JACKSON – It started out with the 10th Annual Penguin Plunge months ago and culminated recently with a romp around Wonderland at the Regional Day School.
The school – located at 890 Toms River Road in Jackson – is actually part of the Manchester School district and services students with special needs and intellectual challenges.
Funds were raised for this year’s prom and graduation through the annual Penguin Plunge held at Harry Wright Lake. School Principal Lisa Michallis noted that “$6,500 was raised through the Penguin Plunge.”
“This year’s prom theme was Alice in Wonderland. Part of the donations have been used for this year’s event which includes a DJ and catered lunch in our school’s multi-purpose room,” she added.
The students’ graduation was scheduled for June 9 and included a post-graduation party and celebration for the graduates and their families.
Michallis told The Manchester Times that a lot of work was involved in transforming the school’s gymnasium into Wonderland. “We have a prom committee of three but some of our staff also helped us make some of the decorations. Our prom committee comes up with the theme and in the last few nights they put the last special touches on this.”
“We have a catered lunch today. We are doing a tea party theme so we’ll have some finger desserts, a DJ, photo booth and we had prom shirts that were made up,” the principal added.
The Prom Committee consisted of Kelly Sales, Jessica Nolan and Jeanette Mojica. They were sporting the Prom T-shirts. Sales said it took around a “week and a half but we started planning in September. It is a different theme every year. Last year the theme was a circus.”
Michallis said there would be a prom king and queen. “We have 73 students and at least 50 are here today for the prom. It is for those 14 and older. At the end of the day we will invite the rest of the school down for dessert and dancing.”
“Our DJ is One-of-a-Kind Events; they have been our DJ for prom and graduation for about 15 years now. They are great to work with,” Michallis said.
Also in attendance was a member of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office who visited from the nearby Ocean County Vocational School in Jackson, who maintains safety, she said.
The school recently observed its 40th anniversary. “It opened up in the 1982-83 school year,” she said. Prior staff members and students came out for that event and keynote speaker Nicholas Meroney in celebration of the school and students.
“We are a hidden gem here in Ocean County,” Michallis said. The anniversary celebration included an assembly and an open house tour with a theme of “Through the Decades” with classrooms having a theme of different decades that included cake and refreshments.
Michallis said the school has a staff of 72 teachers, principals, para professionals. Regional Day School was actually built by the state of New Jersey. “They built a lot of regional day schools in the early 80s. Now most are run by a service commission or a private board of directors.”
“We are run by the Manchester Board of Education and we are recertified by the state every five years. Manchester (BOE) oversees us, our employees and our programs.”
The anniversary was also held in the gymnasium requiring Alice in Wonderland to be removed following the prom. “It was said to take it down,” Sales remarked.
