Agreement formalized for technical assistance
On Tuesday 26th February, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Affairs officially welcomed a team of six psychologists from St. Johns University, Graduate school of Psychology to the island, and formalized an agreement between the Ministry and the University for the Graduate School of psychology to provide technical assistance to the Ministry and in particular to the Prins Willem Alexander School.
During this week of February 25 through to March 1st , psychologists from the St. Johns University, Graduate School of Psychology are on the island to provide technical assistance, to carry out an environmental scan of the types and clusters of special needs (disabilities & exceptionalities) of children attending Prins Willem Alexander School (PWAS).
The PWAS-St. John’s Project, herein referred to as the Project, is a multifaceted program to provide diagnostic and psycho-educational services to students in Prins Willem Alexander School and other Elementary Schools on St. Maarten, who would otherwise not receive them.
In June 2013, this same group of psychologists will visit the island again and carry out the same type of testing for children of the remaining Public Schools and other subsidized schools on the island.
St. John’s University was founded in 1871 by the Vincentian Community, and is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Since 1999, the Psy.D. program has been offered by the Department of Psychology, which is an academic unit of the College of Arts and Sciences of St. John’s.
The School Psychology Psy.D. Program is APA- accredited, as of April 2007, by the American Psychological Association (APA). The School Psychology Psy.D. Program is also fully approved, until December 2016, by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). The School Psychology Psy.D. program is also approved by the ASPPB/National Register.
Some of the tasks that will be performed by the group of psychologists, as it pertains to the agreement, are as follows:
· Provide all relevant tests for the testing of children for special needs.
· Offer specific individualized educational recommendations for each student.
· Drafting a comprehensive report for special education for St. Maarten with recommendations
· Drafting a two-year implementation plan for special education in St. Maarten with cost.
The Minister officially welcomed the psychologists to the island and thanked them for their service to Public Education and the St. Maarten community in general and officially signed the Agreement for the upcoming phases of this project. The main principal to finance this project is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Affairs along with contributions from the University of St. Johns.