As Clarence Brown Community School Principal Kristen Salina walks down the hallway past a line of students, one boy happily gives her a thumbs-up and tells her he's having a great day.
The staff at the small special education school on a residential street in Butler work hard at making it a productive, stable learning environment, Salina said.
“A lot of it is the extensive training for staff in how to support students with various needs,” she said. “But it's also about a small environment where students get what they need pretty quickly.”
Currently, 45 students from kindergarten to age 21 — when individuals no longer are eligible for a special education — attend Clarence Brown. There's one teacher and a paraprofessional for each of the seven classrooms.
The school, run by the Midwestern Intermediate Unit 4, serves students with needs ranging from behavioral issues to intellectual disabilities.
The seven school districts in Butler County that send students there contribute money to support building operations based on the number of their students who attend. Each district has a school board member who sits on a joint operating committee.
South Butler School Director Debra Miller, who sits on the Clarence Brown operating committee, has often spoken about how much the school benefits the students.
“It's a high-energy school, and you can't help but smile when you're there because the kids are so happy and engaged,” she said. “None of them want to leave, because they're in an environment that makes them feel special.”
Student Trent Brenneman, 15, a ninth-grader from Karns City School District, has attended since fifth grade.
“All of my friends are here,” Brenneman said. “I love all the teachers, and I wouldn't want it any other way.”
Before a school district refers a child to Clarence Brown, the school must do all it can to keep the student in the least-restrictive environment possible, as in a classroom with their peers.
The goal at Clarence Brown is to get each student back to his or her home school. A typical stay is about one school year, Salina said.
If a student isn't ready or strongly resists returning to the home school, Salina doesn't force him.
“If they're not looking ready … then it's just going to be a failure situation,” she said.
The school staff emphasizes a family-type atmosphere in which everyone supports each other. Each day is a fresh start.
“No matter what your day was like yesterday, today is a new day,” Salina said. “We'll process through it, but we all start new.”
A schoolwide behavior support system rewards students for good deeds.
“If you put that little bit of extra effort in, it makes all the difference,” Salina said.
As part of the program, each day one of the teachers is given 10 golden tickets. The students don't know who has them. When a teacher sees a student doing something positive, he receives a ticket.
That student's name will go on one of 200 white tiles in the lobby dubbed the “Principal's 200.” When a student gets 10 tiles in a row, the student can choose a pizza party, ice cream party or movie-and-popcorn day for their class.
“That's really important for them, because this is often the first successful environment for them,” Salina said.
Miller, of South Butler, says the system has made a difference.
“For some kids, it's as simple as they showed up to school that day, or they helped someone else, or said thank you,” she said. “And it's not just for you; you win things for your class. It's just very positive. The kids embrace it.”
One main focus at Clarence Brown is to get the students ready for graduation, through Community Based Vocational Training or by attending the Butler County Vocational-Technical School.
Vocational training allows students to learn job skills at community businesses under the supervision of a school paraprofessional.
Brenneman said he has enjoyed working at the Jiffy Lube in Butler.
“I'm very proud of doing that,” he said.
Other local businesses that partner with Clarence Brown include Giant Eagle, Trader Horn's corporate office in Penn Township and Pizza Joe's on Main Street in Butler.
“They're a big help,” said Jeff Eberhardt, Pizza Joe's manager. “They do quite a bit.”
The kids come in twice a week and help put away that day's shipment order, fold boxes, fill soda coolers and do other odd jobs.
Salina said the work is about transferring those skills into the community.
“Where they are right now in life isn't where they need to go,” she said. “They make their own definition of what they want their life to be like.”
Jodi Weigand is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4702 or jweigand@tribweb.com.
