Pillar Elementary School is located in a former Livingston elementary school that has been renovated to make it entirely accessible for children with developmental disabilities and severe medical challenges.
The school includes a preschool, elementary school and middle school. Below are some of the features that make our campus so unique.
Our preschool rooms were designed to promote independence in all areas of daily living. Classrooms feature varying sink heights and toilet heights to promote independence. Opportunities for motor skills development and sensory integration are incorporated into the classroom. Teachers and therapists meet on a regular basis to develop appropriate lessons that target a variety of therapeutic and academic goals. Incorporating input from all disciplines into the classroom setting results in improved outcomes for pre-school students.
Pillar Elementary has a fully adapted pool where therapists perform aquatic therapy sessions. Therapeutic applications of the therapy pool include gait training, postural control/stability, balance training, facilitated swimming, therapeutic exercise and sensory integration for children with neurological disorders, musculoskeletal pain, post-operative orthopedic rehabilitation, spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. The use of our many adapted tubes, floats, walkers, weights, steps, balls, etc. help our students gain self-esteem while being as independent as possible and having fun.
Students love to spend time in the 2,500 square foot park, complete with accessible playground equipment, sensory garden, gazebo and pond. Students plant fruits and vegetables throughout the year, harvest the produce and enjoy them at meals with their peers.
This is a unique treatment room for students with visual impairment or those that are motivated by visual input. Illuminated equipment is used to promote visual attention, oculomotor skills and improved visual perceptual skills. In addition, students work toward functional independence operating the various equipment using our environmental control unit. This can be accessed using switches, eye gaze technology or via touch screen.
“Amanda’s Play Place,” our preschool playground, was built to provide a space for our preschoolers to develop and grow in an environment catered to their needs. Activity on the playground provides therapuetic benefits such as strength and conditioning, while also leading to improved focus in the classroom.
Our building is designed to meet the sensory, academic, and medical needs of our students. We understand the importance of ensuring that students learn in a supportive environment.
The specialized therapeutic equipment in our sensory integration gym promotes appropriate modulation, discrimination, coordination and organization of incoming sensory information received from the body and environment in order to produce adaptive and purposeful responses.
Each class visits our Center at least once per week to check out books, participate in group readings, and engage in fun interactive activities that enhance the classroom curriculum. Students also participate in Sensory Story Time, in which stories are read aloud and enhanced with tactile, auditory and olfactory input to provide additional opportunities for engagement, aiding in comprehension and retention.
Our Life Skills room is equipped with a full-size kitchen, laundry and bedroom. Here, students work toward functional independence. The daily routines practiced in this room enable children and young adults to express themselves, establish relationships, and build self-identity.
The School Store provides a great opportunity for our students to practice life skills such as socialization, mathematics, and managing responsibilities. It also serves as a space for therapists to work with students outside of their typical therapy rooms.
Our spacious nursing suite provides a soothing environment to assist students with specialized care specific to their unique needs. The services include but are not limited to tube feeding, catheterization and medication administration. Nurses work closely with families, therapists and teachers to provide a customized care plan for students’ needs.
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