Our expert staff includes:

• Certified special education teachers
• Certified educational technicians
• A speech and language pathologist
• An occupational therapist
• A physical therapist
• Psychologists
• Behavior analysts (BCBAs).

Spring Harbor Academy offers specially designed instruction for each child, including:

• Individual and small group teaching
• Individualized instructional strategies (e.g., discrete trial teaching; incidental teaching; functional communication training)
• 1:1 support throughout the school day, provided by our certified Educational Technicians
• Access to a large curriculum library
• Technology tools accessible for each student (e.g. iPads)
• Access to a kitchen space, art room, gymnasium, cafeteria, and an outdoor play yard

We work to promote curiosity and creative thinking. Some of the more commonly known curricula that are used at Spring Harbor Academy include:

• IXL
• Raz-kids
• A to Z Reading and Science
• Edmark
• Touchmath
• Scholastic News
• Explode the code
• Khan Academy
• Everyday Math

Spring Harbor Academy offers other services to help students achieve success in important areas of development and functioning.

Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and language services support the development of communication skills. Services are delivered in individual therapy sessions, group sessions, and through consultation with teachers and educational technicians. Focus of treatment can include:

• Expressive and receptive language disorders
• Social-pragmatic communication disorders
• Articulation and phonological disorders
• Dysfluency
• Alternative and augmentative communication systems (AAC)
• Functional communication training (FCT).

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy at Spring Harbor Academy helps children improve functional life skills. It is provided within the context of meaningful and every day activities. During hospitalization, occupational therapy targets the following, as outlined in each child’s IEP:

• Self-regulation
• Sensory processing
• Fine-motor skills
• Gross motor skills
• Visual motor skills
• Activities of daily living
• Vocational skills

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy (PT) is provided to students who have PT on their IEP as a needed service. PT works on safety and movement in the school environment. The physical therapist at Spring Harbor Academy assesses each child who needs PT when they arrive. Then they make a treatment plan for their time at SHH, and usually work with the child weekly on these goals. This plan might include:

• Sessions made up of obstacle courses to work on balance
• Ball play games for coordination
• Trying different seats to help them use upright posture while working at a desk

Specials

Some of the special activities and groups that students participate in include:

• Art group
• Cooking group
• Drama group
• Science group
• Physical education
• Music group
• Social skills groups