Education

Reflections for Youth School gives students options for enhancing their educational needs while receiving treatment in a day or residential therapeutic environment. Depending upon age/grade level and credit needs, high school students can earn credit toward a high school diploma through their home school district or study for the GED while receiving support in academic areas of weakness. Students not yet at the high school age receive assistance in core academic areas and a variety of elective classes for transition to higher grade levels. Teachers are certified with an emphasis in special education and are able to work with both regular education and special education students. Reflections for Youth also employs one paraprofessional for every 10 students in the classroom, and a Title One reading teacher providing weekly services to students needing more intensive reading and written language support. Therefore, student/teacher ratio is no more than 5:1, which provides students with the opportunity to access true individualized learning opportunities and behavioral support. Upon placement, student records are obtained and students are placed at appropriate learning levels and in classes required for graduation or the obtainment of a GED, or for transition to the next grade level depending upon individual need.

Some local community resources used by Reflections for Youth School are: Larimer County Workforce Center, AIMS Community College High School Diploma Program and Front Range Community College Center for Adult Learning.

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• Day Treatment
  Reflections for Youth School’s Day Treatment Program provides services to youth ages 11-18 requiring a well-structured and secure setting, consistent supervision, therapeutic/mental health services, and extra support educationally, both academic and behavioral. Students are referred through social services, DYC or directly from local school districts. Day treatment students are expected to participate in a phase (level) system, follow classroom and program rules, adhere to an academic curriculum designed for successful attainment of their home school district graduation requirements, contribute to the writing and follow-through of their IEP or program-generated goals, and be willing to partake in individual, group and family therapy. Each day treatment student receives daily communication/behavior sheets completed by their teachers and aides to be brought home and signed by parents or guardians for regular contact regarding student progress.
  
  It is the goal of Reflections for Youth’s school program to educate students in both a traditional and non-traditional manner by making certain each student receives core and elective classes needed to graduate, or by assisting students in earning a GED, and by offering community-based activities to enhance learning experiences.
  
  RFY assures a continuity of care for each of the youth served in its day treatment program by providing educational experiences which remediate, maintain and improve academic, intellectual and social functioning skills. Students receive highly individualized instruction and attention, supportive mental health/therapeutic intervention and complete comprehensive transition and aftercare plans containing information from all professionals working with the student.
  
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• RTI : Response to Intervention
  Reflections for Youth School has begun implementing Response to Intervention or RTI. In 2004, IDEA (an education bill) stated that all school districts will have to start implementing RTI by 2008. Currently, many school districts are just getting started on RTI or have not implemented it in all of their schools. Reflections For Youth School is ahead of the game and has begun implementing RTI within the school environment.
  
  The main purpose for RTI is two-fold. In the past, students were referred for special education services through a discrepancy model based on testing. RTI will change that. Students will now only be referred through special education after being provided with a variety of research based interventions and a team decides that more services are needed. RTI can also help with students already placed in special education by dividing up services within that environments based on research based interventions.
  
  What is RTI? Response to Intervention can be explained in two different ways. First, RTI identifies students into three tiers. The first tier contains students that need the least amount of interventions to be successful within the school environment, academically, socially, and behaviorally. If interventions are needed for this tier, they are basic interventions. The second tier contains students that have struggled a bit in tier 1 and in which interventions presented to them in tier 1 did not meet their specific needs. Finally, the third tier includes students in which interventions in both tier 1 and tier 2 were unsuccessful and more intensive interventions and strategies are needed to ensure success. Secondly, RTI is a way for teachers to implement interventions and collect data in a way that provides information to others such as parents, case workers, as well as educators to let them know if interventions are working and what teachers are doing to ensure success.
  
  How will this impact the educational environment at Reflections? Currently, Reflections already has benefits to be able to help students such as smaller class sizes, more 1:1 support, a literacy coach, and a therapeutic environment that other schools do not contain. Teachers at Reflections are highly qualified, each containing bachelor’s degrees in teaching and a regular content area such as Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. Each teacher at Reflections also has a master’s degree in special education. The environment that is in place at Reflections for Youth, as well as the qualified personnel will help implement RTI much quicker and will benefit students because the teachers have been taught research based interventions and have experience implementing those interventions.
  
  Response to Intervention will be a positive component of Reflections and is more likely to ensure success as well as provide sufficient data to parents and others that are part of a student’s team. If there are any questions on the RTI model, please look at the following web site, www.rti4success.org.
  
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