At their regular October meeting, the USD 305 Board of Education approved a plan to bring district-wide Therapeutic Learning Center services (TLC) under one roof, at the building formerly used for the Salina West Alternative School. By moving this program to the Salina West campus, the board continues the building’s use as an alternative setting.
Opportunity Now (ON), our current grades 9-12 TLC, has served students with significant therapeutic needs for the past 13 years in an alternative day school. Presently located near Oakdale Park, ON will relocate to the school building at 501 W. Cloud. Students in the Opportunity Now program this year will begin site visits to the new location during the spring 2020 semester and attend school there for the 2020-2021 school year. The new location will accommodate existing Opportunity Now programs and services such as Exceptional Caterers, integrated mental health services and a well-defined behavior management and intervention program.
Since its doors opened in 2006, the ON program has provided exceptional mental health services including on-site therapy by Central Kansas Mental Health to students grades 9-12. Students come from twelve districts, members of the “parent” organization *Central Kansas Cooperative in Education (CKCIE). These districts have seen increasing social-emotional needs of students with severe mental health needs.
This growing need, and ON’s proven success, factored into the decision to transfer the same special education TLC programs at elementary and middle school to ON. Opportunity Now’s record of success and the availability of the modern school building at 501 W. Cloud (opened in 2014) present an opportunity to bring therapeutic services previously located throughout the district together.
The move to the larger building will accommodate bringing younger students with significant therapeutic needs, grades 3-12, together in one location. Addition of the elementary and middle school programs will be staggered with middle school students moving to ON in 2021 and elementary students moving to ON in 2022. The elementary students will have a dedicated and separate classroom, restrooms, entrance and playground.
Salina USD 305 is excited that the Cloud Street school’s use as an alternative facility will continue into the future.
*CKCIE is a special education cooperative of 12 school districts providing special education support services to public schools. Salina USD 305 is the fiscal agent for CKCIE and the largest of the 12 district members.