|
|
About Us |
How to Give |
Programs |
SC Academy |
McCaw Hall |
Seattle Center |
|
|
|
|
About Us |
How to Give |
Programs |
SC Academy |
McCaw Hall |
Seattle Center |
|
|
|
Special Needs
|
SEATTLE
CENTER ACADEMY Reach for It! Students with Disabilities
Seattle Center Academy offers both integrated and specialized programming for students with disabilities. We are committed to offering students of all abilities an opportunity to become involved in the arts and to grow artistically. Over the past nine years approximately 10% of our total student population has been comprised of students with special needs. Caleb doesn’t talk at all unless you wait a long time for his response. He has a diagnosis of significantly developmentally delayed. He is in a program for youth with mental retardation in his school. He came to the Seattle Center Academy's Reach For It! program and enrolled in ballet and improvisation. His teachers reported his development over the following two weeks as considerable, as well as “awesome”, “amazing”, and “I can’t believe it.” In his improvisation class he fell backward into the arms of his fellow actors. They lifted him aloft in order to build his trust. When his experience ended, he said, “Again?” The other young people once again lifted him above their heads. He laughed aloud this time.
Integrated
Opportunities
As
our program is committed to valuing diversity, we are also committed to
serving students who have a range of disabilities, in the least
restrictive environment available at the Academy.
Many students with special needs are placed in the general
academy classes with assisted supports.
General classes have between 15-30 students, and offer a lead
teacher, at least one assistant teacher, and at least one volunteer
adult aid.
Davil was quite distraught that he had a mentor, telling staff that he could “handle everything just fine.” He said that the mentor was “just going to make me look like I am one of the crazy kids.” This was discussed with the mentor at the beginning of the first week. She stayed far in the background and participated in the class as if she were another student. Davil hardly spoke to her the first week. The last day of the Academy, the teacher in the singing class introduced the assistant teacher and the volunteer. Everyone clapped and cheered. Then Davil yelled out, “Hey, didn’t you forget Hannah?” The teacher said, “Why don’t you introduce her?” Davil said, “Okay, this here is Hannah and she is my mentor. Let’s hear it for her!” One of the students said, “What is a mentor?” Davil answered, “She helps me out and other kids with disabilities.”
Students
with disabilities are also provided with a peer-aged mentor for each
general Academy class they attend.
Mentors are chosen from a large pool of successful academy
alumni, and are selected on the basis of expressed leadership,
responsibility, and interest in the arts.
Every effort is made to match students with mentors who share
their interests in the arts, and to match students with classes that are
of interest to them and appropriate for their needs and abilities. Specialized
Classroom
A
second placement option available at the Academy is a more specialized
classroom where students with high needs or severe disabilities
participate in a multi-arts curriculum.
In this classroom students explore their creativity, expressing
themselves through various art projects and opportunities that showcase
their talents. This
classroom curriculum is developed and implemented through a joint effort
of both the professional artistic faculty and the program coordinator
for students with disabilities. This
classroom offers 2-3 teachers and 1-2 classroom aids to 8-10 students.
Each student is also provided with a peer-age mentor.
Additionally, this class collaborates with a visual artist for
integrated instruction. Combination
of Integration and Specialized Classroom
A
third placement option is a combination of integrated and specialized
placement. We are flexible! Please let us know what type of placement that you feel best
suits your child, and we will try our best to accommodate that
placement. All classes have
limited space, so it is best that you and your child consider first,
second and third choices for classes.
Final class placement decisions are made by the Academy faculty
and the program coordinator for students with disabilities. Maria’s family told the staff that they were not expecting she would last the week, certainly not two weeks. Their previous attempts to provide recreational or social opportunities for Maria most often ended in defeat. It appeared that defeat was not an option for the teachers and staff at Seattle Center Academy. Maria was there every day for two weeks. She attended and was included in a class of youth without obvious disabilities. With the assistance of her mentor and teacher, she created a work of art. Her family waited for a familiar telephone call, requesting that someone pick up Maria. That call did not come. Reach For It! teachers did call Maria’s home, but only to discuss ideas to provide the supports that she needed to be successful in the two-week academy. On the last day, Maria showed off her work with 200 other young artists and scientists. Her parents said that they were “simply in awe” as they watched Maria.
Read
excerpts from research on the Reach For It!
program conducted by
Photo by Auston James |
