Families who would have preferred religious school must enroll their child in public school programs instead. But religious educators are expanding their resources and finding new ways to deliver religious studies to special-education students.
Teachers use a special curriculum for students with disabilities, one that breaks down the steps of religious education into smaller bits, which are easier to understand.
EDUCATION
A shortage of programs and lack of funding make it difficult for parents to find appropriate religious education for children with learning disabilities.
In many cases, families who would have preferred religious school must enroll their child in public school programs instead. But religious educators are expanding their resources and finding new ways to deliver religious studies to special-education students.
A new school for special-needs Orthodox Jewish children recently opened in North Jersey -- giving some parents an alternative to an after-school program run in River Edge.
Choices are still somewhat limited for Catholic parents looking for the same sort of full-time parochial education, but many parishes also hold after-school programs. The Newark Archdiocese, which includes Bergen County, tries to mainstream children with learning disabilities, and has special-education classrooms or resource rooms within various church schools, said the Rev. Kevin Hanbury, the archdiocese's vicar for education and superintendent of schools.
The Sinai School, an Orthodox Jewish private school for children with learning disabilities, has been a blessing for Laurie Gopin of Bergenfield.
The removal of a brain tumor when he was 18-months-old left Gopin's son, Shmuel, now 5, with some communication delays. Gopin and her husband enrolled him in a Bergenfield afternoon public school program last year because the district could address his disability. But the family was still not satisfied; they wanted him to learn about his Orthodox Jewish heritage.
"We wanted him to be in a religious setting, especially because he loves all the religious aspects of school," said Gopin, of Bergenfield. "We felt at this time that a religious program would benefit him and make us feel more comfortable."
Funding is the main reason there is no Catholic equivalent to the Sinai School, said Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese. "To provide that full range of services that public districts tend to do, it's a lot more money than we can afford," he said.
Catholic parents pay about $3,500 for an elementary education, and about $8,000 to send a child to parochial high school within the archdiocese, Goodness said. Parents pay a nominal fee, $80, if they can afford it, for an after-school program at St. John the Evangelist Church in Bergenfield, said Paula Andrade, who oversees all religious education in the parish.
Tuition is $27,500 a year at Sinai School. The school also is funded through private donations and the Jewish Federation, a non-profit umbrella organization. It is not eligible for state funding because it is religiously affiliated.
Catholic after-school education is all parish-based, said Ronald Pihokker, director of the archdiocesan office of catechetics. And it's up to each church to educate their children. There also are several "magnet centers, parishes that open their doors to children with severe special needs in different areas of the diocese," he said.
Sinai is the only Jewish private school in Bergen County completely dedicated to children with learning disabilities.
The school, housed in a wing of Yavneh Academy in Paramus, has 18 students, from 4½ to 10 years old, in three classes: a kindergarten, a first/second-grade class, and a third/fourth-grade class. Students are grouped according to ability and not solely by age.
There are five Catholic parish centers in the Newark Archdiocese, and two in Bergen County: St. John the Evangelist in Bergenfield and St. Anne's in Fair Lawn, said Ann Masters, director of the archdiocesan department for pastoral ministry for persons with disabilities. Fifty parishes in the archdiocese provide some sort of inclusive religious education. Of those, 26 are in Bergen County, she said.
The Tuesday night CCD program at St. John, which is 30 years old, was created for children who need in-depth attention, such as those who have autism. The special-education program is open to any family in the diocese.
There also is an after-school program for Jewish students with disabilities. The twice-weekly Jewish Education for Special Children program, held in River Edge, instructs children from Bergen and Passaic counties from all streams of Judaism and with a wide range of disabilities, said the school's director, Rabbi Yisroel Schwab.
Curriculum for children with learning or developmental disabilities is adjusted but still gives the education that mainstreamed children receive. The lessons at Sinai are multi-sensory.
When the children learned the story of Abraham and Sarah leaving their home to go to Canaan, the children played with toy camels in a sand table, kindergarten teacher Shulamis Fishman said.
Hands-on lessons, which also include learning a chapter of the Torah, are important in "trying to make spiritual and religious ideas concrete in [the children's] minds," she said.
At St. John, special-needs children are prepared for each sacrament as they begin to understand religion and faith, and not solely by age, said Andrade.
This year, 18 students from age 6 to about 40 attend the hour-long Tuesday night sessions. The program introduces the students to Catholic tenets and themes of each week's Mass, Andrade said.
The teachers use a special curriculum for students with disabilities, one that breaks down the steps of religious education into smaller bits, which are easier to understand, Andrade said.
And though the philosophy of religion can be difficult for anyone to grasp, the students understand the basic tenets of their faith.
"These kids understand better than many adults, because they know that Jesus is their friend and loves them," Andrade said. "They don't have a hard time with that concept. And they believe it."
E-mail: firschein@northjersey.com
Copyright © 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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