CTC Academy participates in CBI Project 2022-2023 Cohort

The CTC Academy participates in the Community-Based Instruction (CBI) Project 2022-2023 Cohort sponsored by The New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) and Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The CTC Academy is committed to providing the most current and innovative educational opportunities to enhance the lives of children and young adults with special needs in an enriched educational, therapeutic and supportive environment and we are pleased to announce that we have applied and been accepted into the Community-Based Instruction (CBI) Project 2022-2023 Cohort. The CBI Project is sponsored by The New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) Office of Special Education and in partnership with the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Each year applications are accepted to join a cohort of school districts to receive intensive, collaborative training for staff members, guidance on the development of a CBI Action Plan and ongoing technical assistance to support programming and implementation.

CBI is an evidence-based practice that supports the transition from school to adult life and promotes the successful inclusion of students with disabilities in their communities. CBI includes educational instruction and therapeutic service in naturally occurring community environments, like the supermarket or the zoo. It is sustained and repeated instruction, conducted beyond the classroom walls in the community and provides students with “real world” experiences to learn and apply relevant skills in authentic settings. CBI also promotes inclusion and integration with peers and community members.

At The CTC Academy, CBI experiences are led by teachers and therapists and supported by nurses and teacher’s assistants based on each student’s academic and therapeutic IEP goals. Locations are selected by opportunities for functional application and will increase in frequency of opportunities as students age. For example, CTC’s older students in the STEP program go out several times per month, high school age students go out twice per month and middle and elementary school age students go out once a month or as appropriate. School buses dedicated to the CBI program are arranged and driven by staff drivers. Families are notified prior to each trip and students must have a signed permission slip. CBI is funded by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part-B. Trips into the community are arranged at times least likely to conflict with the students’ occupational and physical therapies and are, as the evidence supports, treated as an integral part of the curriculum.