Overview
Three Academic Teams
Vocational Training
Transition Services
Clinical Services
PBIS - Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support
Occupational Therapy Services
Physical Therapy Services
Speech & Language Services
Assistive Technology

Overview

St. Elizabeth School provides an 11-month school program. There are 199 school days of classroom and community-based instruction during the school year, which begins in early July and ends in mid-June, with a summer recess in August.

St. Elizabeth School’s goal is that all students develop into graduates who are successful at home, in the workforce, and in the community. The school provides opportunities for students to integrate and generalize their academic, social, and vocational skills in novel situations.

The academic program, which offers both traditional and innovative coursework, is highly individualized and emphasizes the functional application of skills. Teachers maintain a classroom environment where students are both supported and challenged. They implement a curriculum that is designed to help students progress and experience success. In addition to a variety of courses in the subject areas of

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies

The school also offers courses to meet students’ needs and to encourage their interests. These courses include: art, building maintenance, computer technician/analyst, daily living skills, educational technology, foundations of technology, health education, home management, horticulture, job readiness, keyboarding and applications, Microsoft certification training, physical education, photography, school library media, strength training and fitness, television/multimedia production, woodworking, and other creative classes to address the needs and interests of our students.

Students rotate through seven class periods with homeroom at the beginning and ending of each day. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, buses unload at 8:05 a.m., and begin loading at 2:20 p.m. Students have one-half day of school on Wednesdays, with afternoon buses called at 12:45 p.m.

St. Elizabeth School creates a school experience for students that would be similar to the experience their siblings and peers experience in a typical school. For instance, we have a Student Council with elected officers and homeroom representatives, sports teams and pep squad, ring ceremony, and prom. Students are given every opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed – and have a positive experience while at SES.

The staff members at St. Elizabeth School include teachers, teaching assistants, program assistants, one-to-one assistants, social workers, counselors, behavior specialists, transition specialists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, assistive technology specialist, and nurses, as well as administrative and support personnel.

Three Academic Teams

Students at SES are grouped into three academic teams. The teams are referred to by the name of the Program Coordinator – which means we have the Boyce Team with Mrs. Debbie Boyce as Coordinator, the Wise Team with Mrs. Leslie Wise as Coordinator, and the Martin Team with Ms. Sarah Martin as Coordinator.

The Boyce Team for Middle/High School Students

Most students enrolling at St. Elizabeth School enter through the Middle/High School (MHS) program. Our immediate focus is to make each student feel welcome and comfortable in order to build their self-confidence and enable them to take risks in learning.

Students in the MHS program range in age from 11-16 and are grouped according to their academic and social skills and needs. The Middle/High School is designed to provide a highly individualized program to assist students in making gains in academic, social/emotional, and vocational goals.

As students enter the MHS program, they are informally assessed and a plan is developed to encourage growth in all IEP goals. Students participate in math, reading, writing, science, and social studies curriculum adapted to their abilities and needs. MHS students also participate in vocational classes such as carpentry, computer lab, art, and horticulture, and they explore various career opportunities.

The Wise Team for High School Students

The Wise team is made up of students ages 15-21 who are cognitively able to seek a high school diploma. Although some students receive a Certificate of Completion students are usually higher functioning and many work independently in the community. Students take the core subjects of math, English, social studies and science along with technology ed, computer and keyboarding, and a variety of vocational classes. All students work one day per week either on campus or in the community, and many work a second day. Students have an independent schedule which they follow each day.

The Martin Team for High School Students

The Martin team is made up of students ages 15 – 21 who will earn a Certificate of Completion when they finish their school careers. Students take the core subjects of math, English, social studies, and science, as well as daily living skills, home management, and job readiness classes. They also experience a variety of vocational classes. For the most part, students travel from class to class throughout the day with their homeroom groups. All students work one day per week either on campus or in the community, and change job assignments at least twice per year.

Vocational Training

Vocational Training is a vitally important part of the educational program at St. Elizabeth School. The Wright Center for Transition Services at SES has four full time staff members who help students with vocational training. Every student has a team of staff members who assist them in planning for life after graduation from SES. While in school, SES students are provided opportunities to explore their occupational preferences and to reach their job potential. The team enables the student to set goals and develop the work-related skills, behaviors, and attitudes needed to become successful working adults. This important process begins upon enrollment.

St. Elizabeth School is committed to provide effective hands-on job-training in the classroom and in the community. Our transition staff members meet with students, the student’s academic and clinical case managers, and parents. This transition team then coordinates student strengths and preferences to develop jobs and monitor student progress. Students receive a broad variety of job-training experiences that test their job preferences, teach them how to meet employer expectations, and increase their marketability. Students enrolled in the high school program work on or off campus one day a week and change job-training placements twice a year. By the time our students graduate they have had many opportunities to develop valuable skills that will increase their chances for employment.

Some of our job-training positions are: data entry, bakery, produce clerk, receptionist, stock clerk, sales attendant, cashier, assembly worker, retail sales, custodian, maintenance, groundskeeper, greenhouse worker, gardener, classroom assistant, patient escort, food prep worker, counter attendant, vending technician, buyer, inventory clerk, recycler, line worker, commercial dishwasher operator, food service line attendant, and social/activity assistant.

Four full-time transition staff members develop partnerships with community businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to teach students the fundamentals of a job. Job supervisors provide detailed work evaluations of our students that are sent home quarterly with report cards. Transition staff members meet with students and their team to review progress and to assist students in identifying their strengths and in developing new personal work goals that will make them more valuable employees.

Some of our Business Partners are:

Keswick Multi-care Center, Meals on Wheels, Movable Feast, Franciscan Center, Marshalls, St. Joseph Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, Maryland School for the Blind, William Baer School, Shopper’s Food Warehouse, Maryland Center for Independent Living, Berea Senior Apartments, Atwater’s, Rainbow, Dollartree, Veteran’s Administration, Steel and Wire, Baltimore Christian School, Charlestown Nursing Home, Uptown Press, Joanne Fabrics, Old Navy, and Talmar Horticultural Center.

In addition, SES provides job opportunities both on and/or off campus: food service, horticulture, building maintenance, a vending program, and SESArtisans (who produce products that are sold in retail stores in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area.).

Vocational training in the community is also under girded by vocational classes that focus on developing a resume, seeking a job, interviewing skills, and keeping a job. SES graduates are ready to face the real world of work!

Transition Services

St. Elizabeth School recognizes that the year before graduation is a particularly stressful time for students and parents. The School assists students and their families throughout the process of selecting and applying for adult services and seeking competitive employment. Transition staff members, together with a student’s social worker, join with parents to ensure that our students receive all the services for which they are eligible including supported employment and residential services. Our transition team develops partnerships with adult agencies to provide our seniors and their families with a smooth transition to adult life. This team is well informed and can provide creative solutions to problems that at first may seem insurmountable. Again, SES graduates are ready to face the world.

Clinical Services

• The clinical team consists of licensed social workers, art therapists, a psychiatrist and professional behavior support staff.
• Individual and group therapies are provided in accordance with each student’s IEP to address the mental health, behavioral and social skills needs of a diverse population Group therapy builds upon students’ interest areas to maximize participation and benefits. Some examples of group topics include Cooking and Crafts, Art of the Video, Recreation and Relaxation, and Creating Art from Music.
• The clinical team collaborates closely with parents, teachers, and other interdisciplinary team members to promote understanding of students’ mental health needs and concerns and to maximize support across academic and vocational settings.
• Ongoing psychiatric consultation and medical management are available within the school setting.
• St. Elizabeth School participates with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and provides a positive, pro-social, supportive approach to behavior management. This includes a nurturing host environment with an emphasis on prevention, and the ability to perform Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans specific to the individual student, as well as targeted group interventions.
• The clinical team provides linkages to community resources and coordinates with outside agencies and service providers.

PBIS – Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support

PBIS is a research and evidenced based national endeavor to improve student success in schools. St. Elizabeth School began the program in the fall of 2003, and we were one of the first special education schools in Maryland to do so. PBIS is a systems approach that includes a school-wide program that teaches a uniform set of behavioral expectations. The expectations apply to all school settings – classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, gym/recreation, and even buses. Guiding the PBIS endeavor at SES is Mrs. Nano Kolls, MSW, LCSW-C, Behavior Support Supervisor.

PBIS at SES has a matrix of five principals: Respect, Responsibility, Rethink, Achievement, and Encouragement. All SES staff members are taught positive behavior support practices, including interventions used to help prevent behaviors from escalating, as well as a continuum of behavioral support. Staff members become models for the social behaviors they expect from their students. Staff members are taught strategies for increasing positive interactions between adults and students, as well as student to student.

SES has a standing PBIS committee. The committee created the “Eagle High 5” Program to give students positive feedback for appropriate behaviors. Students have the opportunity to earn “Eagle High 5 Bucks” to spend at the school store, to win prizes at a weekly drawing, and they are rewarded quarterly with fun events for demonstrating the behaviors they have been taught. Students have responded very positively to the Eagle High 5 Program, -- negative behaviors have decreased and student successes have increased.

By making PBIS an integral part of daily life, SES has received PBIS’s highest award—an Exemplary School, each year for the last five years.

Occupational Therapy Services

Occupational therapists provide services as required by the IEP. The OTs provide evaluation and treatment to improve the student’s:

• Fine Motor Skills
• Perceptual Motor Skills
• Activities of Daily Living (including eating, dressing, and hygiene skills)
• Sensory Processing Skills

Occupational therapists function as members of the IEP team in screening, evaluating and treatment of students with neurological, musculoskeletal, sensory integrative, and developmental delays.

The occupational therapists collaborate with staff and parents in planning and implementing treatment to improve the students’ functional level as it relates to the educational environment. They provide direct intervention to students and consultation with other professional, parents, teachers, and one-to-one assistants to promote functional independence in the academic and vocational settings.

Physical Therapy Services

Physical therapists provide physical therapy services as required on the IEP. The physical therapy program is designed to assist students with all aspects of functional mobility in the school setting. Direct one-on-one services include:

• Basics of Locomotion (walking or wheelchair propulsion)
• Stretching and Strengthening Program to Manage Musculoskeletal Issues
• Balance and Coordination Training
• Management of Equipment Needs

The physical therapists collaborate with staff and parents in planning and implementing treatment to improve the students’ gross motor skills across school settings. The PTs provide direct intervention to students, consultation and training with other professionals, parents, teachers, and one-to-one assistants to promote functional access to the educational environment.

Speech & Language Services

Effective speech and language skills are essential to an individual’s success in all areas of life. St. Elizabeth School promotes the speech and language development of students in all aspects of their academic and occupational curriculum. A key focus is on functional proficiency in social, educational, and work settings.

The functional development of verbal and nonverbal communication skills is addressed by looking at the whole student and the student’s life goals. Speech and language pathologists provide services to students in a variety of therapeutic settings including the educational and occupational classroom, small groups, and individual sessions.

Speech and Language Services include:

• Diagnostics
• Direct Therapeutic intervention
  • Social Communication and Pragmatics
  • Receptive and Expressive Language
  • Articulation and Intelligibility
  • Fluency and Voice
  • Dysphagia
  • Aural Rehabilitation
• Consultation
• Assistive Technology
• Collaboration with Families, Academic, Occupational, and Clinical Staff
• Advocacy

Assistive Technology

St. Elizabeth School has an Assistive Technology (AT) Specialist who assists in the evaluation of students and selection of technology devices to meet a student’s needs. An Assistive Technology device is any item or piece of equipment that is used to help a student benefit from his/her education. Assistive Technology services are defined as something that helps a student benefit from a device. Devices can be “low tech” such as pencil grips or “high tech” such as voice output devices or computers for educational and communication purposes. Once the device is chosen, the AT Specialist provides services to optimize the benefits to students, such as customizing, modifying, programming, and designing or selecting specialized software templates that accompany the device.

Our AT Specialist is a vital part of the whole SES trans-disciplinary team. This provider helps integrate specialized technology into the lives of students both at school and at home by working in the classroom with students, with parents, speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, social workers, nurses, and paraprofessional staff. Some students have assistive technology goals and accommodations on their IEPs. Our AT Specialist helps us meet student IEP directives and incorporates assistive technology into the educational program, transitional/job skills programs, life skills program, and the home environment.

Our AT Specialist provides trainings for St. Elizabeth School students, parents, and staff to ensure the assistive technology is meeting the needs of the student. In addition, follow-ups and modifications are made in order to meet the students’ skill levels change. Technical assistance, maintenance, and repair of equipment are also essential services provided by our AT Specialist.