It was no ordinary first day of school on Wednesday morning in Peapack! For the first time since March of 2020, the Matheny School is back to operating fully in-person five days a week.

There was an excited buzz on campus as school leadership, teachers, paraprofessionals, and other school staff awaited the students’ arrival. And as the students entered and greeted staff, the halls quickly filled with the welcome sounds of a bustling school building – sounds that have been very missed over the last two and half years. For Director of Curriculum and Assistant Principal Katie Hardgrove, the best part was the smiles on everyone’s faces.

“The resiliency of students and staff has just been so amazing – through virtual learning, and then a hybrid period, as well as quarantines and other hurdles”, she said. “As you go around the classrooms today, you can see how excited and engaged the students and staff are. Everyone is just so excited to see one another.”

The Matheny School currently has 39 students enrolled. The community is also growing, thanks to the recent addition of five new school staff who are eagerly getting to know their new students and colleagues.

When asked what she’s most excited about for the school year, Hardgrove emphasized the re-establishment of a routine. It will certainly take time and patience to fully adjust to this new normal. But as always, the Matheny School maintains its fundamental belief in the students’ talents and potential, as well as its commitment to encourage growth and maximize independence. We can’t wait to see the great work the students will do this year!

David Karner, Vice President of the Lord Stirling School, and board of trustees members, Michael Hecht and Joe Garlayda recently presented a check in the amount of $60,000 to Matheny. The board of the now closed Lord Stirling School disbursed funds to several charities. Their donation to Matheny is earmarked for the Matheny School and life enrichment.

Pictured from left: Anne Bruno, Matheny School Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction; Michael Hecht; Matheny President and CEO Bill Kent; David Karner; Joe Garlayda; and Aimee Hunnewell, Chief Development Officer at Matheny.

Matheny, headquartered in Peapack, NJ is a special hospital and school providing exceptional care and an optimal quality of life for children and adults with special needs and medically complex developmental disabilities.

Check out our full Miles for Matheny 2022 Photo Album! Thanks to everyone who helped make this wonderful event happen! It was great to gather with our community and supporters.

*All photos by Keith Bratcher. Thank you, Keith!

Did you attend Miles for Matheny 2022? If so, did you stop by for a picture in our special 25th Anniversary picture frame?

Find your photo here, and be on the lookout for even more snapshots from this awesome event next week. Thank you for being there, supporting us, and helping us capture these beautiful moments.

Saturday, June 4th was the 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who showed up this weekend to show love and support to our amazing students, patients, and families! For this special Faces of Matheny feature, we are showing you some of our favorite moments from this beautiful Miles celebration. More photos to come later this week.

Special thanks to the Bernardsville News for their coverage, and to CBS 2 News New York and meteorologist John Elliott for their live broadcast from Miles at the Far Hills Fairgrounds! Check out the videos below.

Less than a month until our 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

This exciting event wouldn’t be possible without sponsorships from families, supporters, and businesses in our community. Please join us in thanking:

• The Lavine and Gordon Families, one of our devoted and enthusiastic Matheny families.
• The Poses Family Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing about significant positive impact in five focus areas, the largest being learning disabilities, through a combination of business disciplines, nonprofit expertise, funding and passion.
• Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies who pursues breakthroughs that change patients’ lives.

Thank you to these incredible people and organizations for supporting us as we work to enrich the lives and nurture the unique abilities of our students and patients.

There’s still time to register! Join us on Saturday, June 4th!

This week, for the first time in over two years, day students returned to The Matheny School! While some precautions remain in place for the safety of our students and staff, we are thrilled to welcome these students back! We are incredibly thankful to everyone who helped get us through two years of distanced and virtual learning, and all who made this return possible.

This week also happens to be Teacher Appreciation Week, with Special Education Week following next week. We are endlessly grateful for our Matheny teachers, who notice and nurture each and every student’s unique skills, talents, and aspirations. Without them, our work would be impossible. So, for this edition of The Faces of Matheny, we wanted to highlight the voices of two of our essential Matheny School educators. Why did they become teachers? What do they love about working at the Matheny School?

In the spirit of excitement and optimism, you are invited to join us on Saturday, June 4th for the 25th annual Miles for Matheny event.

Miles is an uplifting day that allows our residents to interact with, and be celebrated by, the surrounding community. Especially on this milestone anniversary, this year’s event is sure to be a joyful day for our patients, students, residents, families, and friends. At Miles, absolutely everyone is welcome to participate and free to be themselves.

In 2022, we are planning to hold all events in person and everything will be done with the health and safety of the people we serve in mind. We are hopeful and excited to bring back the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk to the park. The day’s events include 12.5, 25, 35, and 50-mile, and “Hills of Attrition” cycle rides, a 5K Run, Kids Fun Run, and of course the beloved Wheelchair Walk.**

We’re thrilled that this year’s Miles for Matheny will be held at the J. Malcolm Belcher Fairgrounds in Far Hills. It is only fitting that we celebrate our 75th anniversary in the same town where it all began when Matheny was known as the Burnt Mills School for Paralysis Correction. Walter and Marguerite only had a dream and a GI loan of $3,000 to create this amazing organization. Today, Matheny is a comprehensive non-profit organization offering life-saving and life-enriching services that touch the lives of hundreds of people with special needs every day.

Learn more and register today!

Matheny is dedicating 2022 to celebrating an important milestone – our 75^th anniversary! 75 years of enriching lives and growing abilities for children and adults with developmental disabilities. This institution has an incredibly inspiring story that began with one family’s vision and devotion. We are proud to continue the work each and every day to help ensure that our students, patients, and residents have the medical care, education, and other services that allow them to live the active and fulfilling lives they deserve.

As part of our celebrations throughout the year, we want to highlight Matheny community members – the people who have made Matheny the place we all know and love over the last 75 years. What initially drew them to Matheny? What makes them stick around, through both the joyful and the challenging periods? What are their favorite memories and stories? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Matheny?

We hope you enjoy this new series – The Faces of Matheny!

And who better to start this story sharing than a community member who found his way back to Matheny after a period away? Meet Matheny’s new chaplain, Fr. Paul!

Fr. Paul Varchola West, more commonly known around the halls of Matheny as Paul, received a B.M. in Music Theory and completed an MFA in Music Composition in 2010. After completing his degree, he began working at Matheny as a Recreation Therapy Assistant. Paul later worked in the Education Department as a 1:1 Aide, and then as the school’s Music Teacher until 2016 when he began his seminary studies. Fr. Paul completed his M.Div. in May of 2020 and was ordained a Byzantine Catholic Priest on July 18^th of that year, at which point he was assigned as the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church in Levittown, PA. During seminary formation, Fr. Paul completed his Chaplaincy Internship (CPE) at UPMC Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Recently, Fr. Paul caught wind of an open Chaplaincy position at Matheny and jumped at the opportunity to return to the “Matheny Family” as he always found great joy within those halls. And it’s not just him – Paul’s wife Alissa was a Music Therapist at Matheny from 2005-2009, and again from 2010-2016. Their two children have many fond memories of Matheny and are looking forward to making many more. Truly a family affair!

When asked about his favorite Matheny memory, Fr. Paul had this to say:

“Back in 2013 when I was working as the school’s music teacher, an album I had performed on years prior while living in Los Angeles was picked up for a Grammy Nomination. To my surprise, there was a rather large uproar at Matheny, which honestly rivaled the Red Carpet! Anyway, there was so much excitement that, in all honesty, I wanted to “bring home the Grammy” more for the folks at Matheny than for myself. So, my wife and I got to travel back to LA, go to several fancy parties, walk the Red Carpet, and even watch the Grammys performances from AMAZING seats! After all that…we didn’t win the Grammy. When I returned to Matheny, a whole group of students presented me with a Grammy Award they made with their art teacher, Felicia. It said “Paul West – Our Every Day Grammy Winner” on it. It was made out of a tissue box, a Styrofoam coffee cup, and some gold paint. That award still sits on a shelf in my office. My Grammy Nominee medal from the Recording Academy is in a box somewhere…I have no idea where. What Matheny (the staff and students/residents) did was demonstrate how true the phrase “the Matheny Family” really is. The unity, the love, the care, the devotion, dedication, support, pride in one another’s achievements – that’s what I will remember, always.

We’re so grateful to have Fr. Paul back at Matheny! Thanks for the wonderful story. Here’s to the many more stories we’ll create here – over the next 75 years and beyond!

Do you have any favorite Matheny stories that you would like to share? Would you like to be featured in this series (or know someone you’d like to see featured)? Get in touch at marketing@matheny.org or on social media @mathenymedical.

On December 14, 2017, our beloved Chuck Matheny passed away. Over the past four years, all of us at Matheny have worked hard to model his compassionate and joyful spirit every day. In 2022 and beyond, we will continue to be inspired and guided by Chuck’s remarkable story and legacy. Please take a moment to reflect on his life as we celebrate this season of generosity and love.

Learn more about Chuck here.

Interested in joining the Matheny team? Please send along your resume for consideration for our upcoming virtual hiring event!

The event will be held on Wednesday, December 8^th from 4pm to 7pm. Interested applicants should send their resumes to jobs@matheny.org. Selected candidates will receive an interview time slot and a link to a Zoom meeting from Matheny’s Human Resources department. Candidates can also call 908-234-0011 x 1236 or 1306 with questions, or visit our Employment page to learn more about available positions, benefits, and more.

There are open positions in several departments, including nursing, direct support, housekeeping, and food service. Additional positions at the Matheny School include school nurses, elementary school teachers, and paraprofessionals.

All positions offer the rewarding opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Matheny’s patients and residents.

We hope to hear from you!

Enjoy some great photos from the Matheny School’s 6th Annual Golf Outing in September. Thank you to all who joined us!

You can also find this album on our Facebook page.

We hope to see you next year!