Community based work opportunities were introduced in 1986. Worksites are typically within a 20-30 minute travel time from the school, and include basic custodial, restaurant support (non-food), basic small animal care, clerical and grocery/retail (bagging, stocking, facing, shipping/receiving) with some students progressing to independent (drop-off) status under supervision of host staff. 20-25 students are involved in 34 weekly visits to 18 host sites. Time on-site ranges from 45 minutes to 2-3 hours depending on the site and student readiness.
Current Active Community Worksites: Big Y Supermarket |
| Burlington Coat Factory Carr Hardware Club Fitness |
| Enfield Senior Center |
| Faith Lutheran Church |
| Foodshare |
| Harvey and Lewis Opticians |
| Infoshred |
| Marshall's |
| Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Metropolitan Learning Center |
| Shell Gas Station and Convenience |
| South Whitney Pizza |
| State of Connecticut Fire Academy |
| Walgreen's |
Inactive Community Worksites:
|
Books and Beads
|
McCarthy Concrete
|
The Children's Museum
|
Books and Beads
Windsor, CT
Established as a training site in July 2007, the Beads and Books Showroom provides students with opportunities in materials handling (unpacking, shelving, packing). On a typical day students and staff arrive to find one of several shipping cartons filled with books that have arrived from a distribution warehouse such as Barnes and Noble. Each carton may contain up to eight hundred books of various titles, shapes and sizes. Students sort these books by alphabetical order according to title. Stacks of the same title will then be boxed for inventory. A second activity includes a process known as “facing” the bookshelves. Students straighten the shelf making sure all of the books are in size order. Columns of books are placed between upright books to act as bookends. Students have to use visual and spatial skills to organize the units. Staff and students enjoy working with the staff and owner Mr. Mondazzi.
For location, directions: View Map
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Harvey and Lewis Opticians, with retail sites throughout the Greater Hartford area, has provided integrated training sites for River Street School vocational students since 1998. During regular weekly visits to the Hartford, West Hartford, Glastonbury and Enfield stores, students perform light cleaning tasks including restroom fixtures, mopping tiled floors, replacing paper products, emptying trash receptacles, dusting, vacuuming showroom areas, cleaning glass doors, glass displays, and mirrors. Students learn proper use of a variety of non-caustic cleaning products. A dress code requires khakis and a collared shirt. Students are taught to be aware of the surroundings and not vacuum when the phones are in use or customers are being fitted for glasses.
For location/directions:
Hartford store: View Map
West Hartford store: View Map
Glastonbury store: View Map
Enfield store: View Map
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Club Fitness
Bloomfield,CT
The Bloomfield Club Fitness has been a work site since 2003. Students sanitize all exercise equipment. We have had several students who have been hired by the company during their River Street School careers after having transitioned to working under host staff supervision.
For location/directions: View Map
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Bloomfield,CT
The Bloomfield Club Fitness has been a work site since 2003. Students sanitize all exercise equipment. We have had several students who have been hired by the company during their River Street School careers after having transitioned to working under host staff supervision.
For location/directions: View Map
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South Whitney Pizza
Hartford, CT
South Whitney Pizza has provided work opportunities for RSS vocational students since 1997. Students make up supplies of pizza boxes for take out orders three mornings a week as a second stop after working at Harvey & Lewis Opticians. One of the perks, in addition to the warm welcome RSS students receive, is a pizza to take back for lunch at the end of each work session.
For location/directions: View Map
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Hartford, CT
South Whitney Pizza has provided work opportunities for RSS vocational students since 1997. Students make up supplies of pizza boxes for take out orders three mornings a week as a second stop after working at Harvey & Lewis Opticians. One of the perks, in addition to the warm welcome RSS students receive, is a pizza to take back for lunch at the end of each work session.
For location/directions: View Map
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CT Fire Academy
Windsor Locks, CT
The State of Connecticut Fire Academy has hosted students from River Street School since 2004. The Fire Academy is often one of the first work work sites for students new to community based programming. Two afternoons a week students do light maintenance in the classroom area, wiping down tables and chairs, putting chairs up. In good weather, students do light maintenance on the fire trucks, polishing glass and chrome.
For location/directions: View Map
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Windsor Locks, CT
The State of Connecticut Fire Academy has hosted students from River Street School since 2004. The Fire Academy is often one of the first work work sites for students new to community based programming. Two afternoons a week students do light maintenance in the classroom area, wiping down tables and chairs, putting chairs up. In good weather, students do light maintenance on the fire trucks, polishing glass and chrome.
For location/directions: View Map
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Foodshare
Bloomfield. CT
River Street School Vocational students have worked at the Foodshare warehouse facility since November 2007. Students help inspect and prepare donated food for shelving and distribution. Donated candy is inspected for intact packaging and then placed in ziplock bags and full bags are then placed into cartons. Bread which comes in in crates is boxed to be sent to a variety of locations. Cans of fruit, sauce and vegetables are inspected. Cans without any damage are boxed to be sent out. Cans with minor damage (small dents) are placed on shelves for shopping by organizations and individuals. Cans that have greater damage are set aside for use by local farmers as animal feed.
The Kennedy Road Shell Station has provided work opportunities since September 2009. Inside responsibilities include facing merchandize, restocking the coffee bar (milk, etc.), and vacuuming. Outside responsibilities include sweeping, bagging trash, and wiping down the fronts of the pumps. A number of students have transitioned from supervision by Vocational Department staff to working independently under the supervision of the Shell staff.
Established as an work site in January 2008, students are responsible for cleaning and care of small animals.
A worksite since in November 2009, students are trained in bagging groceries, restocking, and assisting customers in taking their groceries to their cars.
For location/directions: View Map
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Our first students will begin working at the Copaco Shopping Plaza store in September 2016. Students will be organizing merchandise in various departments.
Bloomfield. CT
River Street School Vocational students have worked at the Foodshare warehouse facility since November 2007. Students help inspect and prepare donated food for shelving and distribution. Donated candy is inspected for intact packaging and then placed in ziplock bags and full bags are then placed into cartons. Bread which comes in in crates is boxed to be sent to a variety of locations. Cans of fruit, sauce and vegetables are inspected. Cans without any damage are boxed to be sent out. Cans with minor damage (small dents) are placed on shelves for shopping by organizations and individuals. Cans that have greater damage are set aside for use by local farmers as animal feed.
Kennedy Road, Windsor, CT
The Kennedy Road Shell Station has provided work opportunities since September 2009. Inside responsibilities include facing merchandize, restocking the coffee bar (milk, etc.), and vacuuming. Outside responsibilities include sweeping, bagging trash, and wiping down the fronts of the pumps. A number of students have transitioned from supervision by Vocational Department staff to working independently under the supervision of the Shell staff.
Established as an work site in January 2008, students are responsible for cleaning and care of small animals.
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Big Y Supermarket
Enfield, CT
Enfield, CT
A worksite since in November 2009, students are trained in bagging groceries, restocking, and assisting customers in taking their groceries to their cars.
For location/directions: View Map
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McCarthy Concrete Company
South Windsor, CT
A work site since the 2010-2011 school year, McCarthy offers our students a site for document shredding.
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Faith Lutheran Church
East Hartford, Connecticut
Faith Lutheran Church has welcomed River Street student workers since September 2012. Faith Lutheran offers both clerical (weekly set up order of service and music binders, and as needed, cut and replace request cards in pews, file old music, prepare the monthly newsletter for mailing, miscellaneous filling, add/take down bulletin board items and copy/collate/staple Sunday School lessons) and basic custodial opportunities (vacuum entry/kitchen/church, spot check six bathrooms for supplies and any needed cleaning, remove trash from all bathrooms, office and church to bins and replace bags, transfer recycling to pick up bins, wash windows on doors/hallways/elevator, wipe tables and chairs and chairs in classrooms, and dust banisters and sills).
For location/directions: View Map
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Enfield Senior Center
Enfield, CT
River Street students began working at the Senior Center in March 2015 and currently visit to work Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. The Senior Center offers a variety of custodial opportunities: dusting (library shelves, Gift Shop, gym lockers), re-shelving library books, washing door glass, and wiping tables/straightening chairs (small cafeteria, large café, computer area).
For location/directions: View Map
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Marshall's
Enfield, CT
River Street students began working at Marshall's in January 2015. Primary assignments include stripping plastic from, and laying out clothing for hanging and sizing, as well as storing out of season hangers in boxes and consolidating in season hangers on the various hanger racks. Additional occasional duties include sweeping up in the store room; separating cardboard, plastic, and paper into separate containers and then bringing each category to the proper disposal area; work on the sales floor organizing shoes in the footwear department, and checking sizes and correcting sizing errors in the men’s department; and assisting in unloading the truck pallets that are delivered daily.
For location/directions: View Map
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Metropolitan Learning Center
Bloomfield, CT
MLC, a sister CREC program, has been a worksite since November 2012 and provides River Street students with work shredding documents.
For location/directions: View Map
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Walgreen's
Hazard Road, Enfield, CT
Shaker Road, Enfield, CT
Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT
Elm Street, Windsor Locks, CT
Students began working at the Shaker Road and Hazard Avenue, Enfield Walgreen sites in September 2012. The Walgreens on Farmington Ave, West Hartford welcomed us in May 2016. Our newest Walgreens site on Elm Street in Windsor Locks welcomed us in September 2017. On arrival, students check in with managers to get the day's assignments which include: organizing and facing product on shelves, "flagging" stickers for sale items, placing security stickers on high theft items, removing plastic from seasonal cards and re-shelving, organizing perishable items by date and removing outdated items and bringing outdated items to the stock area, and removing overstock and delivery items.
For location/directions:
Shaker Road, Enfield Store: View Map
Hazard Avenue, Enfield Store: View Map
Farmington Avenue, West Hartford Store: View Map
Elm Street Store: View Map
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Infoshred
East Windsor, CT
InfoShred has hosted RSS students workers since September 2014. Documents are shredded daily in the Campus Work Center using large commercial grade document shredders. Twice weekly, students load a school van with bags of shredded documents and deliver them to/unload them at Infoshred for secure disposal and recycling.
For location/directions: View Map
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Menchie's Frozen Yogurt
Windsor, CT
Students have been working at the new Menchie's on Kennedy Road in the Windsor Court Shopping Plaza since May 2016. Assignments include cleaning tables and chairs and setting up the outside seating.
For location/directions: View Map
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South Windsor, CT
A work site since the 2010-2011 school year, McCarthy offers our students a site for document shredding.
Faith Lutheran Church
East Hartford, Connecticut
Faith Lutheran Church has welcomed River Street student workers since September 2012. Faith Lutheran offers both clerical (weekly set up order of service and music binders, and as needed, cut and replace request cards in pews, file old music, prepare the monthly newsletter for mailing, miscellaneous filling, add/take down bulletin board items and copy/collate/staple Sunday School lessons) and basic custodial opportunities (vacuum entry/kitchen/church, spot check six bathrooms for supplies and any needed cleaning, remove trash from all bathrooms, office and church to bins and replace bags, transfer recycling to pick up bins, wash windows on doors/hallways/elevator, wipe tables and chairs and chairs in classrooms, and dust banisters and sills).
For location/directions: View Map
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Enfield Senior Center
Enfield, CT
River Street students began working at the Senior Center in March 2015 and currently visit to work Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. The Senior Center offers a variety of custodial opportunities: dusting (library shelves, Gift Shop, gym lockers), re-shelving library books, washing door glass, and wiping tables/straightening chairs (small cafeteria, large café, computer area).
For location/directions: View Map
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Marshall's
Enfield, CT
River Street students began working at Marshall's in January 2015. Primary assignments include stripping plastic from, and laying out clothing for hanging and sizing, as well as storing out of season hangers in boxes and consolidating in season hangers on the various hanger racks. Additional occasional duties include sweeping up in the store room; separating cardboard, plastic, and paper into separate containers and then bringing each category to the proper disposal area; work on the sales floor organizing shoes in the footwear department, and checking sizes and correcting sizing errors in the men’s department; and assisting in unloading the truck pallets that are delivered daily.
For location/directions: View Map
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Metropolitan Learning Center
Bloomfield, CT
For location/directions: View Map
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Walgreen's
Hazard Road, Enfield, CT
Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT
Elm Street, Windsor Locks, CT
Students began working at the Shaker Road and Hazard Avenue, Enfield Walgreen sites in September 2012. The Walgreens on Farmington Ave, West Hartford welcomed us in May 2016. Our newest Walgreens site on Elm Street in Windsor Locks welcomed us in September 2017. On arrival, students check in with managers to get the day's assignments which include: organizing and facing product on shelves, "flagging" stickers for sale items, placing security stickers on high theft items, removing plastic from seasonal cards and re-shelving, organizing perishable items by date and removing outdated items and bringing outdated items to the stock area, and removing overstock and delivery items.
For location/directions:
Shaker Road, Enfield Store: View Map
Hazard Avenue, Enfield Store: View Map
Farmington Avenue, West Hartford Store: View Map
Elm Street Store: View Map
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Infoshred
East Windsor, CT
For location/directions: View Map
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Menchie's Frozen Yogurt
Windsor, CT
Students have been working at the new Menchie's on Kennedy Road in the Windsor Court Shopping Plaza since May 2016. Assignments include cleaning tables and chairs and setting up the outside seating.
For location/directions: View Map
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Copaco Shopping Plaza, Bloomfield, CT
Our first students will begin working at the Copaco Shopping Plaza store in September 2016. Students will be organizing merchandise in various departments.
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The Vocational Department is excited to add Carr Hardware in Enfield, CT to its community based work opportunities as of November 2016. Duties initially will involve light maintenance but hopefully will expand to merchandise (stocking, facing).
Enfield, CT
The Vocational Department is excited to add Carr Hardware in Enfield, CT to its community based work opportunities as of November 2016. Duties initially will involve light maintenance but hopefully will expand to merchandise (stocking, facing).
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