Special Events and Field Trips

Annual ESY Beach Trip to Jersey Shore

Four times during each Extended School Year through the hospitality of one of our generous supporters, some students visit Manasquan Beach for a day of swimming, boating, crabbing, and a barbecue. Students' names are selected through a lottery system. Eight students with one-to-one staff assigned to them, administrators and our school nurse attend.

Educational Field Trips

Each school year, teachers and the administrative team propose field trips. Places we have visited include The Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, The Bronx Zoo, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Sesame Street Live, Disney on Ice, area farms for autumn experiences of hay rides, petting zoos, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Our generous supporters have underwritten most of these wonderful experiences.

Graduation

Each June, we celebrate our departing students´ accomplishments with a graduation ceremony. Students are presented with awards, receive their diplomas from their sending districts, the chorus performs, speeches are made and parents and families are treated to a delicious luncheon.

Overnight Camping Trips

Through the generosity of the Ridgewood YMCA, approximately twenty students enjoy an overnight camping trip to Camp Bernie in Port Murray, New Jersey. As with the beach trip, students are selected through a lottery system. The overnight camping experience exposes students to canoeing, rock-wall climbing, nature hikes, camp fires, mystery walks through the forest, ecology programs, and of course, smores!

Spring Formal

Each June, our students participate in a formal here at the Phoenix Center. Themes in the past have included Fly Me to the Moon and The Yellow Brick Road. It is wonderful to see our students all dressed in gowns, dresses, suits, and tuxedos and socializing at this special event. We have a DJ and some healthy snacks. A good time is always had by all.