MISSION STATEMENT OF FERNCLIFF MANOR (from their website)
Sail (The School for Adaptive & Integrative Learning) at Ferncliff Manor is an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of people with developmental disabilities, their families and the community utilizing research-based, adaptive and integrative strategies. Services provided include educational, rehabilitative, specialized residential, health care, creative arts therapies and recreation programs. The mission of our organization is to enable each individual to learn, develop and enjoy a meaningful and personally rewarding life.
Our Students Receive Close Personal Attention, Structure and Stimulation in a Safe Environment That Fosters Growth and Development!
PHILOSOPHY
Sail (The School for Adaptive & Integrative Learning) at Ferncliff Manor provides a full range of high quality educational, therapeutic and health care services to children with developmental disabilities offering close personal attention, structure and stimulation in a safe, secure environment that fosters growth and development. We believe that the combination of professional expertise, teamwork, concentrated effort, and nurturing care is the key to success with each child.
Utilizing a family-centered approach to designing and implementing the child’s program, we recognize the primacy of the family-child unit and regard our role as supportive in nature. Parents and family members play a central role in the educational and therapeutic effort and are assisted in the process of exercising their right of self-determination. An ongoing exchange of ideas and information between staff and family serves to preserve and enrich the family unit.
HISTORY
A Valentine Love Story with a Tradition of Excellence into the 21st Century
Founded in New Rochelle, NY in 1935 by Margaret Brady, RN. Ferncliff Manor was one of the first private schools to specialize in the care and treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities. Upon its opening Margaret Brady had no way of knowing that through Ferncliff Manor she would meet her future husband and start a tradition of excellence that has continued for more than 70 years. It all began with a chance meeting. Bill Saich was sent to inspect her residence and school on Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t long after that first meeting that he returned, not to inspect the school, but to take Miss Brady out on a date. The rest, as they say, is history. Each Valentine’s Day, Bill Saich sent his wife a dozen long-stemmed red roses to commemorate their anniversary.
Margaret Brady Saich’s legacy continues through her son William Saich, Jr. and his wife Patricia who have operated the school since the summer of 1972.
Over the years, Ferncliff Manor’s mission has remained constant in providing an individualized program of superior services and nurturing care that will enable each of our students to achieve an optimum level of independence and self-esteem. This commitment to our students has kept us at the forefront of innovation, assuring them of the most current technological advances and in seeking the most appropriate strategies to meet their needs. With over 70 years of solid experience, Ferncliff Manor offers a truly unique environment and a dynamic rehabilitative effort.