For Immediate Release: August xxx, 1997

For More Information Contact: Michael Stewart

Executive Director at: 693-1500 ext 3041

Dobbs Ferry Wins $120,000 in Summer Grants

While students took a break from school this summer, school offices were anything but quiet. Dobbs Ferry Schools Foundation director Michael Stewart announced that three competitive grants were won for a total of $120,000. One of the grants is for an artistic collaboration between the Dobbs Ferry Schools, the Children's Village, The Masters School and Our Lady of Victory Academy. Grant funds will also be used to expand Project DARE, and hire a supportive services coordinator for the Dobbs Ferry Schools.

Village Schools Collaborate on INTERARTS Project

Using a state grant of nearly $35,000, the public and private schools in Dobbs Ferry will launch a precedent-setting collaboration to bring together students of diverse backgrounds for after-school arts programs. Students will work with teams of artists, musicians, poets, actors, and dancers from the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education. Through a process known as "INTERARTS," professional art-educators will help students use artistic expression to explore multi-cultural understanding, diversity, tolerance, and the importance of building community. The funds have come from the Federal Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. The unprecedented collaboration has already captured the attention of the National School Boards Association, noting the creative leadership being demonstrated by each of the organizations in their desire to work together.

Regis G. McDonald, associate executive director of the Children's Village explained the genesis of the idea. "Children's Village is committed to exposing its youth to an array of multicultural learning opportunities that broaden their understanding of their own cultural backgrounds, while helping them appreciate the differences in others. Inherent in this is helping residents develop more effective ways to manage conflicts. This grant makes it possible for the youth to link with their Dobbs Ferry counterparts in using a range of artistic expressions to understand and impact these and other powerful forces constructively from an individual, regional, national and global perspective."

The Children's Village, founded in 1851, is a not-for-profit organization that is recognized nationally for the quality of its programs. In 1996 it was honored by the Child Welfare League of America for its work related to cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness among its residents and in the community. The agency provides a range of residential, clinical, and special education programs for children between the ages of 7 and 17 and their families. Many of these programs are provided on a 70 acre facility near The Masters School and Springhurst Elementary School.

At The Masters School, institutional advancement director Mike Miller spoke to the importance of diversity. "We have students from all over the world. It's important for young people to know that even when they come from different ethnic, cultural, or economic backgrounds, they still have a great deal in common. Students need to learn that they can choose to experience and celebrate their different backgrounds as a unifying force that strengthens the community." This year the school embarks upon a unique program to redefine co-education: separate middle schools for boys and girls in grades 5 - 8; a co-educational high school introducing Harkness seminar tables and the Socratic method of teaching; separate math classes by gender; and a collaborative leadership style program for students with "co" (boy and girl) student leaders.

The other partner in the project is Our Lady of Victory Academy. While located next to Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, its students come from many different locations, including Yonkers. Sister Patricia Vetrano, head of the Academy, was enthusiastic about the schools sharing their resources, and creating a model for other communities to emulate. The Academy has already shared a technology grant with the Dobbs Ferry School District and The Masters School. This new grant will enable participants to work with professional artists in each of the different school facilities during the upcoming year.

The artists from the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education in New Brunswick, NJ, have a long history of facilitating projects such as these. For the past 16 years the organization has operated the New Jersey Summer Arts Institute. More than 1,000 high school students have attended the month-long summer residencies at Rutgers University and Rider College. Whether they come from estate homes or housing projects, every year they succeed in living and working together for a singular purpose.

Schools Foundation director Michael Stewart explained it this way: "Because of their different backgrounds, the students use the visual, performing and literary arts to examine their assumptions, stereotypes, curiosities, and prejudices. They also explore their commonalities, mutual concerns, interests, aspirations, and potential for bonding with one another." Stewart should know. He was a student at the Institute in its very first year. After starting his career in arts and education, he later returned to the Institute as its year-round coordinator in 1988. He was appointed executive director of the Schools Foundation in 1995.

The visionary behind the program is Maureen Heffernan, the Institute's artistic director. The process called "INTERARTS" originated as a summer residential program, but has been adapted to public school settings since 1988. Last year, INTERARTS expanded its outreach to schools and agencies throughout the metropolitan region, with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge Foundation, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State. Ms. Heffernan explained that "as students create their own communal art-making projects in a ësafe setting,' they can take creative risks and try new ideas. Ultimately, they discover that they can accomplish more by working together than they can by working alone. Usually, the program culminates in a public presentation and installation of art work."

Schools and Police DARE to Keep Kids away from Drugs

Grant funds will also be used to expand Dobbs Ferry's substance abuse prevention program. Fortunately, the village does not have the high level of drug and alcohol use among minors that many communities do -- thanks in large part to Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). The program is a joint effort between the schools and the police department, and is designed to stop substance abuse before it starts. Currently, the program is provided in grades K - 5, but police chief George Longworth has advocated the program's expansion. However, the necessary funds have not been available until now. A $41,000 grant from the State will fund the extension of the program in the middle and high school, with the addition of another DARE officer. It will also pay for the implementation of a parent education program.

Chief Longworth explained that the DARE curriculum is carefully structured around "core service elements," which are taught by a uniformed officer in school classrooms. Students begin by learning that drug and alcohol abuse has harmful effects on health and behavior, and that laws exist to control their use. Students also acquire resistance techniques (ways to say "no") that can be used to withstand peer pressure. In addition, they learn how to avoid the use of drugs and alcohol by managing stress and emotions.

Regardless of peer pressure, substance abuse ultimately comes down to a student's individual decision. Accordingly, they learn critical decision-making skills, and ways to assess the consequences of risk-taking behaviors. The program also helps them understand that they have the option to choose positive alternatives to substance abuse.

To get his message across, DARE Officer Joseph Ellman uses lesson strategies that evoke student responses to problem-solving situations. These include role playing, assemblies, public speaking, group tasks, engaging stories, and workbook activities. To assist the police in carrying out the DARE program, older student leaders serve as positive role models for younger students in the program.

Detective Ellman worked with grant writer Michael Stewart to propose a new after-school parent program that was included in the grant. It is designed to stimulate interest in the community and motivate families to take an active role in the prevention of substance abuse. It will brief parents on the objectives of the student curriculum, and teach them how to recognize possible signs of drug and alcohol use. It will also explain how to use local program resources, and how to improve family communication.

Schools Hire Family "Pathfinder"

DARE isn't the only program designed to help families make better use of community resources. Another grant won this summer for $44,000 will help parents of children with special needs improve their understanding of, access to, and use of supportive services. Of the nearly 1,200 students in Dobbs Ferry Schools, approximately 14% (the national average) have special needs such as physical handicaps, learning disabilities, neurological impairments, communication disorders, or emotional troubles. Public schools and service agencies often serve the same clients, with similar goals. Yet neither have enough resources to single-handedly respond to the variety of challenges faced by disabled children and their families.

"If schools didn't collaborate with local service agencies, families' needs wouldn't get adequately met," said schools superintendent Frank Tota, "and schools would be expected to take responsibility for concerns that go well beyond their educational scope. That's why it is in our best interest to take the lead in establishing a collaborative process with local service providers. This way, the needs of disabled children can be met in the context of the family."

The State Council on Developmental Disabilities Planning was so impressed with the district's approach that they awarded a two-year grant to hire a family services coordinator, or "pathfinder" as Michael Stewart calls the position. With such a variety of handicaps, and so many municipal, county, state and federal agencies in existence, families need the help of an experienced individual when navigating the maze of services outside the school environment.

A combination of case management, service brokerage and family counseling will be used. The services coordinator will work directly with families to outline the supports they need to maximize their children's health and education. This comprehensive approach will dovetail with the individualized education plans developed for children with special needs by the district's Committee on Special Education. As a result, the district expects to see improved diagnosis and treatment of disabilities, as well as improved health, social development, and academic achievement.

"Although our percentage of disabled students is around the national average," said Tota, "we recognize the need to pay special attention to their diverse needs."

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