News

April 21, 2008

Academy provides extra attention

Graham Academy latest area school just for students with emotional or special needs.

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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LUZERNE – Nicholas Myers needed some extra attention. As one of only two students at the Graham Academy, he’s now getting it.

The 6-year-old boy was struggling at the Hanover Green Elementary School and was spending more time at home than in the classroom. The Hanover Area School District and Children’s Behavioral Services both thought another setting might be beneficial.

Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Nicholas became the first enrolled student at the Graham Academy on Miller Street when the school opened in February. Until last week he was the school’s lone enrollee. A fifth-grader named Joshua now also attends.

The school operates as a private school with a license from the state Department of Education. It’s one of a handful of private schools throughout the region specializing in teaching students with emotional or special needs.

Families do not pay for their child’s enrollment. Home school districts pick up the tab – $122 a day for children with a diagnosis on the Autism spectrum or $95 a day for those with emotional or special needs – as long as the family can show a need for the child to be placed in a setting outside of his or her assigned public school.

Tina Ouellette, who founded the Graham Academy, admits that opening in February “was not ideal for enrollment.” Many students with special needs do not adapt well to change, so the best option is usually to let them stay in school through the year before uprooting them.

For Nicholas, the change of scenery and being in a setting with teachers and specialists was life-changing, his mother, Cindy Foringer said. She said she’s seen a dramatic improvement in her son’s behavior.

When he was at Hanover Green, she’d often be called to the school before lunch to come pick up her son because he was unruly. Just getting him to school in the morning was a chore as Nicholas often fought going.

That’s all changed in just a couple of months.

Now, Foringer said, her son can’t wait to get to school, and it’s gotten to the point where his bad behavior at home has lessened.

“The Graham Academy has just done wonders for my son,” she said.

Nick Ouellette, the school’s building administrator and Tina’s son, said the school has met opposition from some who questioned its validity. He said his mother has put her own personal equity into the start-up because she’s so confident there’s a need for such a school.

“We’re not some fly-by-night operation,” Nick said.

Tina Ouellette operates Children’s Behavioral Services, in Kingston, and is an advocate for those with special needs. She said she’s heard many complaints about a lack of school choice from parents of special needs children. A delay with the state licensing approval forced the opening to be delayed to February.

The school’s staff consists of four teachers, one aide, an education director, building administrator and custodian.

She founded the school because there are few school options for special needs children. Though Milestones allows students to enroll through age 21, the Graham Academy is looking at a kindergarten through sixth-grade set-up, but that could change as autism rates grow.

A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 out of 150 children in America today has an autism spectrum disorder. That correlates to about 1.5 million Americans and their families dealing with the disorder.

Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.

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