Daniel

“You have fulfilled our dreams of what we asked you to do here,” said Dr. Liz Jurgensen, at a recent team meeting for Daniel, a student at the Heartspring School. Dr. Jurgensen is the director of special education for Daniel’s home school district in Iowa.

Daniel enrolled in August of 2008, expecting to stay for six months. Thrilled with the progress Daniel was making, his school district decided to extend his time at Heartspring another six months. After meeting his goals, Daniel is transitioning back to Iowa in August. In Daniel’s year at Heartspring he made significant gains in his behavior and in his ability to deal with transitions said Taton Stambaugh-Tubbs, one of his teachers at Heartspring. Taton added, “Before he came, he had all his specials in one room, including lunch. He did a great job getting accustomed to going out of the room for PE, music, art, lunch, etc.”

Daniel’s mother, Camilla, is very involved with her son’s education and is an excellent advocate for him. She recently wrote in an email, “We are very happy with Daniel’s progress at Heartspring. Just in one year, Heartspring has helped Daniel accomplish all the goals the IEP team has set for him. Daniel has not only become more independent and developed good learning behavior in the classroom, he is also able to generalize these behaviors and skills to various settings and in the community…. He has become a happier boy.”

Although Daniel is from Iowa, he is not a residential student at Heartspring. Instead, his mother and aunt moved to Wichita and stayed in a nearby apartment with Daniel while he attended classes at the Heartspring School during the school day. This was a unique arrangement, but one that worked for Daniel and his family. This type of a placement is just one example of how Heartspring can adapt a program to fit the needs of the child.

Heartspring is a school where students’ needs are addressed in an individualized and positive way. The staff at Heartspring have the honor to see a student arrive on enrollment day and leave a completely different child. With consistency in programming and training, students benefit from a true team approach. It is Heartspring’s goal to ensure that every child that leaves Heartspring is more independent, has increased communication skills and is able to live a better quality of life.

Dr. Jurgensen closed the team meeting by saying, “I appreciate everything you have done for our Daniel.” Daniel will be returning to his home school district in Iowa this fall, with his new found experiences preparing him for a continued road of learning.