ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The Jessie Baker School, the first public school in California for children with severe disabilities, celebrated its 60th anniversary last week. 

The event was flush with attendees, including local government officials, who came out to celebrate the momentous occasion at the groundbreaking school. 

Dawn Phillips, a teacher at the school for 19 years, co-organized the event on March 27 and said the staff wanted to “celebrate this unique school” and to honor the school’s namesake. 

“We wanted to celebrate Jessie Baker, who started this school 60 years ago, because our students didn’t have a place to go back then,” Phillips said. “She and other people made this school happen, and we have grown over the years for our students, who have special needs, to thrive.”

Inspired by her son’s needs, Baker became a vocal advocate for the education of students with special needs, ultimately spearheading the construction of the school in 1964. 

Jenny Mitchell, teacher and co-organizer of the event, said she has taught at the school for the past eight years. She noted when the school first started, it primarily dealt with students with Down Syndrome, but over the years the school has accepted and served students with different disabilities such as autism, as well as physical disabilities and other limitations.

“Through the years, we have diversified our population, and we have grown in size and staff,” Mitchell said. “We have definitely grown.”

The festivities included touring the classrooms, adorned with balloons of the school’s colors. 

One classroom displayed photos of lessons taught to the students while another had a line formed for attendees for food and refreshments.

Attendees were also able to take part in the “one bite” challenge, an exercise used to help students acquire new tastes. 

Teacher Ashley Rothrock said the one-bite challenge helps students acquire new tastes that they were never willing to try before by eating a marshmallow with flavor additives. She said that it starts with “one touch, one smell, one taste and it eventually leads to one bite.” 

“We’ve had one student who would say no to every recipe, and by mid-school year, he was trying those new recipes,” Rothrock said. “Before, we would try to get him to try the food with us, and we would take one bite together.”

Before the event kicked off, Jessie Baker Principal Cindee Shapton received a Certificate of Recognition from Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and a Proclamation Award from District 5 Supervisor Pat Hume on behalf of the school. 

Shapton said the staff has watched many students grow, read, write and learn social skills to make friends and be part of the group. 

Shapton said she feels that the school will continue to grow.

“It will continue to grow,” Shapton said. “We have new kids coming in and they go all the way up to age 22 with our teaching. We have a lot more to give.”