LEARN plans special needs school
Beth El synagogue will host regional program
“By centralizing our outplacement programs, and creating the Diagnostic Wellness Center, we will create greater continuity and consistency of services for students and afford districts improved access to cost-effective specialized programming.” EILEEN HOWLEY, LEARN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
New London — LEARN Regional Educational Service Center completed the purchase of the Congregation Beth El synagogue last week and has revealed plans for a consolidated location to serve special needs students from across the region.
Citing shrinking revenues and the cost of upkeep at its sprawling Ocean Avenue synagogue, Congregation Beth El sold the property and is in negotiations with Temple Emanu-El in Waterford, among other places, for a space to hold regular worship services. The congregation also is looking for a separate location for its offices and has closed its popular nursery school.
City records show the 6.28-acre property and the 36,230-square-foot synagogue, with an address listed as 582 Ocean Ave., sold on Friday for $1.9 million.
The sale of the property also led to the relocation of the Solomon Schechter Academy, a Jewish day school, which was renting space at Beth El but has relocated to space at Temple Emanu-El. Solomon Schechter has announced plans to open a
nursery school in January.
After some renovations, LEARN anticipates opening what it is calling the Ocean Avenue LEARNing Academy and Center of Excellence sometime in late 2018.
The center will bring together special education programs from other locations across the region, utilizing existing classroom and office space, said Matthew Engelhardt, LEARN’s marketing, communications and advocacy coordinator. The location also will house an innovative diagnostic wellness center to provide assessments and guidance on student placement decisions.
Congregation Beth El, which was established in 1932 and situated on Ocean Avenue since at least the 1970s, intends to be fully moved out by mid-November.
Beth El President Judi Goldman said the move is hard for many in the congregation, especially those who have watched countless family members celebrate life events there.
“While everybody understands the financial component, it still breaks our hearts. It’s our home,” Goldman said. “It has so much significance for so many people.”
With a main office in Old Lyme, LEARN has offices across New London County and operates five magnet schools in southeastern Connecticut, along with two associated with Goodwin College in East Hartford.
LEARN serves about 53 students with varying degrees of special needs through outpatient programs and has a waiting list of students. The New London location is expected to host more than 60 students to start and eventually accommodate up to 100 kindergarten through high school-age students.
The programming will include everything from occupational, physical and speech therapy to behavioral analysis, social work and specialized instruction for students on the autism spectrum or with deeper needs.
Programs that currently are run separately, at sites that include Niantic, Old Lyme and Waterford, would be relocated to New London.
“This building will promote a regional solution to providing cost-effective specialized programming for southeastern Connecticut,” LEARN Executive Director Eileen Howley said.
“By centralizing our outplacement programs, and creating the Diagnostic Wellness Center, we will create greater continuity and consistency of services for students and afford districts improved access to cost-effective specialized programming,” she said.
Bridgette Gordon-Hickey, LEARN’s student support services director, said in a statement that, “owning and managing our facility will enhance program flexibility and governance, create economies of scale, and significantly strengthen supervision and support of staff in ways that will benefit both students and our member districts.”
Meanwhile, Beth El Rabbi Rachel Safman said it has been an arduous process but the congregation is getting close to answering the one big question: Where to hold weekly worship services?
Shared space at Temple Emanu-El, the Reform Jewish congregation in Waterford, is just one of several good options that are expected to come to fruition in the coming weeks, she said. Beth El is a conservative Jewish congregation.
Goldman, the Beth El president, said the congregation and a team of volunteers have helped to prepare for the move by completing an inventory, packing and moving some of the many artifacts at the synagogue to other locations. The menorah that used to be situated off Ocean Avenue, for example, has found a new temporary home at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. Certain other religious artifacts are being stored at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Norwich.
Goldman said she was excited about LEARN’s plans and it seemed a fitting organization to be taking over use of the space.
Engelhardt said that LEARN recognizes the significance and history of the building and planned to do “everything we can do to respect the space and uphold the sanctity of the facility.”