When Norwich school officials announced there would be no room for Natchaug Hospital‘s in-district clinical day program this school year, there was momentary panic. But the ensuing move to Franklin Elementary School has proved to be a blessing in disguise.
Housed in Norwich since 1999, the former Hickory School (originally the Hickory Street School) provides services for students with social, emotional and behavioral issues who are not succeeding in a traditional classroom environment. As the 2018-2019 school year began, the program had moved to Franklin Elementary School where students, teachers and administrators have an entire wing for learning. The new Green Valley School joins five other state-approved day school programs at Natchaug for students in all grades.
“This is really better for us in many ways,” says Jill Bourbeau, chief administrator of Natchaug and Rushford school programs.
The Green Valley School accepts students from all area school districts in the elementary grades. The capacity is 30 students with a current enrollment of 13.
“Regular schools can’t provide the level of intervention these kids need,” explains Principal Scott Trepanier, adding that Green Valley has four self-contained classrooms and a teacher to student ratio of up to seven.
In addition to regular academic lessons, the school day at Green Valley includes working on behavioral goals that will allow the students to return to a public school classroom eventually.
“They have 45 minutes a day of group therapy where they work on social and emotional health. We’re trying to build those skills back up for them. The goal is to get them into the least restrictive environment. This is a very restrictive environment,” Trepanier says.
“We want them back in a traditional school, going to prom and doing all the things you do in a regular school, but for some students, our school programs are the least restrictive environment for the amount of time they need,” Bourbeau adds.
The track record for the program is good, with many of the 28 students in Hickory last year transitioning back to regular schools. Establishing Green Valley inside a regular public school helps make that move when the time is right, they stress.
“We’re able to have these kids with non-disabled kids, which is an ideal situation,” Bourbeau says. “It’s normalizing for these kids – there’s a regular playground, a library, a gymnasium.”
That similarity isn’t lost on parents investigating programs for their children. Many, she says, prefer a program such as Green Valley because it’s in a regular school building.
“But, it’s still a small, private setting, especially for kids who are traumatized and might worry that word would get out that they go to group therapy every day,” she says.
For more information about Green Valley and other school programs available to children and teens, email Jill Bourbeau directly, or call 860.465.5908.