CRANBERRY TWP — A new special school is looking to serve special needs children in Butler County.

On Friday the Linda Lanham Zeszutek School Program of Easter Seals Western and Central Pennsylvania had an open house at its facility on Rowan Road next to Rowan Elementary School.

It serves children ages 3 to 8 with autism, cerebral palsy and other mental and physical disabilities. It was previously in Ross Township, Allegheny County, and moved to Cranberry Township in October.

It is a state approved private school that gets 60 percent of its budget paid by the state Department of Education and the remaining 40 percent paid by the school districts where the students live. There are about 30 such schools in the state.

Compared to other schools, the children at Easter Seals receive a high degree of individual attention and instruction, said Patty Braendle, Easter Seals director of education

“These children come with such an array of needs,” Braendle said. “If not an approved private school, where else are they going to go? Usually their other options have been exhausted.”

The program, which has eight students but can take up to 18, has had a successful first year in Cranberry, she said.

The previous location was smaller and did not have windows. It also did not have a playground or outdoor access.

The Rowan Road location, which is leased from Prosource Printing, has an outdoor space where officials are planning a playground to meet the needs of the students.

“I think the children love it, the staff loves it. They’re looking forward to the playground,” Braendle said.

The school has a 3-to-1 teacher-to-student ratio, but including other support staff, the ratio of staff to students is actually 2 to 1.

Students younger than age 5 are placed in the school through the state Intermediate Unit where they live, while children older than 5 are placed there through their school district.

Each student has an individualized education plan. School officials hope to integrate the students into traditional schools, but that is not always possible, Braendle said.

“Our goal for them is ultimately to be able to be integrated with their peers, but if that restricts their learning, it would not be the best placement,” she said.

In the classroom, teachers use a TAPit board for activities. The board is like a large tablet computer that can roll around and adjust to the height and angle of the students.

It is made to be sturdy and durable. During an adaptive physical education class Friday, students tossed a ball at a target on the screen.

Some of the specialists who work with students 1-on-1 include speech specialists, occupational therapists and integration specialists.

About 98 percent of the students are non-verbal, so learning to communicate is one challenge they face. Through the school some students receive devices that talk for them when they press a button. Depending on the student’s needs, these devices go home with them too.

“You don’t want to take their voice away from them when they go home,” Braendle said.

Moving the school farther north allows it to be close to more potential students, said Tiffini More of Easter Seals.

The program hopes to better serve Butler and Beaver counties by being more accessible.

“We’re dealing with children who are very young, coming to school for the first time and leaving their family. They have a lot of issues and need a lot of support, so the parents prefer a shorter drive,” she said.

School officials hope to get the word out that their agency is an option for children with severe educational needs, More said.

In 1991 a former Easter Seals program in Butler became Lifesteps, which has no affiliation or shared history with the Easter Seals Western and Central Pennsylvania.

The school has two other sites in the region: one in Export, Westmoreland County, and one in Baldwin, Allegheny County.