrete trial partly because the student is given a specific number of trials during each teaching phase. For example if the task is for a student to point to a cup there may be 20 trials of pointing to the cup  The instructor when using discrete trial states a specific command in the same way each time such as point to the cup  There are also instruction on what to do if the student does not point.  There are instructions on when to reinforce

 We also use small group instruction this is more then one to one  Classroom instruction  Incidental learning.  Students with Autism have difficulty learning unless they are directly taught  Programs are developed to have them learn when they are not directly taught  No matter what the learning environment is Data is maintained and analyzed

 A key component to the Tri Valley academy is to have the students function in their community  To achieve this there are many community experiences planned  Students prior to a community experience are taught the skills in school that they will need for the community experience  These skills are then practiced in the community until the student can exhibit them on their own

 Examples of community based instruction  Using the public library  Using public transportation  Shopping at local stores  Going to restaurants  Skills the students learn in school on these community based outings are generalized to the home with their parents when needed

 Students with Autism Need to be taught recreational skills  We teach the student a number of recreational skills some of them are as follows  Bowling  Golfing  Dance  Swimming  Home skills such as playing and watching TV

 Daily living skills  Work preparation skills  Academics needed for work  Job Skills  School based work  Internships at local business  Real job placements  Independent living

 We provide up to 15 hours of home programming over a two year period  We have a monthly lecture series for families  Parent are encouraged to come to the program  Parents are part of the schools PTO  Parents can participate in the Valley programs trainings  Parents can request help on specific issues they are having at home with their child.  We can also provide extra help at home thanks to the money the Elks clubs have given the program

 Advisory committee  This committee is made up of professionals and lay people its purpose is to help guide the program  Behavior management committee  This committee approves, troubleshoots and review behavior plans monthly  Human rights committee  This committee insures that all behavior plans are ethically acceptable and clinically appropriate

Tri Valley ProgramValley Program Eden consultantsEden Consultants Eden Curriculum Eden Model Valley Program Book Based on ABA principals Decision driven by Data Use Discrete trial Incidental learning Participate in Valley meetings

Tri ValleyValley Community based instruction More frequent start in preschool, basis of summer program All classes in general education settingTransition classes only in general ed setting Increased staff development weekly Parents member of local PTO Summer program focuses on recreation skills, and community based skills Extended school year continuation of school year Parent training 15 hours over one year Transition class Sibling support group Parent support group

 The Tri Valley program will continue to grow  Eventually the program will be K-12  Classes will be in all three districts  We will provide a quality program at a reasonable cost