Unveiling the Path to Success: Building Bridges to Empower our Students

Henry Renelus • Cahn Fellow 2022

Our neurodivergent students possess talents and aspirations that yearn to be nurtured. However, we've observed that traditional academic settings often fall short of unlocking their full potential. That's where our Tiered Work Study Program (Continuum of Student Supports) and community-based partnership strategy comes into play.

Pre-pandemic, we proudly offered six in-house workstudy programs, allowing students to gain practical skills within the school's environment. In collaboration with our community-based partnerships (CBOs), we had established partnerships with a total of 47 worksites throughout Queens, providing our students with real-world work experiences in diverse settings. However, by September 2022, the landscape had drastically shifted, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on our vocational program.

Our year-long Cahn Fellows project focused on strategies for reestablishing robust partnerships with community-based organizations to provide our students with meaningful vocational experiences and unlock their full potential.