Meeting the educational needs of our residents

Randy Arnold, School Program Administrator
Brenda Blackmore, Special Education Supervisor

RIverwoods School philosophy

Most students attending Riverwoods School at the St. Cloud Children's Home (SCCH) have been placed as a result of emotional and behavioral challenges they experience. Consequently, in addition to providing a well-rounded academic curriculum that allows the student the opportunity to progress toward a goal of graduation from their home school, another primary focus of the school program is to identify interfering behaviors that may occur in an instructional setting and teach the skills necessary to assist students in making better decisions.  In order for students to experience success, we believe each student must recognize the need to learn new skills, be willing to make changes and eventually self-monitor their behavior, and finally, to become a positive self-advocate for their own unique learner qualities and needs. This is accomplished by teachers and students working together in a cooperative manner to set goals and objectives. Once goals and objectives are achieved, students have begun to equip themselves with skills needed for a successful return to a more traditional school setting.

School program goals

• To improve a student’s academic skills and study habits through a learning   environment in which students experience success.
  
• To model and reinforce appropriate social and learning behaviors.
  
• To recognize student strengths and capitalize on appropriate choices.
  
• To provide appropriate, respectful teaching interactions and consistent consequences when students display inappropriate behaviors.
• To empower students with the skills necessary to return to a traditional school setting at the time of their discharge from the SCCH.

Programs available

There are seven educational programs operated by District 742 serving students in grades 1 through 12 that are affiliated with the St. Cloud Children's Home. Two programs serve students placed in the Residential Treatment Program at the SCCH. Younger residential students in grades 1 through 6 begin school at the Behavior Learning Program classroom located at Oak Hill Community School. Students who do not require the level of support provided in the Behavior Learning Program classroom attend mainstream classes at Oak Hill on a part time or full time basis. Older students in grades 7 through 12 attend school on a full time basis at Riverwoods School on-site at the SCCH. Three additional programs serve students receiving Day Treatment services. Finally, there is a Day School program and the Youth Learning Center.

The Residential Treatment and Day Treatment programs, serving students from many school districts, are programs operated by Catholic Charities for which the St. Cloud Area School District #742 vends educational services. The Day School and Youth Learning Center programs are day programs operated by the St. Cloud Area School District #742 in collaboration with Catholic Charities, and are for District 742 resident students only.

SCCH staff and curriculum

The teaching staff for Riverwoods School currently consists of sixteen full time licensed teachers, a school social worker, a part time school program supervisor, a part time school program administrator, a part time school psychologist and speech/language pathologist. Teachers are licensed in the content areas they teach as well as in special education. Six paraprofessionals also support students at Riverwoods School. 

This on-site school program at the SCCH offers a curriculum covering all secondary grade levels (7 through 12) and includes course offerings in English, Social Studies, Math, Remedial Reading, Science, Theatre Arts, Family and Consumer Science, Business Education, Computers, Physical Education, Transition Skills, Daily Living Skills, and Social Skills. Standard curriculum materials are supplemented with the web-based SkillsTutor curriculum resource. Educational programming is enhanced through a significant school investment in an iBook Mac Lab providing wireless access to other various web-based resources for classroom learning. Students attending Riverwoods School participate in the statewide MCAs and Basic Skills Tests in Reading, Math, and Writing as they would in any other school setting. Students attending Riverwoods School have the opportunity for a full time schedule and academic credit for work completed. School hours for students are from 8:25 until 2:55. Class sizes typically range from one to eight students. The small class sizes provide an opportunity for teachers to focus on individual behavioral needs of students as well as individual academic objectives. Individualization and small group instruction are used to accommodate for different functional levels and learning styles of students. Delivery of special education services specified in a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) are embedded into the delivery of mainstream content area instruction and curriculum by teachers who are licensed in both special education and a regular education content area.

Referral information and forms

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