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Program aimed at ‘problem’ studentsNorth Syracuse Central School District, in cooperation with Elmcrest Children's Center, this tall began a three-year special education program aimed at helping “problem” children through the classroom.The program for students with emotional and-or behavioral problems who are in need of intensive remedial tutoring is being held in a new day treatment program in the district’s Lawrence Road School.It presently serves a student population of about 18, according to a spokesman, but it is expected to increase to 26 by the first of the year. The students are from Onondaga or adjacent counties.The program allows students to live at home while providing them with the psychological and social services geared to meet the student’s individual needs, Anthony Winkler, director of Special Education for North Syracuse, said.Students referred for participation are those who !are unable to function in a regular school environment and have had unfavorable performance records in school and in the community,” officials said.“The thrust of the program at Lawrence Road is to re-integrate students into regular school classrooms and to enable the school district to reduce the number of institutional placements for students in need of special services,” Winkler said.The new program will enable the district to “meet a wider variety of educational and emotional needs of an increasing number of students requiring such services. The program also will provide curriculum development and in-service training to staff members who can benefit from the expertise and knowledge of Elmcrest’s professional staff in dealing with the hard-to-handle, acting out and emotionally disturbed child.” Winkler said.Judy Fox, supervisor of the Day Treatment Program at Elmcrest, said the North Syracuse program will help in developing curriculum and teaching techniques which can be adopted in other districts. In the next few years, all districts will be required to have a program to provide assistance for children who have special problems.Presently each district pays tuition for the children referred to the North Syracuse school, she said.“Since the inception of the Day Treatment Program at Elmcrest in 1972, there has been a high rate of success in returning students to regular classrooms,” Miss Fox said.That success, she said, is attributed to the “high teacher-to-student ratio; the availabilty of a wide variety of specialists; emphasis on student development and decision-making skills, and intensive family counseling.”Miss Fox said the major difference between the day treatment setting and the regular classroom is the time and ability to place emphasis on critical situations as they arise.“Many times the attention to behavioral problems must take precedent over academic concerns for these special students, she said Winkler said an important part of the day treatment program is the supportiveservice provided for parents and family members as part of the overall corrective program. He said a “highly structured” parent s therapy group is conducted on a weekly basis.John Rafter, a member of the Elmcrest teaching staff, is coordinating the educational component of the Lawrence Road program. Social Services is under the supervision of Christopher Mock, also associated with Elmcrest.Miss Fox said each of the teachers is trained in special education.Funds for the program for coordinating the program are available to Elmcrest and the referring school districts from the state Education Department.John Rafter, coordinator of the Lawrence Road Day Treatment Program, says goodby to students leaving for return home.All Stores OpenSPORTSSnowmobile SuitsChildren's sizes, washable water-repellant, incl. hood. Reg. S!9.97-$25.97DAI C
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald American
Syracuse, New York, US
Sun, Nov 21, 1976
Page 96
Full Page
Clipped by
Onondaga C.
NY, USA 04 Apr 2024
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