John Kelly never planned on running Meeting Street, which has been educating and supporting children and young adults with disabilities for 59 years. He was a corporate lawyer with a range of clients. But then he found himself on Meeting Street’s board – a way to give back to the community. And so when the school needed someone to run things temporarily, he agreed.
While school officials were looking for a permanent president, Kelly realized he was enjoying himself, and the board realized they didn’t have to look far for their next president.
Now, Kelly is writing a new chapter at Meeting Street by overseeing the construction of a new home – a property that will serve as a gateway to South Providence and create more than 350 jobs in the process.
PBN: How many people do you employ?
KELLY: About 160.
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PBN: How many children attend the school?
KELLY: Well, the school is almost a misnomer. Between the early learning center and our school, we have about 150 kids. But overall, we work with between 1,600 and 1,700 kids a year. There is a lot of outreach. And 85 percent of our kids are under age 6.
PBN: I remember “Meeting Street School.” Did the name change?
KELLY: It’s funny, but the name was never “Meeting Street School.” It was a name that people gave us and we never corrected them. At one point we were Meeting Street Center, but now we just call ourselves Meeting Street. It comes from where we started, in the old Providence Preservation Society building on Meeting Street in Providence.
PBN: Was there something inside you that caused you to think this all made sense?
KELLY: Well, I have always been attracted to business. And the first year I was here I upset a few people because I would refer to this as a business and say that we had to run it that way. And people would come back at me and say, ‘Mission, mission, mission.’ And I said, ‘If there’s no money, there’s no mission.’ And it all started sinking in after that. It’s a business, but it’s a business with a great purpose. It’s a lot of fun because I look at my job as giving the people who do the direct service the tools they need.
PBN: What sort of financial issues do you face?
KELLY: Payroll. Health insurance kills us. It sounds sad, but this year we got just under a 10 percent increase and we celebrated. That’s pathetic. My budget is about $10.9 million and we’re spending over $900,000 just on health insurance. It’s crazy.
PBN: Tell me about your new building in Providence?
KELLY: We’re building at Thurbers Avenue and Eddy Street a 75,000-square-foot building.
PBN: What is it you are looking to create at the new facility?
KELLY: When we started in 1946, Meeting Street was the first to have therapists working alongside teachers in the classroom. We have had a series of firsts, nationally. What we are looking to do in the new facility, is to not only do that with the school – where the elementary and middle school will be the first fully inclusive for severe and profound children – but to also put us in a position to have many more firsts after that. It is being designed for research and development and training. All of our classrooms will have observation space. Our treatment rooms will have observation space. … We’re looking to be a model for public schools and private schools around the country – that this is how you do inclusive education.
PBN: What is inclusive education?
KELLY: Inclusive education is children learning, playing, living and growing together regardless of ability or disability. Kids with disabilities have what is called an IEP – and Individualized Education Plan. We’re going to do that for all the kids. Kids without special needs and kids with special needs.
PBN: What is the draw to students without disabilities?
KELLY: The small classrooms and curriculum. We’re starting to put together some longitudinal studies and we think we’re going to have some great outcomes. … And what they are getting in addition to that is a whole socialization issue. You walk through there and it’s amazing to see a 5-year-old with another 5-year-old and one of them happens to be in a wheelchair. The one kid doesn’t see that other kid as being in a wheelchair. He just sees him as his friend. We, as adults, have a bigger issue than the kids do. The kids get it.
PBN: When will the new school be built?
KELLY: It’s under construction. We will be open in September of 2006. We’re raising funds. Our goal is $15 million. The whole campus will end up costing about $23 million, so it’s a significant investment.
PBN: How is the fund raising going?
KELLY: We’re at about 60 percent of our goal. It slowed a bit in the summer, but it’s picking up. We have about a year to raise another $7 million. So far, the community has been just great.
PBN: What motivates you, personally?
KELLY: The ability to have an impact. My skill set is not necessarily on the direct service side. I don’t have that background. But I can set up things to make that work better. What motivates me is really getting this building done and getting the organization ready to go to the next step.
