The Life Skills Program

Teacher: Ray MacLean
Job Developer/Coach: Terry Manahan
Instructional Associate: Sonya Faulkner
Occupational Therapist: Hannah French
Speech/Language Therapist: Suzanne Jahn

The Life Skills Program at Keene High School provides support to students identified as having moderate to severe Developmental Disabilities. Depending on individual student needs, supports can be as extensive as providing a one-on-one tutor to individual students within their classes or as minimal as consulting with the academic teacher on student progress. Students who are case managed by the Program are fully participating members of the school community and have full access to typical educational experiences.

One of the primary goals of Keene High School is to prepare students to successfully enter the world of adulthood and become productive workers, responsible citizens, and good neighbors. The LSP goals are no different. To prepare our students for life beyond school, they must be taught valuable skills and how to obtain knowledge through meaningful learning experiences. Our goal is to teach our students how to be successful in the real world--- not in the world of special education.

The LSP philosophy is that all students can learn and that learning can best take place in regular classes with regular students and regular teachers. By including our students with disabilities in regular education, all students are afforded the opportunity to benefit from peer models. By working together, students observe the ways in which other students are successful and model these behaviors. At times, all students may find their best teachers among their peers. Educating all students together insures that everyone will be better prepared to face the challenges of a diverse and changing society.

Departmental Connections: Special Ed teachers attend meetings and make connections with different departments. The purpose of this collaboration is to develop communication between departments and to facilitate team teaching. Some departments have more than one special ed teacher as a liaison.

Case Management: Students in the Life Skills Program require extensive support. Student progress is tracked and parents or teachers are contacted when necessary through this monitoring system. Support also includes extensive communication with parents, school, teachers, and outside agencies.

One-to-One Tutors: This service is initially provided for students who cannot participate in regular classes without assistance. This could be due to severe ADHD and behavior management issues., transitions from out of school placement, physical disabilities, etc. Genrerally, these students do not participate in a full day program. These one-to-one tutors may not be needed for the complete school year depending upon the success of the student.