1. education
2. school

TAFT
The Taft Academy — What’s Next?
Mentorship program
ACADEMY
The Taft Academy Mentorship Program matches mentees with mentors
who are experienced, high-performing staff with leadership potential. Crosscampus relationships and collaboration is encouraged by pairing mentees with
mentors from different campuses.
Interested in attending a
conference?
The Taft Acedemy is providing
opportunities for staff to attend
conferences relevant to their
work and population.
Through participation in the SCO Taft Academy,
our staff are improving outcomes for children and
youth with special needs at SCO’s five campuses where
youth reside and attend school. SCO professionals
are enhancing their skills and performance through
the Taft Academy’s educational and professional
development opportunities, and establishing a
culture of performance excellence through consistent
practice and interdisciplinary approaches.
Thinking about your education? Tuition Assistance
Tuition assistance is available to eligible Taft Academy participants who are
seeking higher education degrees or certifications relevant to their work.
Application packages have been distributed to all campuses and are posted
online on the Taft share drive.
For further information, please contact your supervisor or Hillary Williams
Chung at the SCO Center for Professional Development at (718) 526-7533
ext. 417.
l Robert J. McMahon Children’s Center & Tyree Learning Center
l Ottilie Residential Treatment Facility & Theresa Paplin School
l The Christopher School & Residence
l Westbrook Preparatory School & Residence
l
Madonna Heights Residence & Residential Treatment Facility & School
The Taft Academy is made possible with a generous grant from the
Taft Foundation, which has a strong interest in improving the lives of
children with developmental disabilities.
The Taft Academy: Sharing Best Practices
Building upon the expertise of professionals at each campus,
SCO’s Taft Academy provides a conduit to sharing and
infusing best practices across the five campuses. Principals,
program directors, direct care workers, psychiatrists, social
workers, nurses, teachers, and teachers’ aides are all involved
in setting consistent best practices. The mission of the Taft
Academy is to ensure high quality care for children and
youth, helping them reach the greatest degree of selfsufficiency, family engagement and community integration
possible.
“How Do You Taft?”
Learning Labs have devised new ways of sharing information
and skills:
Knowledge
Sharing
Crosscampus
Collaboration
The Taft Academy Comprises:
l Classroom Instruction: Focuses on creating an effective
workforce, developing high quality supportive environments
by establishing nurturing and responsive relationships and
providing intensive interventions that support and advocate
for people we serve.
l Learning Laboratories:
Learning Lab leaders
are selected to participate in a practicum-like
experience on each campus to facilitate the
sharing of skills learned in the classroom with
their colleagues, helping to incorporate new
skills in daily practice.
l Online Learning: An
online learning
management system (LMS) gives all staff
access to courses providing specialized content
in the field of developmental disabilities.
Developed in consultation with national
experts in developmental disabilities, the online
catalogue includes more than 200 course hours
accessible from work and home computers.
Employee
Recognition
& Support
Here’s what our staff is saying about
the Taft Academy:
“
The classroom training is very worthwhile,
filled with applicable approaches for my job.”
“This training reminds me of why I work here and
I hope that others in the organization/family can
experience what I have today.”
“I learned a lot of valuable information to bring
back to my colleagues.”
“I enjoyed working with people from other SCO
campuses and like the fact that I get to work with peers
who have experience in the field.”
“I found the training very informative in helping to build
a collaborative working environment to better serve our
residents/students.
”