Academics
BCCD’s academic program is designed to meet the needs of each of our learners and abide by the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS). Our teachers collaborate with aides, specialists, and school leaders to develop a differentiated education plan that meets the needs of each learner. Technology, including iPads, Smart Boards, Chrome Books, and numerous web-based curriculum supports are embedded within our instruction. Along with these tools, we encourage our students and teachers to be as personally creative as possible. At any given time, an observer may walk into a classroom engaged in a lesson using our manipulative-based math curriculum, a hands-on science experiment, or a student actively engaged in the lesson being kinesthetically engaged with movement around the room.
Our Orton-Gillingham-inspired Reading program sees each student and has implemented a number of successful strategies, including, the Lexia Reading Program. This program provides explicit, systematic, personalized learning in the six areas of reading instruction, and delivers norm-referenced performance data and analysis. Reading assessments like the DRA3 and DIBELS ensure the growth of the students, vis a vis consistent and appropriate remediation. As required, all students are administered either the NJSLA or the DLM.
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Our program provides a multi-tiered system of support that fosters independence. Our students are enrolled in a Community-Based Instruction program that prepares them for the real world. Students over the age of 16 go out to daily internships at businesses throughout the community in order to gain work experience, and younger students have opportunities to go on trips to local stores such as Shop Rite and Target.
Our students are afforded the opportunity to participate in a number of social and citizenship-building activities including a Girl Scout troop. Our campus also has a garden that students help tend to when weather permits. Please see our CBI and Transition Services page for more information.
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Our student-centered schedule also includes Physical Education, an award-winning art therapy program, and a music therapy program that puts on an exquisite holiday show annually. Along with these services, we have a Speech and Language Pathologist who not only sees students individually but also in a group setting to develop speech and language skills. In the students’ natural environments, our program offers the expertise of an Occupational Therapist, who works very closely with teachers and parents, a Physical Therapist, and two Board Certified Applied Behavior Analysts.
“My son has learned so much since he has been at Bergen Center for Child Development. He has learned to be very organized and his talents are truly showing.”
– A BCCD Parent
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At Bergen Center for Child Development, we offer an intimate learning environment. Students learn in ungraded classrooms where they are grouped based on skill level and instructional needs; they learn in small classes, or 1:1. The curriculum at Bergen Center for Child Development addresses the Core Curriculum Standards in all areas of academic instruction.
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It is not just WHAT we teach, but HOW we teach that sets us apart. Using an individualized and differentiated approach, our teachers are able to meet the needs and IEP goals of every student. Technology plays an important role in academic classes and special subject areas, as our staff integrates current technological tools and programs to enhance the learning experience for each student.
Reading Matters!
Our elementary school reading specialist assesses each student’s language abilities and learning styles to help teachers develop appropriate reading goals. Individual, small group, and in-class support are offered. Teachers are trained to use a wide variety of reading strategies including Wilson Reading ®, Edmark®, Writing with Symbols®, and Boardmaker®. We use Lexia® reading software with all of our students – it is the only reading software compatible with Orton-Gillingham techniques like the Wilson Language System. The program allows our students to access this program at home and still be monitored by his/her classroom teacher.
