Center serves special needs students
BUTLER TWP — Surrounded by quiet neighborhood streets along Pittsburgh Pike Road, Clarence Brown Education Center serves special needs students from Butler County.
Principal Kristen Salina said it serves students from kindergarten through 21 years of age. The school focuses on emotional support and life skills for students with special needs.
“We have the availability of autistic support, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language,” she said.
“Our focus with our emotional support students is social and emotional learning and how to handle your anger, make positive choices, to be able to be productive citizens, but also, with a major focus on academics.
“And we are responsible for the state assessments, just as any other public schools are, and our students prepare for the state assessments. Our academics are provided so that they can be prepared to take those exams as well.”
Clarence Brown takes new students through district referrals. District staff work with families to identify when schools can't meet all of the needs of students.
“It's based on the district and what they feel we can provide and how successful we can be with certain students,” Salina said.
The school serves all districts in Butler County, and also serves a student each from the Allegheny-Clarion Valley and Grove City school districts.
Students are prepared for graduation in one of the school's secondary classrooms.
Mason Carothers, 18, from the Seneca Valley School District, has been attending Clarence Brown since seventh grade. He's among 41 students who attend the school.
“It's smaller and you pretty much have to know everyone to be in the loop,” he said.The more individualized attention helps him better understand his peers.He quietly studied at a computer in the back of his classroom, preparing for Keystone Exams he's to take at the end of the year, answering multiple choice biology questions.As far as the speed at which Mason can learn, he said: “It's a nice pace. Not too fast, not too slow.”Beside him, Steven Fleeger also prepared for state examinations on another computer. He's been going to Clarence Brown since he was in sixth grade.“The school's helped me with my anxieties, how to deal with them,” said Steven, 17, from the South Butler School District. “The school is excellent for kids with a lot of anxiety.”Meanwhile, in one of the elementary classrooms, individualized learning is stressed.Dea Rapp works with Landon Gordan, 11, one-on-one to help him better understand fractions.“What's half of a dozen? Remember we had to count?” Rapp asked.“Six?” Landon said.She continued to show him the difference between the numerator and denominator of a fraction, dissecting each problem, going at a pace at which he felt comfortable.In addition to the six emotional support and one life skills classroom, there also are vocational offerings through site visits and programming at the Butler Vo-Tech School available to students.Students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities in their home districts. For instance, a few students play football at their respective schools.The school, which has a $1.6 million budget, has 27 full time staff members, including seven teachers. It is governed by a joint operating committee made up of school board members from each of the school districts.
