Education and Early Childhood
“ What I love about the Stepping Stones School is that the staff expects so much from the kids and they don’ t put any limitations on them. They push the students to go beyond themselves. That’ s what I want Micah to carry on. He shouldn’ t just settle for the mundane; he should continue to excel and go beyond what anyone expects of him.”
- Sheryl Ware
When Sheryl Ware and her husband began searching for a school for their son Micah five years ago, they relied on recommendations from their early intervention physical therapist and gut reactions. They knew The Arc of Essex County’ s Stepping Stones School was where Micah belonged almost immediately after setting foot in the school.
“ When we went on the tour, we were really happy with what we saw,” said Sheryl whose son, Micah, began his final year at the Stepping Stones School in September 2015.“ We loved that it felt like a family. Everyone was so warm and the kids seemed very happy and confident. We had a choice of another school, but we didn’ t even bother going to check it out.”
During the tour, the Ware’ s remember seeing students talking clearly and expressing themselves in ways she could only dream for her son.“ If he could talk like that one day, it would all be worth it,” said Sheryl remembering her first impression of the school.
Since beginning his studies at Stepping Stones, the Ware’ s have joyfully witnessed Micah hit developmental milestones they never thought possible and become a confident, determined student. Not only is he talking like the children Sheryl and her husband saw during the tour, but his reading has taken off, and, through work with the physical therapist on staff, he can run smoothly and he recently learned to jump.
Sheryl attributes Micah’ s success to the individualized approach the staff takes with each child.“ They are not just another kid. To the staff, each child is special,” said Sheryl.“ They take the kids’ personalities into account for how to reach them.”
“ What I love about Stepping Stones is that the staff expects so much from the kids and they don’ t put any limitations on them. They push the students to go beyond themselves. That’ s what I want for Micah to carry on. He shouldn’ t just settle for the mundane; he should continue to excel and go beyond what anyone expects of him,” said Sheryl.“ If it wasn’ t for everything The Arc of Essex County does and how they love the students, maybe he wouldn’ t have achieved everything he’ s achieved. Micah has surpassed our expectations.”