School Highlights September 2019

In This Issue SONJ UCS School Partners Website

Arthur L. Johnson High School...... 2

Burlington City High School...... 2

Burnet Middle School...... 3

Camden Street School...... 10

Clayton High School...... 12

Crossroads South Middle School...... 5

Delsea High School...... 11

Delsea Regional Middle School...... 11

East Hanover Middle School...... 7 Please bookmark this website: https://www.sonj.org/school-partners/ ECLC/Chatham High School...... 9 because, this website is the dedicated resource for the SONJ Unified Champion School Partners. On the website, scroll down for links to: Haledon Public School...... 8 • The Revolution is Inclusion Campaign Hamilton High School West...... 12 • Guidelines & Resources (UCS Handbook, Change The Game Confer- ence Presentation, School Contacts by County, Special Olympics Lyndhurst School District...... 6, 11 Unified PE Guide, Learn. Practice. Play. UNIFIED Guide, UCS Playbook Resources and Fitness Guide for Schools, with more to come) ...... 4 • Administrative & Registration Forms (Expense Request form and Newton High School...... 7 Youth Summit registrations) North Hunterdon High School...... 2 • School Highlights Newsletters (past & present)

Overbrook High School...... 5 Use the “School Partners” menu (on the right side of the page) to access Stipend, T-shirt and Equipment request forms. Also find Monthly Report ...... 8 links, Tournament Registration and Young Athletes Resources. Be sure to check out the UCS Handbook. Designed to assist UCS teams Rutherford High School...... 7 with programming and grant management, it is divided into five parts Sayreville War Memorial High School...... 3 and packed with useful information: Unified Champion Schools • Part I: Grant Management 2019-20 Handbook Somerville High School...... 12 • Part II: The Basics: Introduction and SONJ UCS School Partners Website...... 1 Background • Part III: Inclusive Youth Leadership Union City High School...... 8 • Part IV: Unified Sports • Part V: Whole School Engagement Union High School...... 5 A link to the Handbook is on the website, or West Morris Mendham High School...... 9 access it by clicking the icon on the right.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 1 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Burlington City High Arthur L. Johnson High School School Unified sports at Arthur L. Johnson High School are already The initial goal at the Burlington well underway. Following is their September schedule. City High School Club meet- 9/9/19: First practice: practiced warming up, meeting each ing was recruitment for their other, passing, stopping the ball, and throwing it in. Unified Club. They discussed requirements of the Club, such 9/11/19: Unified gym: practiced warming up and practiced all as grades, behavior and atten- skills from first practice. dance. They also designed their Club t-shirt and developed ideas 9/17/19: Practice #2: practiced warming up, stretching, pass- for the year. ing and dribbling.

At soccer practice, they worked 9/19/19: Unified Gym: practiced warming up and practiced all on conditioning, but their skills in past practices and learning the positions. concentration was on playing 9/24/19: Practice #3: Warming up, stretching, keep away together, as some teammates game and passing. were a little nervous at not hav- ing played soccer before. Over- 9/26/19: Unified Gym: practiced warming up and practiced all all it was a good turn out and skills in past practices and learning the positions and shooting most importantly they had fun. on goal.

North Hunterdon High School

Office of Special Education Programs Page 2 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Sayreville War Memorial High School Welcome back to another and is a well-oiled machine. In They have a lot of new faces Bomber school year! Sayreville two weeks, their Unified soc- and have made new friend- War Memorial High School is cer teams will start to meet ships. Those who participate very excited for this upcom- for practices. September was in this program have been ing school year! In September, great in Sayreville. Unified introduced to various activities they started to get a lot of club has planned to meet one that focus on communication things underway. The Unified to two times a month. Unified through project adventure and Club has met once already and P.E. is well underway. sport skills. As October ap- they are having a blast hang- proaches, students will par- ing out after school socializing A Sayreville Unified P.E. teacher ticipate in soccer activities for with one another. Unified P.E. stated “Unified P.E. started off their upcoming Unified Soccer has one year under its belt the school year with success! game in November.”

Burnet Middle School 10/28/19, Buddy Lunches, af- tion, so on Wednesdays, the ter school monthly meetings students have a modified Uni- Burnet Middle School has and leadership conferences. fied Physical Education class. a new principal this school Students are also planning a year, so the Unified program party for October. The New York Giants visited had a slow start due to tran- Burnet with their Play 360 sitioning issues. Regardless, Students from last year’s club program. Club members they did have their first after have already started coming coordinated a Unified meet school club meeting. They on Wednesdays for Buddy and greet to take pictures, discussed Unified Sport Lunch. One lunch now is at the play games and participate practices, which will start on same time as physical educa- in the program.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 3 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Metuchen High School Metuchen PAWS Unified is going strong in its second Metuchen PAWS Unified Club met two times dur- year. Here are some exciting things they are working on: ing September. During the first week, they worked together to complete a really cool sneaker puzzle The students in Unified Physical Education are get- and during the second week, they played corn hole ting to know each other through interactive les- and bocce. sons and through sport activities. All the students assessed each other on locomotor skills and bal- Metuchen is also fundraising by selling apparel ance. The students are in a soccer unit - research- and promoting their program with a “Cool School ing and creating drills, learning about the game of Challenge” team. soccer and honing their skills.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 4 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Crossroads South Middle School At the beginning of the month, ings, and the application pro- program at Crossroads South. Crossroads South Middle School cess to become a member were They were so excited and will met as a Unified team and explained. A Google form appli- attend a training meeting on discussed upcoming events, cation was provided to the stu- October 10th at 2:30 pm. They including a recruitment event. dents. The results came in and all look forward to participat- The school liaison held an there were over 34 applications! ing in the club activities. The informational meeting for over All applicants were contacted picture below shows the many 90 general education students. and emailed of their acceptance students who attended the Club expectations, club offer- into the Unified peer buddy recruitment meeting!

Overbrook High School Union High School During the first month of school, Overbrook High School held its first Union High School had Unified meeting and attended their first pep rally. their initial sign up At the meeting, the students received information and paperwork, and meeting for Play Unified. got to meet everyone. The students were informed that they would They discussed ideas vote on leadership roles at their October meeting, and that they need- for events and activities ed to get a petition signed, as well as have a teacher support them in and handed out physi- order to participate. Two of their special needs students returned the cal forms and family ID paperwork and are very excited about having leadership roles. forms. They’ve decided to have lunch buddy Overbrook High School introduced the Unified sports team and club in front of the whole school at the pep rally. The students enjoyed the gatherings every other introduction very much! Overbrook is off to a great start, since it is ap- week and are in the pro- parent that everyone wants to be a part of the club and supports the cess of setting them up Unified cause! to happen.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 5 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Lyndhurst School District September was a busy month at Lyndhurst. It was filled with advertis- ing and promoting Unified activities district-wide. Lyndhurst distrib- uted and collected permission slips in all five buildings that will be having Unified Club. The advisors did an excellent job recruiting an amazing group of students. Each advisor was given a calendar of all Unified events for the school year that are already scheduled. Sched- uling field and gym space is sometimes difficult. Therefore, creating a schedule and getting these dates on the district calendar is ex- tremely helpful in making these events happen for the entire district. Additionally, Lyndhurst had their first district-wide t-shirt fundraiser, which was a huge success.

This is the first year Lyndhurst has a Unified club at the High School, and on September 18th, an interest meeting was held to recruit students to come to the club meeting. As a result, a great group of students came out for the first Unified club meeting. Fortunately, most of their eighth graders, who were involved last year, attended the meeting as freshmen. During this meeting, students participated in team building activities and ice breakers. Students enjoyed work- ing together with new friends. It was great to see so many familiar faces and meet new participants.

Roosevelt, Lincoln, Jefferson, and the High School each have their own leadership committee that share the common goal of planning the Unified Club open rec events that occur once a month on Fridays after school. This group of students advertised activities for a suc- cessful event. They created incredible advertisements, flyers, and magnets with all the open rec dates on them. They also designed shirts for the leaders to wear during the event, so other students know that they are the ones running each activity. Additionally, stu- dents decided exactly which sports activities they would like to be in charge of at the event. The students enjoy being leaders and having their ideas heard.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 6 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Rutherford High School East Hanover Middle Rutherford High School advisors held an open meeting for all School students interested in joining the Unified club. Since this is their At East Hanover Middle second year, they decided to allow any student who is interested School, they participated to join their club. They shared their experiences from last year and explained their goals for this year. The students also filled out in a great ice breaker a brief questionnaire and were asked why they want to join the activity that promoted Unified club and what they expect to get from the experience. using language skills. They The students shared stories of having siblings with special needs, tossed a ball around in a or knowing how it feels not to be included. The students were circle and named their fa- excited to join this club to help reduce stigmas regarding abilities vorite foods, animals, and and to build friendships. colors with a letter that The club met to decide on their first school activity. The students started with their first and decided to establish themselves as a club by holding a Halloween- then last names. themed competition with the other clubs in the school. They dis- Other activities to get to cussed how they believe this will be an opportunity for team build- ing, creativity, and fostering a mentality for healthy competition. know each other included walking around the track The participating clubs will create jack-o-lantern/pumpkin-themed while singing songs chosen Halloween displays to display in the school cafeteria. The school by the students, playing will vote to select the winning display. The students have taken kickball (which was a lot of initiative and have already begun working on securing donations fun), coloring and playing for pumpkins and plans for creating the display. It has generated a lot of interest so far! board games.

Newton High School Newton High School held a special lunch meeting on September 19, to say good-bye to one of their most favorite and faithful Play Unified partners, who is moving to Califor- nia and was a great leader. They will miss their friend greatly, but they plan to definitely keep in touch.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 7 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Union City High School The Union City High School (UCHS) club started off the school year by continuing their soccer program from the summer. They have about 20 athletes and partners that come out to play each Sunday. Players from the boys and girls varsity teams from UCHS have been coming to help as partners.

Their Unified soccer team was featured in the Fall Pep Rally. Their teams are featured in every pep and really get the crowd going.

For the fourth year in a row UCHS had a table set up at the school’s club fair where they were able to reach a lot of students. Many of the new students expressed interest in joining their club.

Haledon Public School Ridge High At Haledon Public School, the PE training for 20 special needs stu- School staff and Pre-School and Kinder- dents and 25 general education During September, garten teachers began incorporat- students. The PE staff gave basic Ridge High School ing Young Athletes into the PE soccer skills training with Unified set up for the soc- PreK and K Programs. These PE peers grade 3-5 students. After six cer season. Students classes are made up of an inclusion weeks of this program, there will received physicals to Kindergarten Gen Ed class, Gen Ed be an in-house soccer tournament participate, and they Kindergarten incorporated with with their students after school. self-contained special education had practices and students, and PreK classes that are A grade 3-5 club was established. two games, thus far. inclusion and also integrated with Currently 12 special education The club met weekly special education students. students have signed up and 20 and had an outing to general education students have a restaurant. They During the second week of Sep- registered. Haledon is also work- are now planning for tember, their PE staff ran a Young ing fully establish the middle the Unified Cup Soc- Athletes skills and drills soccer school grade 6-8 club. cer Tournament.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 8 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

West Morris Mendham High School This year, Mendham hit the ground running another on the field. Capping off the amazing with a number of soccer games. Most exciting event was the support that the principals from among these was a night game against rival and both sides of town and the superintendent gave sister school West Morris Central. The students to the students who gave it their all. were excited for another season, but were par- ticularly excited for another opportunity to play The match ended in a 1-1 draw. The biggest against Central. outcome; however, was the rivalry that was taken to the next level by the players and fans. The When the day of the match arrived, the Varsity event was an amazing showcase for the power Boys Soccer Team worked to assemble the stu- of Unified and has created an amazing discus- dent fan section, the Mendham Mosh Pit, to sion among athletes, partners, and fans at both support the team. The cheerleaders were present schools. West Morris Mendham is so excited alongside parents, friends, and faculty alike. The about where the future of these great programs day was special, and made even more special, by will go from here! the level of respect that each team gave to one

ECLC/Chatham High School ECLC/Chatham High School Back to School Night to spread 15 members in the club that spent September organizing awareness about their club to they will mentor, support, and preparing for the year! the school and community. and track their participation. They held an interest meet- ing and had an amazing turn- This year, they have a great ECLC/Chatham had their first out. All interested members leadership committee and soccer practice on September were asked to fill out a form held three meetings to work 28th. It was well attended to explain why they were on their organizational struc- and there was so much interested. They received 207 ture to make sure all the excitement about Unified membership forms! activities they want to ac- Sports. Next month they will complish a reality. The lead- begin “Teens Connecting with They also participated in the ers will take on mentor roles. Teens” social nights and their school-wide activity fair and in A pair of leaders will have Learn Unified event.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 9 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Camden Street School The Camden Street School Unified group traveled with their Special Olympic buddies to MetLife Stadium to spend a day with NY Giants football players. The athletes and students enjoyed a jam-packed day of skills and relays run by the Giants players. The participants experienced a true feeling of success and triumph as they completed the drills and earned the praise of the players. Their smiles couldn’t have sparkled more! They enjoyed a great lunch and had pictures taken with all of the players.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 10 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Lyndhurst School District GUESS WHAT!!!!!! Lyndhurst School District was able to get a bus for Unified Club so all of their six, seventh, and eighth graders from all three schools can meet at Jefferson School for club. This is the school with the huge gym and big field space. It’s awesome! They won the bus battle!!!! Took four years but they finally won!

Delsea High School Delsea Regional Middle School September was a slow month for Unified at Delsea Regional Middle School got used to Delsea High School. They had sign ups for Uni- their school routines during September. So fied Club which included 53 regular education far, they’ve created an inclusive Character Edu students. Unified Physical Education is some- group for their monthly Crusader Character thing new they added to their curriculum this lessons so that students with and without year. They have a new PE teacher and a new disabilities can participate together. They also course to introduce to everyone, so it took had two community meetings with regular some time to get used to, but everyone is en- education students from the SOAR program, joying the structure and interaction between which created opportunities for students to students with and without disabilities. Delsea play interactive games. Delsea Regional Middle High School will be adding a Unified Home- School is having their first information session room in October. about Unified in October.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 11 U.S. Department of Education School Highlights September 2019

Somerville High School Hamilton High School West September was a busy month of plan- Hamilton West Unified Float ning and re-introducing their com- mitment to inclusion at Somerville High School. On September 13th, they held their first Unified Club (Peer2Peer) meeting. They welcomed many new members and discussed ideas for fundraising, Unified Bowl- ing, club activities, recruitment, etc.

This year, Somerville’s focus expands from a program/club that assists the students in the Life Skills class to more of an inclusion “movement” that extends beyond the classroom. In each monthly meeting they will dis- cuss reaching out to ALL students - in the lunchroom, in the hallway, etc. In addition they will be participating in a variety of community service events.

Somerville’s Choose to Include Instagram puzzle piece campaign also continues!

Clayton High School The Clayton Unified PE classes are up and running. They currently have a HS class that has 21 students and a MS class that has 21 students. They have five athletes with three in the HS and two in the MS. The other students in the class have volunteered to be a part of the Unified movement. They are planning a Unified Night. The classes are getting to know each other and are enjoying the no judgement zone that the Unified PE classes offers. Clayton is looking forward to creating an environ- ment of inclusion, not only in class but also throughout the school.

Office of Special Education Programs Page 12 U.S. Department of Education