Education Commissioner Tours Lincoln School

State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy toured Westfield's second classroom dedicated to autism students in the early childhood grades Wednesday morning at Lincoln School.

The second class, funded by federal stimulus funds, opened Wednesday morning in conjunction with the first day of school in town. Davy's visit centered on the classroom along with several other classes in the early childhood learning center. The classroom allows for autistic students to attend early childhood classes in Westfield instead of being placed in an outside the district program.

"It's ideal to keep kids in home communities," Davy said of the Westfield program. "It gives maximum flexibility to allow for mainstream opportunities."

The Lincoln School program focuses on bringing the students' social skills as a part of the educational program. Theodore Kozlik, the school district's assistant superintendent for special services, said by allowing autistic students to be in Lincoln they can develop these skills in a community setting with students from in town. This will allow for interaction with peers and a better transition to a mainstream classroom down the road. The program, designed for students between three and five years old, then moves students into mainstream programs in the elementary schools, if the student is eligible. Kozlik said each student's path is decided on a student-by-student basis. Students could also be placed in a special education program at Wilson School.

Kozlik said the previous model of using an out of district placement was not ideal since students were not exposed to other students from Westfield and did not get the chance to interact with their peers. He indicated it did not assist in potential mainstream opportunities at higher grade levels.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan, who went with Davy on the tour, explained the autism program also benefits local parents by having the program in town. She said it allows the parents to be a part of the local school community and get to know other Westfield parents, which is a benefit to the children.

Wednesday's tour also allowed Davy, a former Westfield resident, to tour Lincoln School for the first time since renovations which transformed the building into an early childhood learning center last year. Davy praised the work on the building and indicated it is one of the few dedicated early childhood buildings she has seen in the state. She indicated that she and Gov. Jon Corzine support the concept and have been focusing on early childhood education.

"We're focused on the importance of high yield early childhood education," she said. "This is the building block of success for their lives."