Hello, my name is Rebecca Moyes and I am the director of the Pressley Ridge School for Autism.

Our ESY program (Extended School Year) serves children and adolescents (K through 21), who have an autism spectrum diagnosis. Children are grouped by age and ability level into one of ten classrooms. The maximum number of kids in each classroom is eight. Each classroom will have a teacher and an instructional aide and every student who has a 1:1 support during his school day will also be provided with 1:1 here at our ESY program. The classroom is also supported by a Behavior Specialist and a Family Liaison. Our staff is highly-trained in working with children who have autism spectrum disorders. Many of them are our current school staff who have elected to work through the summer. We provide intensive training to those staff who are new and we recruit personnel who have specific experience working with kids who have autism spectrum disorders.

Last year, the program provided ESY to 75 children from neighboring school districts. And we expect that level of attendance this year as well. Our program will encompass autism-friendly music, art, swimming, culinary and horticulture experiences right here on campus. You can see that our school students grow herbs and vegetables and we will continue with these great activities this summer. They will also receive direct instruction classes and social skills where we will work on teaching replacement skills using video modeling, computer software, role-playing and social stories.

For adolescence, we are offering a new opportunity to participate in job shadowing and job skill training this summer. We will be exposing the students to job-related work in horticulture, culinary, retail, office support and housekeeping, both on and off campus. We want to be sure to mention that all of our kids will be provided with community-based instruction in local outings to expose them to our community outside of our campus. We will also be bringing several programs to our school this summer from the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh Puppets, WPXI Weathermen, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium.

Lastly, we don’t want to forget the academic piece; the whole reason why ESY is provided in the first place. Our kids need assistance with their academic skills so that they do not regress. Your child’s academic IEP goals will be addressed at his or her ability level and in an autism-friendly way that is fun and engaging.

This year, our program will run from Wednesday, June 27th through Wednesday, August 1st from 9:00 – 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. We would like all children registered by May 31st and the slots are filling fast.

If you would like additional information regarding ESY, please call us at 1(877) 905-4291 or e-mail us at ESY@pressleyridge.org.

Thank you for allowing us the privilege of working with your children. We hope they will come and enjoy a fun-filled summer. Thanks again!