Centre County school for students with autism prepares for big move this summer

Centre Daily Times - 5/2/2022

May 2—At Soaring Heights, every school day is like a symphony, with teachers balancing the cacophony of different student needs and goals, program director Shelley Roderick said.

The K-12 school is exclusively for students with autism, growing from five students to 29 in the seven years they've operated in State College. The growth has meant a need for a larger space for students and expanded programs.

Students are split into elementary, middle and high school classrooms with no more than eight students per class. There are also two classrooms for intensive care students that focus more on the social and behavioral skills that are the foundations for learning in a classroom setting.

Dee Verbeck, the high school classroom teacher, said everything about the school is to accommodate the students.

"We have more flexibility and because the classes are smaller we can be more one-on-one and give that extra special attention that is needed," Verbeck said.

After years of admission growth, the school is moving to a 12,000-square-foot building at 381 Research Drive in July, double the space they're in now on South Atherton Street.

The space will allow for classroom expansion, a locker room, rooms for speech therapists and increased opportunities for students to learn life skills. Roderick also plans on including a break room for teachers and staff to help decompress.

"I'm one of the people who's begged for a bigger space because I'd like to do more life skills," Verbeck said. "I'd like to do a mock apartment, like this is how you make your bed and do your dishes."

Soaring Heights is not a charter school or a traditional private school — the Pennsylvania Department of Education defines it as a private academic school. Students are referred by their own districts and spend anywhere from several months to several years at the school.

"Maybe (school districts) get a kid that doesn't quite fit in or is having social issues and they don't have the referral sources to serve that student appropriately or to their best ability, then they look to outside services," Roderick said.

The school serves several districts in Centre County, including State College, Bellefonte, Bald Eagle and Penns Valley. There are five other locations in counties around Pennsylvania as well.

Maria Handel, one of the teachers in the middle school classroom, said the goal of the school is to prepare students to enter into the community or back into their public school classrooms.

Handel and her co-teacher, Shania Shehan, model their classroom after a traditional public school to help students make a successful transition back into their districts. In her classroom, teaching students how to monitor their needs and find their coping skills is just as important as academics. Once her students can learn appropriate social and behavioral skills, Handel knows they're ready to re-enter public school.

"The biggest thing we teach them is to advocate for themselves, so they can tell you what they need or if they're overstimulated," Handel said.

Other classrooms focus on more intensive care for students who need more social and behavioral skills before they can start academic learning.

With 19 full-time staff members, the school has adapted every aspect to accommodating students with autism, from a sensory room to snack breaks to unconventional field trips.

"Our field trips can look like normal day-to-day things that other people take for granted," Handel said. "But it's a big deal for (the students) to take a successful grocery shopping trip or out for lunch somewhere."

Verbeck said students are also learning to become involved members of the community through volunteering field trips around State College.

"I have learned so much from these students; it's enriched my life to work with them," Verbeck said.

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