The Vanguard School (Pennsylvania)

Last updated
The Vanguard School
Address
The Vanguard School (Pennsylvania)
1777 North Valley Road

Malvern
,
PA
19355

United States
Coordinates 40°03′40″N75°29′18″W / 40.061059°N 75.488433°W / 40.061059; -75.488433
Information
School typeApproved Private School
MottoA program of Valley Forge Educational Services
Religious affiliation(s)Nonsectarian
Established1959 (1959)
FounderMilton Brutten
Educational authority Pennsylvania Department of Education
CEEB code 393152
DirectorGrace Fornicola
Teaching staff188
Age4to 21
Enrollment263
Color(s)Blue and Orange
Nickname Dolphins
Tuition$68,500 [1]
Website vfes.net/vanguard

The Vanguard School is an approved private school in Malvern, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately twenty-two miles northwest of Philadelphia on the campus of Valley Forge Educational Services. [2]

Contents

History

The Vanguard School was founded in 1959 by child psychologist Dr. Milton Brutten. It was initially located in Haverford, Pennsylvania. [3] In 1962, the Lower School transferred to a newly-purchased campus on North Valley Road in Malvern. [3]

Vanguard became the first private school in the Commonwealth approved under Pennsylvania Act 318 to receive tuition assistance for children whose needs could not be served in their local public schools. [3] The Vanguard Concept was then planned and developed between 1964 and 1969 in Lake Wales, Florida, as a boarding school as the Vanguard School (Florida) and as day schools in Coconut Grove (Vanguard School of Coconut Grove) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida and other locations; [3] however, these schools no longer affiliate with Vanguard in Pennsylvania. [4] [5]

Governance

Valley Forge Educational Services (VFES), a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization offering educational, summer camp, and employment-based programming to children and adults with disabilities, operates the Vanguard School. [2]

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has authorized The Vanguard School to receive funding from school districts and the state to provide an appropriate education to students with disabilities. [1] The School serves students from more than 56 school districts from 9 counties.

Curriculum

The Vanguard School provides comprehensive special education and related clinical services that are focused on ensuring the readiness for life of individual students. The school offers an integrated academic, social, and daily living skills approach. The goal is for each student to become a contributing community member.

A team of therapists supports students in the classroom, individually and in small groups, as well as through consultative efforts. Related clinical services include speech-language, occupational and physical therapies, school psychology, counseling, behavior support, and nursing. All therapists and specialists can be actively involved in the student's entire day; clinicians co-treat across disciplines and consult with teachers and other professionals regularly.

The school is a Pennsylvania Approved Private School serving students aged four to twenty-one whose exceptionalities may include autism, emotional disturbance, speech-language impairment, specific learning disability, and other health impairments. Each student receives an individualized education program (IEP) that is created in concert with their parents and the home school district in order to provide each student with the services and therapies needed.

Speech-Language Intensive Classrooms

The school's speech-language intensive (SLI) classrooms serve students with complex communication needs that significantly impact their ability to communicate effectively. The classrooms utilize a collaborative model between the classroom teacher and the speech-language pathologist (SLP). SLI classrooms are language-rich environments that offer a combination of 1:1 and small-group instruction designed to support the intense language needs of the students.

An SLI classroom is self-contained with a certified special education teacher, a classroom aide, and an assigned SLP. The classroom teacher and SLP collaborate to generalize student skills, provide appropriate visual supports, and develop student independence. The SLP is in the classroom for daily push-in support during various classroom periods (e.g., reading, daily living skills, facilitated play, etc.) to encourage carry-over and generalize student goals.

Intensive Therapeutic Classrooms

These classrooms are provided for students who need additional support due to the frequency and intensity of behavioral difficulties. The school's interdisciplinary team consists of a board-certified behavior analyst, clinical social worker, certified special education teacher, and classroom aide who are focused on teaching students evidence-based, behavioral and emotional regulation skills, problem-solving skills, and skills to manage frustration and anger.

The Vanguard Transition Center

As part of The Vanguard School, students aged eighteen to twenty-one receive continuing education, counseling, self-advocacy training, career exploration, and community-based vocational experiences.

Extended School Year

The Extended School Year (ESY) program is offered through the Summer Matters division of Valley Forge Educational Services. It is a program for eligible students from Vanguard School and neighboring districts and is designed to maintain skills and reduce academic and behavioral regression during summer by incorporating students' educational, social, behavioral, and vocational needs from individual IEP goals.

Vocational Immersion Program

The Vocational Immersion Program (VIP) equips young adults with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and related social challenges, aged eighteen to twenty-four, with critical social and employment-readiness skills through a four-week intensive program that includes classroom-based instruction, online learning, workplace internships with job coaches and a week-long supported living experience.

Customized Workforce Solutions (CWS)

The Customized Workforce Solutions program (CWS) provides employment-related services to adults with disabilities. It offers person-centered support and training to help job seekers attain their employment goals by allowing adults to define their goals, understand their skills and discover their vocational interests and work preferences.

Related Research Articles

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</span> United States law

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was previously known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) from 1975 to 1990. In 1990, the United States Congress reauthorized EHA and changed the title to IDEA. Overall, the goal of IDEA is to provide children with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students who do not have a disability.

This is an index of education articles.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district personnel who are knowledgeable about the child's needs. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainstreaming (education)</span> Placing disabled students in regular classrooms

Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inclusion (education)</span> Where disabled students spend most of their time with non-disabled students

Inclusion in education refers to all students being able to access and gain equal opportunities to education and learning. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.

Special education in the United States enables students with exceptional learning needs to access resources through special education programs. These programs did not always exist. "The idea of excluding students with any disability from public school education can be traced back to 1893, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court expelled a student merely due to poor academic ability". This exclusion would be the basis of education for all individuals with special needs for years to come. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education sparked the belief that the right to a public education applies to all individuals regardless of race, gender, or disability. Finally, special education programs in the United States were made mandatory in 1975 when the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) "(sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law 94-142) was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975, in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities." The EAHCA was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services consistent with federal standards as a condition of receiving federal funds.

The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In the U.S. the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a special education law that mandates regulation for students with disabilities to protect their rights as students and the rights of their parents. The IDEA requires that all students receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), and that these students should be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team will review the student's strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular educational setting. By law the team is required to include the student's parent or guardian, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a representative of the local education agency, someone to interpret evaluation results and, if appropriate, the student. It is the IEP team's responsibility to determine what environment is the LRE for any given student with disabilities, which varies between every student. The goal of an IEP is to create the LRE for that student to learn in. For some students, mainstream inclusion in a standard classroom may be an appropriate setting whereas other students may need to be in a special education classroom full time, but many students fall somewhere within this spectrum. Students may also require supplementary aids and services to achieve educational goals while being placed in a classroom with students without disabilities, these resources are provided as needed. The LRE for a student is less of a physical location, and more of a concept to ensure that the student is receiving the services that they need to be successful.

Adapted physical education is the art and science of developing, implementing, and monitoring a carefully designed physical education. Instructional program for a learner with a disability, based on a comprehensive assessment, to give the learner the skills necessary for a lifetime of rich leisure, recreation, and sport experiences to enhance physical fitness and wellness. Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation.Adapted physical education generally refers to school-based programs for students ages 3–21yrs.

The Post Secondary Transition For High School Students with Disabilities refers to the ordinance that every public school district in the United States must provide all students with disabilities ages 3 through 21 with an individualized and free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. President Gerald R. Ford established this right when in 1975 he signed Public Law 94-142, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA). Parents of children with disabilities and other advocates hailed EAHCA as the "education civil rights act" for their children. Public education gives students with disabilities the opportunity to succeed in life. Specific language on transition was included in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990, and again in the IDEA Amendments of 1997. Special education programs in public schools within the United States receive several different funds through federal and state levels to support the programs.

The assessment of basic language and learning skills is an educational tool used frequently with applied behavior analysis (ABA) to measure the basic linguistic and functional skills of an individual with developmental delays or disabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Learning disability</span> Range of neurodevelopmental conditions

Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty learning in a typical manner", this does not exclude the ability to learn in a different manner. Therefore, some people can be more accurately described as having a "learning difference", thus avoiding any misconception of being disabled with a lack of ability to learn and possible negative stereotyping. In the United Kingdom, the term "learning disability" generally refers to an intellectual disability, while conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia are usually referred to as "learning difficulties".

Language-based learning disabilities or LBLD are "heterogeneous" neurological differences that can affect skills such as listening, reasoning, speaking, reading, writing, and math calculations. It is also associated with movement, coordination, and direct attention. LBLD is not usually identified until the child reaches school age. Most people with this disability find it hard to communicate, to express ideas efficiently and what they say may be ambiguous and hard to understand It is a neurological difference. It is often hereditary, and is frequently associated to specific language problems.

A resource room is a separate, remedial classroom in a school where students with educational disabilities, such as specific learning disabilities, are given direct, specialized instruction and academic remediation and assistance with homework, and related assignments as individuals or in groups.

Speech and language impairment are basic categories that might be drawn in issues of communication involve hearing, speech, language, and fluency.

The Barber National Institute is a nonprofit, multi-faceted organization that provides services to more than 6,300 children, adults, and families who are faced with autism, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral health challenges. The institute’s central facility was founded in 1952 and is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Barber National Institute now employs more than 3,000 staff members throughout the state.

Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

Alpine Learning Group is a state funding approved private special education school in Paramus, New Jersey, United States. Established in 1988, the school serves students aged 3 to 21 with autism spectrum disorder, and it is known to be a prestigious educational and research facility utilizing applied behavior analysis (ABA) services.

In Ireland, 8% of adults are affected by deafness or severe hearing loss. In other words, 300,000 Irish require supports due to their hearing loss.

References

  1. 1 2 "Directory of Approved Private Schools & Chartered Schools for the Deaf and the Blind" (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of Education. May 2022. p. 37. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Valley Forge Educational Services" . Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "History of The Vanguard School". Welcome to Vanguard. The Vanguard School. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. "Our Mission and Values". About. The Vanguard School. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. "Vanguard School History". About. Vanguard School of Coconut Grove. Retrieved 29 October 2022.