School and Residential Enrollment Options

The Heartspring School is open 12 months a year, with a seven-hour school day, Monday through Friday. Each student has a team of professionals that work together to develop the student's individual educational plan (IEP). A student’s team may include members from the student's home school district, the parents, and Heartspring specialists including a certified special education teacher, home coordinator, developmental pediatrician, two consulting physicians, a nurse, PhD-level psychologist, masters-level behavioral specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech language pathologists. Small classroom sizes and low student to teacher ratios, combined with our expert staff, create an environment ideal for each student’s growth (many of our students are staffed one-on-one). Completing the school program is a special education music teacher, adapted physical education teacher and an art instructor.

For students who reside on campus, the educational program extends beyond the seven-hour school day into the group home environment and in the community. Home coordinators supervise para-educators who provide continued instructional programming in home living, community living, personal and recreation/leisure skills, often tied to skills the students learned in class during the school day. These skills are taught in the group home and community setting, and help generalize skills sets across different environments. All students living on campus reside in our group homes

Through the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Student and Exchange Visitors Program (SEVP), Heartspring is certified and welcomes international students with special needs. For more information, contact the Heartspring Admissions Department.

Heartspring, through our mission, focuses on creating opportunities for children with special needs to enhance their independence, dignity and self-worth through partnerships, technology, teamwork and community. With several enrollment options for parents and school districts to choose from, we are confident there is an enrollment model that will fit your needs.

The Traditional Model

At Heartspring, teams of specialists develop child-specific programming using a multidisciplinary approach in both the classroom and residential setting. Heartspring professionals work with parents and school districts to create a comprehensive program that best focuses on the needs of the individual child. Every program is IEP driven, allowing for children to make gains on all goals and objectives. If appropriate, the day only option is available.

Day Only Model

Heartspring's Day Only Program includes a seven-hour school day and operates Monday through Friday following the school calendar of the referring school district. All Heartspring day only students have access to the same IEP team members and resources our residential students have access to (see above). Day only students do not live on the Heartspring campus and return to their home at the end of every school day.

The Program Development Model (12-24 months)

This enrollment model follows the student's IEP and emphasizes creating a set of limited goals and objectives for the child to achieve during the span of 12-24 months based on needs determined by the parents and the school district, and agreed upon by Heartspring. It is anticipated that once the child’s specific goals and objectives have been met, he will transition back to his home school district. Frequent meetings with the Heartspring team, the parents and the school district will be scheduled to help assist in monitoring the student’s progress. If appropriate, the day only option is available.

Short-term Diagnostic Placement (3 months)

A short-term diagnostic placement is for students who may need a formal diagnosis, and/or who need additional assessments and evaluations in the areas of health, education, vocational skills, speech, behavior, and occupational therapy.

Heartspring specialists will collaborate with one another to evaluate the student’s needs and will develop a comprehensive report, as well as design an appropriate exit plan, outlining the support needs relevant to the community where the student is returning.

The components of this evaluation model will include:

Medical: An assessment by Heartspring’s developmental pediatrician (a licensed medical doctor), will include the following:

• A complete physical exam with findings dictated into a report.
• Participation with the Psychologist for any developmental testing the child may need for diagnostic purposes.
• A referral for a thorough hearing evaluation, if this has never been done.
• Recommendations and referrals for any other medical diagnostic testing(s), as necessary, for more accurate diagnoses. (If this is crucial to the student’s safety or well-being, immediate follow-up will be required under her care. If this is not urgent, she may allow further follow-up upon the student’s return home).
• Participation with the Psychologist in formalizing a treatment plan, if necessary.
•  If any medication management is necessary for behavioral purposes, and this can be sustained upon returning home, she will supervise medication trials and interpret data for results.

Speech Therapy: A speech language pathologist (SLP) will assess all areas of communication, as it is instrumental in learning and in gaining independence.

The SLP will:

• Determine what type of assessments should be utilized to gain the most pertinent, useful and functional information for the student’s implementation plan.
  • This might include standardized assessments, informal assessments, and observations.
• Conduct specialized assessments, such as an augmentative and alternative communication evaluations during this time, if appropriate and requested.
• Schedule and provide the student with up to 120 minutes of speech services per week. This will be broken down into direct and indirect minutes, as deemed necessary by the speech language pathologist.

Occupational Therapy: An occupational therapist (OT) will focus on the student’s activities of daily living (ADL’s), as these are the cornerstone of independent living.

The OT will:

• Determine what type of assessments should be utilized to gain the most pertinent, useful and functional information for the student’s implementation plan.
  • This might include standardized assessments, informal assessments, and observations.
•  Schedule and provide up to 60 minutes of occupational therapy per week. This will be broken down into direct and indirect minutes, as deemed necessary by the occupational therapist.

Psychology: A doctoral level licensed psychologist is instrumental in helping the student (and family) accomplish his or her behavioral goals.

The psychologist will:

• Conduct a thorough review of available records, interview family members and cooperating agencies (and/or schools) as appropriate prior to admission.
• Conduct a psychological evaluation to include:
  • Formal assessment as appropriate
  • Informal assessment (functional analysis)
  • Classroom and Group Home observation and data gathering
  • Coordinate with Medical staff regarding developmental testing
• Coordinate the formulation of a treatment plan with the other Heartspring professionals.
• Provide 60 minutes per week of in-direct (consultative) services.
• Provide 60 minutes per week of group and/or individual therapy, as appropriate.
• Provide 60 minutes per week of parent training or family therapy, as appropriate.
• Implement and evaluate a treatment plan to address identified needs.
• Provide a summary report to include diagnosis, final recommendations, and the treatment plan.

The Lead Program

The Lead Program provides an opportunity for students with less-intensive needs to succeed through small classroom sizes and low student to staff ratios in both the classroom and residential setting. To be eligible for this program, students must be 14 – 22 years of age with low intensity and low frequency behavioral concerns, and maintain independent self-care skills. Diagnosis may include mild/borderline developmental delay, moderate to high-functioning autism, PDD-NOS, or Nonverbal Learning Disability. Students will have the opportunity to obtain their diploma through the Lead Program.