One thing that makes JRA unique is that we will take children with behavior problems. Not all of our kids have these issues, but they certainly don’t scare us. There is a culture of fear and blame circulating around these kids, one that is not helpful to anyone. If a teacher has a child in […]
learning to live independently
While many of our students will go on to college, academic education may not be the best route for all of our graduates. With that in mind and with a great new building to use, the 2014-2015 school year will debut our Life Skills track for students ages 15 to 21. This program is designed […]
Social Thinking at JRA
Social Thinking is a term coined by Michelle Winner to wrap our heads around the mysterious way that human beings communicate with each other. People who have a high “emotional quotient” or E.Q. (Check out Daniel Goleman’s popular book, Emotional Intelligence) don’t have “social skills,” they just intuitively read other people accurately and respond in […]
Zero tolerance for zero-tolerance
I don’t have much tolerance for zero-tolerance policies. You’ve heard me say it before: behavior is communication. Sending kids home for misbehavior is punishing them for symptoms, and a real opportunity for learning is lost. We do send kids home very occasionally, usually because the others need a break from him or her. But we […]
101 Club
Each year about this time, we ask for your donations to the 101 Club. Our seed money for JRA came from this Club; we asked 101 people to donate $101. We chose this amount because it was within reach for many people. Some chose to give more and we happily accepted. Our tuition isn’t cheap, […]
