Salem County Special Services

General information

The Salem County Special Services Salem Campus is a countywide school specifically established to provide programs and services to students from Salem and Cumberland County as well as surrounding resident school districts. Children are grouped according to educational and therapeutic needs, age range and class sizes that are within Special Education requirements outlined by the New Jersey Department of Education. Using the district’s curricula, each program addresses the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards. Individual Education Plan goals and objectives are based on the student’s current level of functioning and developed utilizing the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. An individualized approach is used to teach and reinforce learning. At all levels, emphasis is placed on the acquisition and development of new skills. Occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and counseling services are also provided for students, as indicated in the IEP.

The Salem Campus offers a full range of special education programs for students aged five through twenty-one including programs in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Multiple Disabilities (MD), Cognitive Impaired (CI) and the Transitional Career Program (TCP) for high school aged students. TCP students are able to attend classes at the Salem County Vocational Technical School as well as participate in a variety of off site experiences with our Job Coaches and business partners. Our focus is child centered, taking the student where they are and allowing them to direct their learning based on the approaches of Reggio Emilio. Our ultimate goal is to enable children to return to their resident district. We also focus on helping all students to reach their potential to become productive members of society.

Using the premise of supporting our students to become upstanding citizens, all of our programs feature a life skills component, especially at the high school level. We provide transitional career program options that focus on vocational job skills and community work experiences.

In addition to our Salem Campus programs, we offer Autism Spectrum programs at Satellite Sites. These programs are housed in general education public schools and offer additional opportunities for mainstreaming and social skills development.

Our ultimate mission is to provide a highly individualized program in an environment that promotes positive developmental experiences, independence, and encourages the uniqueness of each child. We accomplish this by keeping a small student to teacher ratio. In addition, our staff is dedicated to provide caring, highly individualized, quality educational experiences to our students.