Special-needs program modified at Bethel Park’s St. Thomas More School
One of the most well-attended St. Anthony School Programs locations will be converting into a two-classroom format for the 2016-17 school year.
St. Thomas More School in Bethel Park will offer a more age-appropriate setting for the program’s students with Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities by separating the children by grade level.
“The decision was made for a number of reasons,” said Lisa George, director of St. Anthony School Programs, a Franklin Park-based inclusive education organization.
“St. Thomas More has always been one of our most popular and desired sites,” she said. “We have typically had waiting lists the past 17 years. It will better serve the students by having only a four-year age difference.”
The students will be divided in two separate areas, kindergarten through third grade and fourth through eighth grades, in order to specify the learning experience.
“The change will meet the student’s needs better because there will be a better flow to the classroom, and we will be able to better address both their behaviors and personal needs,” George said. “Before, it was very difficult to meet both ages of kids because of the drastic age gap between them.”
The seperation will allow teachers and aides at St. Thomas More to focus more on a hands-on, active learning experience for the younger age group, while older students will have independent learning suitable for their age.
Splitting the students into two respective grade groups will assist teachers in only needing the general education to teach children in their particular group, rather than the nine grade levels they were required to know before in a one-classroom setting.
“Our staff is so happy and thrilled because they are able to concentrate more on their area of expertise,” George said. “They are able to focus on those particular needs and address them with the materials, strategies and techniques they use.”
George, program director since 1999, is looking to make the two-classroom experience uniform across St. Anthony’s six locations in four counties. One hurdle, though, is the lack of space in several of the buildings housing that house program.
“It makes a tremendous difference in many ways,” George said. “The routines, structure and activities are geared toward a more specific level. Eventually, it is our goal to make all of our schools into two classrooms.”
The St. Anthony School Program’s only facility currently arranged in the two-classroom model format is St. Therese School in Munhall, since its inception in 2010 following the closing of Word of God in Swissvale.