JRA began in order to help those children whose needs weren’t met in other schools. Our first rent and teachers’ salaries (all three of us!) were paid by the 101 Club. We asked, via Facebook and friends, for 101 people to give $101 each. They did and we have reissued the call each year; while our tuition seems high, it does not begin to cover all our needs. 101 Club funds have gone for various things: start up costs, Social Thinking curriculum and training, and tuition assistance.
This year we are focusing our fundraising efforts on increasing both pay and benefits for our teachers and teachers’ assistants. Our staff works hard, and we want to insure that they are able to make a decent wage and know their work is valued. This year we hope to enhance their salaries based on the number of professional development opportunities they have taken. Our staff is always working to become better trained to meet the needs of each child enrolled at JRA, often on their own time.
Help us out here. Hit the donate button, send a check, drop by with cash. It doesn’t have to be $101—it can be more or less. Your help ensures that we can continue to treat our teachers well without making our tuition unreasonable. And it’s so appreciated!
