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Charitable giving at Sheppard Pratt…
We are very pleased to share with you that, despite the continuing economic uncertainty, we have launched several new initiatives at Sheppard Pratt due to the generosity of our donors during the past fiscal year. A few of these programs are highlighted below, so you can see the immediate and significant impact charitable giving has at Sheppard Pratt. Thank you for your continuing support!
Reduction of Seclusion and Restraint: as part of a system-wide program to reduce the need for seclusion and restraint, we have built and equipped numerous “comfort rooms”. These rooms provide a sanctuary for patients and students to discover new coping skills. Comfort rooms have a variety of soothing furniture, exercise equipment, music, games and independent activities that help patients and students self-regulate their behavior and learn coping skills they can utilize when they are no longer in Sheppard Pratt’s care.
Wellness Program at the Forbush School at Hunt Valley: this program is a collaborative effort with Towson University allowing students from the Forbush School at Hunt Valley, a school for children and adolescents with autism, to travel to the Towson University campus and participate in a structured physical fitness and nutrition education program administered by Towson students and Forbush staff.
WeatherBug at the Forbush School at Glyndon: this program combines a fully automated weather tracking station with online, standards-based learning to deliver a fascinating educational experience for all of the K-12 students at the Forbush School at Glyndon, Sheppard Pratt’s flagship special education school. In addition to offering the hope of higher test scores, WeatherBug’s affiliation with nearly 100 television stations will mean increased awareness of the vital role our special education program plays in the community.
Music Program at the Mann Residential Treatment Center: this program provides instruments, a sound system and the cost of a part-time musical instructor for the Mann Residential Treatment Center, a self-contained therapeutic educational and recreational program for adolescents with severe behavioral problems. As the program develops, students will perform for parents, Sheppard Pratt staff and the wider community.
Sheppard Pratt’s 18th Annual Care for Kids Benefit Concert and Online Auction were a success!
The featured artist, Katharine McPhee, the 2006 American Idol contestant wowed the audience with her voice as she performed many songs from her recent album, Unspoken. In addition to the concert, we held our first Online Auction which included a wonderful variety of items including getaways to Aspen and Myrtle Beach, Ravens and Orioles memorabilia, and more!
We raised a total of $190,000 to support the Care for Kids Fund at Sheppard Pratt. Proceeds from our donors, sponsors and tickets sales generated $184,000, and our inaugural online auction generated $6,000! 100% of all proceeds from the event support the children and adolescents whose lives are entrusted to our care. Friends like you made the event a success and we can not say "thank you" enough!
You may be surprised to learn that Sheppard Pratt treats over 57,000 patients annually, over a third of whom are under the age of eighteen. The Care for Kids Fund provides unmet patient needs such as books, holiday gifts, clothing, and field trips for the adolescents throughout our health system. They come to us with varying emotional, behavioral and developmental disabilities for which they require specialized care. Some are victims of abuse and neglect. A significant number come from disadvantaged homes. Your participation helps make a positive difference in their fragile lives.
When you support this benefit, you are helping to destigmatize mental illness and making a positive difference in the lives of our youngest and most vulnerable patients.
On behalf of the patients, families and staff of Sheppard Pratt, we sincerely appreciate your support and care for our kids!
Generous Donation Provides Playground for The Forbush School at Hunt Valley
It’s the typical start of another school year for the students of The Forbush School at Hunt Valley, but this year recess will be a little different—and a lot more fun.
Ms. Mildred Kern, a 101 year-old resident of the North Oaks retirement community in Pikesville, decided it was time students at the school have access to a state-of-the-art playground facility. With Ms. Kern’s guidance, and a generous donation, the school’s parent organization, Sheppard Pratt, built an extensive playground system for the school.
“We are so grateful for Ms. Kern’s donation for this incredible playground,” said Paul Livelli, director of autism educational services for Sheppard Pratt. “Our students are so excited to have this and will definitely make good use of it. The playground gives them a chance to get outside and play—which is an important part of their education here.”
The Forbush School at Hunt Valley provides special education and related services for children ages five to 21 with autism, pervasive developmental disorder, developmental delays in one or more areas, severe behavioral problems, multiple learning problems and other related disorders. Forbush at Hunt Valley is one of 12 therapeutic schools operated by Sheppard Pratt throughout the state of Maryland.
16th Annual RCM&D Sailing Regatta benefits the Forbush School at Hunt Valley
On Friday, October 2nd, insurance broker Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes, Inc. (RCM&D) held its 16th annual Sailing Regatta at the Downtown Sailing Center in Baltimore. The Regatta raised $50,000 in funds through sponsorship and donations from RCM&D and its affiliates to help support local nonprofits whose fundamental purpose is improving the quality of life and expanding opportunities for individuals and families in our communities. Sheppard Pratt is thrilled that RCM&D has selected the Forbush School at Hunt Valley as one of the event’s beneficiaries to receive half of the funds raised. Dr. Paul Livelli, director of autism educational services for Sheppard Pratt, said the money will be used to support program enrichment and staff training. The Sheppard Pratt Health System is very grateful for this donation.
The Forbush School at Glyndon Receives Verizon Foundation Grant
August 26, 2009- Sheppard Pratt Health System is pleased to announce that The Forbush School at Glyndon has been selected to receive a $20,000 grant from The Verizon Foundation to fund a major teacher training initiative at the school—revamping its K-12 curriculum to help students achieve higher levels of literacy, complex critical thinking and problem solving skills. Forbush at Glyndon serves students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 who have been diagnosed with emotional disabilities.
The Forbush School at Glyndon will use this funding to support two different teacher training programs; Project Read by Language Circle (administered by trainers from Jemicy Outreach) and Problem Based Learning (administered by The Buck Institute for Education), both of which support The Verizon Foundation’s interest in education and literacy.
Project Read equips teachers with the tools to significantly improve students’ abilities to comprehend, conduct research and write papers, and promotes the organizational skills critical to complex problem solving. Once students develop a stronger foundation in written expression and reading comprehension, teachers will employ their training in Problem Based Learning to challenge students’ development of the digital-age skills (teamwork, problem solving, research gathering, time management, information synthesizing and utilization of high tech tools) essential to surviving in today’s world.
All of Glyndon’s teachers and teaching assistants will participate in the cutting-edge training which will be completed by next summer. Theresa Petrungaro, elementary principal at Glyndon, will administer the grant.
The Forbush School at Glyndon is accredited by the Maryland State Department of Education as a Type I General and Special Education Nonpublic School to provide educational and therapeutic services to students referred by local school systems. It is one of 12 therapeutic schools operated by Sheppard Pratt Health System throughout Maryland.
The New Forbush School at Glyndon Opens
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the The Forbush School at Glyndon were held on June 30th. The Forbush School is a non-public therapeutic day school providing special education services to youngsters, through grade 12, who exhibit a wide range of emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders. Located for more than 40 years on Sheppard Pratt's campus in Towson, the school is now nestled in a beautiful 44-acre wooded campus in Glyndon, Maryland.
With the resources to serve more than 160 students, The Forbush School at Glyndon will continue its longstanding tradition of providing educational and therapeutic services to students with complex needs from throughout Central Maryland. The new facility offers the following amenities:
- 20 classrooms with no more than 9 children in each room
- Outdoor recreational area
- Sensory integration room
- Computers in all classrooms
- Programs in building trades, horticulture and food service
- A licensed, student-operated restaurant
- Library-media center
- Auditorium
- Greenhouse
Future: student gymnasium and summer programs
The largest private provider of special education services in Maryland, Sheppard Pratt Health System operates a total of 12 schools in six counties.