How many students attend Open Doors?
We have about 90 students at Open Doors at present.
What are some of the different disabilities?
All of our children have a developmental disability such as Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual disabilities.
What are the ages of the students?
Our youngest are just two years old. They are in our Early Intervention Classes. Our oldest students in their early 30s.
What are the programs offered at Open Doors?
We have two Units, the Special Education Unit and the Reading Clinic.
The Special Education Unit has 9 levels starting with Early Intervention up to Pre-vocational. All of the children enrolled in this Unit have an intellectual disability.
-The programs under this Unit are: Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy,
Vocational Training.
The Reading Clinic Unit has 3 programs:
-Reading Clinic. Students attend this by appointment on an hourly basis.
-Special Primary. This is for students who do not have an intellectual disability so they
can follow a normal primary school curriculum. But they need extra support because of
Cerebral Palsy or other needs that cannot be met in a regular school.
- Adult literacy. We just started this as part-time program. So far most of our students are
junior staff working with Open Doors as cleaners.
How many Staff members are there?
We currently have 16 professional staff.
We have 22 support staff.
We have about 90 students at Open Doors at present.
What are some of the different disabilities?
All of our children have a developmental disability such as Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and other intellectual disabilities.
What are the ages of the students?
Our youngest are just two years old. They are in our Early Intervention Classes. Our oldest students in their early 30s.
What are the programs offered at Open Doors?
We have two Units, the Special Education Unit and the Reading Clinic.
The Special Education Unit has 9 levels starting with Early Intervention up to Pre-vocational. All of the children enrolled in this Unit have an intellectual disability.
-The programs under this Unit are: Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy,
Vocational Training.
The Reading Clinic Unit has 3 programs:
-Reading Clinic. Students attend this by appointment on an hourly basis.
-Special Primary. This is for students who do not have an intellectual disability so they
can follow a normal primary school curriculum. But they need extra support because of
Cerebral Palsy or other needs that cannot be met in a regular school.
- Adult literacy. We just started this as part-time program. So far most of our students are
junior staff working with Open Doors as cleaners.
How many Staff members are there?
We currently have 16 professional staff.
We have 22 support staff.
How many Special Olympic events do the students participate in a year?
Open Doors Students train for Special Olympics in the morning 4 days a week.
We hosted the Jos competition in 2015. But there were no regional or national competitions in 2015 due to lack of funds.
Open Doors Students train for Special Olympics in the morning 4 days a week.
We hosted the Jos competition in 2015. But there were no regional or national competitions in 2015 due to lack of funds.
What are some other events the students participate in?
Open Doors took part in the World CP day activities. Our children with CP joined CP all over the world by wearing green and posting our photo on an Australian website.
Open Doors took part in the World CP day activities. Our children with CP joined CP all over the world by wearing green and posting our photo on an Australian website.
International Day of the Disabled. We held a road show going all over Jos in a convoy and ending up paying a visit to the Plateau State House of Assembly.
How is the school funded?
Termly school fees are used for salaries and running costs while we count on donations for everything else. We also rely donations for sponsorship of children whose families can’t afford to pay fees.
How long has the school been operating?
We started in September 1999.
Do parents volunteer at the school?
No we do not have parent volunteers. But we do often have part time volunteers from the community.
What kind of holidays do you have at Christmas/Easter/summer/etc.?
We have 3 weeks off at Christmas/New Year and 2 weeks at Easter. Otherwise we are open all year round except for public holidays.
Do the kids wear uniforms?
Yes, except for the small children.
Termly school fees are used for salaries and running costs while we count on donations for everything else. We also rely donations for sponsorship of children whose families can’t afford to pay fees.
How long has the school been operating?
We started in September 1999.
Do parents volunteer at the school?
No we do not have parent volunteers. But we do often have part time volunteers from the community.
What kind of holidays do you have at Christmas/Easter/summer/etc.?
We have 3 weeks off at Christmas/New Year and 2 weeks at Easter. Otherwise we are open all year round except for public holidays.
Do the kids wear uniforms?
Yes, except for the small children.
What are your thoughts on Rachel and Stacey going to Antarctica and running a half marathon?
It is all so unbelievable! Who would have imagined it?
Do you have any fun memories of Rachel and Stacey
Aunty Rosemary (a teacher from Open Doors) goes down memory lane
Love you both,
Rosemary
And who can forget how the kids loved playing with Aunty Stacey’s hair!
It is all so unbelievable! Who would have imagined it?
Do you have any fun memories of Rachel and Stacey
Aunty Rosemary (a teacher from Open Doors) goes down memory lane
- Our visit to the zoo and wildlife Park in Jos
- When I braided your hair
- When both of you visited my church: Oasis of Love Church
- When you visited my family house. I served you boiled rice and hot red stew. Remember how you felt? You were sweating all over and you developed a running nose.
- When you pounded yam
- The lizard that made you vacate your room to the next. You had to use a lot of rags to close every opening in the door to prevent it from entering the room you were in.
- When you first tasted sugarcane. You chewed all of it. Instead of throwing away the chaff you swallowed it and started coughing.
- When you are bean cakes (Akara) for the first time with hot dried pepper and your face immediately turned red.
- When you tied a baby on your back with a wrapper and carried a bucket of water on your head.
Love you both,
Rosemary
And who can forget how the kids loved playing with Aunty Stacey’s hair!