Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed the winter break and found time to celebrate the holiday season with loved ones and other friends.

We are looking forward to seeing what 2023 brings, including new internship experiences and a new home for the WRA!

Moving forward we will be sending out one official newsletter at the completion of each month. Other important updates will still be sent out via email.

Here is our recap of some highlights from the month of December.

Josh Bornstein

Director at the UCESC Work Readiness Academy

The new home for the Work Readiness Academy will be located inside what was formerly the Holy Spirit School building located at 970 Suburban Road in Union, NJ.

We will be moving the weekend of January 14-15. The district will be closed on Monday, January 16th in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will also now be closing the program on Tuesday, January 17th to students, so that our staff will have one full day to get acclimated to the new environment, including emergency procedures. This also means that Tuesday, January 3rd will now be a regular school day for the Work Readiness Academy.

The new space is approximately 10-12 minutes from our current location in Westfield. This move will provide our program with more space to support additional programming and increased enrollment. For several years we have had a waiting list for the program. We are excited to be able to offer more students from around Union County the opportunity to join the WRA to help prepare them for a life of work and independence. Additionally, the new space will feature the following enhancements for our students:

• Larger classrooms to accommodate our adult-sized students.
• A “Zen” room that will serve as both a recreational “break room” space and a room to use in the event a student needs some quiet time away from class.
• A large multi-purpose room with a gymnasium floor and stage that we will use for fitness class, yoga, lunch, community meeting, and other special events.
• A larger, expanded kitchen space to support our food safety & independent cooking skills cycle class.
• Separate, dedicated bathrooms for both male and female students.

We hope to schedule an “Open House” for parents in February. Stay tuned for more details.

Finally, we are also sharing this information with your school district case manager and the

respective transportation departments and contracts so they are aware of the change in location and dates. Some routes may experience an increase in travel time, while others may see the route time decrease.