Curriculum & Instruction
At Hawkswood School, we employ a humanistic, developmental model of instruction, and utilize the evidence-based SCERTS® Model as our educational framework.
Our developmental approach to teaching is also informed by the work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Piaget believed that a child’s thought process is fundamentally differently than that of an adult, and not simply a matter of less knowledge, less experience or less ‘processing power.’
Our developmentally appropriate curriculum is designed to maximize each student’s language, social, emotional, cognitive, and physical potential in all aspects of daily life.
Like all students in New Jersey, students at Hawkswood receive instruction in:
- Language Arts – Literature
- Mathematics
- Social Studies
- Science
- Technology
- Visual and Performing Arts
- Health and Physical Education
- Career Education
- Consumer, Family, and Life Skills
Using the State-required Core Curriculum Content Standards as a framework for instruction, we consider each child’s individual goals and objectives to ensure that all learning is useful to the student, and helps him or her become more independent and self-reliant.
“I have taught special education in many other places and can say that Hawkswood is truly different: Here, administrators, teachers, therapists and paraprofessionals all work as a collaborative team, and it makes a huge a difference in the results we see.”
–Hawkswood speech therapist
Hawkswood provides related services in accordance with each child’s IEP, including:
- Occupational therapy
- Physical therapy
- Speech and language therapy
- Transitional services
- Health services within a collaborative teaching model
Therapists work in the classroom and throughout the educational environment as an integral part of the teaching team to enhance generalization of skills.
Our teams of teachers, therapists and instructional aides meet weekly to review individual student gains and classroom goals, and make any necessary modifications to the student’s program that might enhance growth and development.
