Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - School District Starting Construction On New Building

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - After 16 years as a sanctuary for those too impaired for Kiryas Joel's religious schools, the one-story building off Kahan Drive, Kiryas Joel's public school solely for disabled Hasidic children, will soon be replaced with a $13 million, 40,000-square-foot school on Bakertown Road, that will modernize the Kiryas Joel School District and accommodate the community's rapid growth.

Today, about 150 children with moderate and severe disabilities from Down syndrome to autism attend the school. Another 100 or so with minor problems are bused in for services. Most pupils are from Kiryas Joel, although some are tuition-paying students from Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester counties.

The new school will add soundproof rooms for the speech department and a therapeutic pool, among other new features. It will initially hold up to 350 students but will be able to be expanded to bring the capacity to 420, said Superintendent Steven Benardo.
The goal is to move in by the fall of 2007.