WESTFIELD – Westfield Public Schools and the Westfield Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) are holding a special informational presentation to learn about the new Westfield/Curtis Blake High School Program on Monday, August 7 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Westfield High School Library.
This pilot program is designed to support students in Grade 9 who are currently placed in an out-of-district program to receive reading services.
Dr. Adam Garand, administrator of special services for Westfield,Public Schools.
Dr. Adam Garand, administrator of special services for the Westfield school district, said the new initiative will offer a unique opportunity for students. He said currently, there are only a couple of private day schools with highly specialized literacy-based programs.
The Curtis Blake Day School, a program of the Children’s Study Home located in Sixteen Acres in Springfield offers language-based learning disability programs (LLD), but ends in eighth grade. The other area school that offers a high school LLD program is White Oak School in Westfield which serves students through twelfth grade.
Garand said there is a need for more high school based programs, which is why the district has started a partnership program with Curtis Blake that is more inclusive for students.
The pilot program, which will begin with ninth graders, will bus students to a morning session at Curtis Blake that will focus on reading and math, then bus them back to Westfield High School for lunch and afternoon core classes, as well as access to after-school sports and extra-curricular activities.
‘There was a need in the district to be innovative to meet the needs of students at this level of service,” Garand said. He said he hopes to expand the program next year to tenth graders, adding eleventh and twelfth graders the following years. Garand said students in the program would earn a diploma from Westfield High School.
Garand said the public/private day school partnership is unique in the area, and the only opportunity for students to receive that level of specialized service and still attend traditional high school with their regular education peers. “I don’t think there are any programs like this right now,” Garand said.
Right now the district is reaching out to parents and special education coordinators in other districts to let them know about the program. “Because we’re all in the same boat,” Garand said.
At the informational meeting on Monday, Garand, Westfield High School principal Charles Jendrysik and staff from Curtis Blake will be on hand to present the program and answer questions. Garand said he hopes that people who are interested in the program will attend the meeting.
