Contributed CHANGES — The School of Bright Promise is rebranding itself to focus on students in grades PreK-8 with the most intensive needs and working to help them successfully return to their home schools and graduate with their peers. The process has been underway for the past three years and should be fully implemented this fall.

STEUBENVILLE — Changes are coming to the School of Bright Promise, which is rebranding its services to better meet the needs of its students.

For the past three years, the school has been undergoing a transition which will be fully implemented this fall, and the goal is to enable more pupils to return to their home school districts while Bright Promise will focus more on younger students with more intensive challenges. JCBDD Children’s Services Director Georgia Pavlic-Roseberry said the process has been continuous and the hope is to help the kids thrive.

“During the past few years, we’ve been re-evaluating the needs of our community and have met with school superintendents and special education directors to discuss direction. We’ve been building more focused services and targeting students who are missing component skills to function the same as their peers and then resort to using behavior as their form of communication. We’ve added a board-certified behavior analyst and have three registered behavior technicians who have begun delivering applied behavior analysis with students,” she said.

“Our goal is to equip students with skills so they can go to their home school where they can build relationships and friendships with peers. JCBDD has been working to improve services for school-age children through our collaboration with districts and the addition of a child service support administrator. As a result of our collaborative efforts, students no longer have to stay at the School of Bright Promise to get BDD support. We have had the opportunity to go to districts and work with their team to support students in their home school.”

Sara Wright, a behavior analyst, explained the services now being offered.

“As we address the current transition period and goals for Bright Promise moving forward, it is important to shed light on the importance of behavior analytic services being delivered to our students,” Wright said. “ABA is an evidence-based therapy used to assess and target challenging behaviors using positively based strategies in a way that is socially significant for our learners. It is also designed to target skills for improvement that will foster independence and communication for our population. According to a report by the National Autism Center, ABA therapy has been shown to be effective in improving communication, social skills and daily living skills in individuals with autism. The report states that ABA therapy is the most effective intervention for improving these skills and the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome.

“At Bright Promise, our team of registered behavior technicians is beginning to utilize principles of ABA to conduct one-on-one therapy sessions with identified students and provide individualized programming designed and supervised by the BCBA based on quarterly assessments. By identifying, assessing and programming for our students at an early age, we hope to rapidly improve communication, social skills, independence and group participation skills that will encourage a seamless transition into small group or general education settings. The goal for our learners is to develop a system of independent communication and improve skills across multiple domains of daily living that will foster their ability to participate in, and advocate for their needs in their academic careers.”

Pavlic-Roseberry added that the number of students at Bright Promise served will be closer to 40 — fewer than half of what it was in the past — and classrooms will include grades PreK-8 in the years to come.

“When I first came here, we had 87 students, which is a lot for a county of our size,” she said, adding that larger counties generally have that number. “This past year, we had 61 and are working with getting students back to their districts when they no longer need our intensive services.”

She noted the Bright Promise staff has been working to develop their skills to be effective with the population while the facility has seen growth with interventions and ABA, plus the staff has been effective with the services they provide.

“It’s working. The students will have opportunities to graduate and earn a high school diploma (in their district,)” Pavlic-Roseberry continued. “Our services are geared toward young students because research shows that’s where we can have the most impact. We’ll continue to be advocates for the amazing students and families we have the honor of serving. This has truly been an effort with (JCBDD Superintendent Michael Zinno) and the board’s support, as well as the staff. Without them, this couldn’t happen. It’s a tremendous opportunity for Jefferson County and the students we serve, and we are excited. Our goal is to get to where we’re serving them as young as we possibly can so they can be successful.”

Andrea Starkey, president of the Bright Promise Employee’s Union, said the School of Bright Promise supports area school districts and has often honed its services to fill changing needs.

“When new needs arrive, we look at them and try to rebrand or change ourselves to serve them,” Starkey explained. “In the past, multi-handicapped services were a need, and we addressed them. Then school districts got better at addressing those needs. When we learned about autism, we learned to better serve those needs, and then more districts were getting better at handling them. Now, behavior is more of a need, and we are refocusing to help students without functional skills to learn in a school setting.”

Parent Alycia Clark noted that the School of Bright Promise worked with her 9-year-old son, Oliver, and enabled him to join Steubenville City Schools this fall.

“I think it’s great for kids who are ready to move on and be in a more inclusive environment. It helps them move on to the next journey at school,” Clark said. “I was sad he was leaving but I knew he was ready. (The School of Bright Promise) has become like a family to us, and it’s bittersweet for sure.”

JCBDD has surveyed school districts and seen a positive response.

“Our hope as a school district is to continue a partnership with the School of Bright Promise to serve students with the most intensive needs who need a place to be stabilized and return to the home district,” said John Rocchi, director of special education in the Indian Creek Local School District. “We will always need a place to support students with the most intensive behavioral needs.”

Zinno said it has been a work in progress and — while some reactions have been mixed — the overwhelming response has been positive. He added that the change was necessary to grow with the times.

“I believe our vision for the school is on target. Serving a wide range of ages and disabilities is not in the best interest of our children or staff. A more focused approach on younger and the most involved students who may disrupt education in their school district will create a safer environment for all,” Zinno added. “We’ve been narrowing our focus on who we’re serving and going from being a traditional school with all age ranges to kids with the most significant behaviors. We have built up the capability to serve those students, and the next step was to get kids back to their school districts. We have seen success in rebranding the school and our school districts do a wonderful job with the services they offer.

“Nobody likes change, but we have to change to meet the needs of the children we are serving. There are students returning to their school districts and that should be celebrated. The school districts are loving, caring institutions like the School of Bright Promise, and there’s been success.”