Sarah Reed Children’s Center provides a comprehensive continuum of programs and services for children throughout their development and across all environments, including the home, school, and community settings. Our service continuum provides trauma-informed, high-quality, and evidence-based therapeutic programming to children across Erie County.
What is the Sanctuary® Based Learning Program (SBLP)?
The program is a partnership between Erie’s Public Schools and Sarah Reed Children’s Center, a certified Sanctuary® site. It is located at the St. Ann's School at 1020 East 10th St. in Erie, PA. We welcome students K-12 with a referral.
What are the major aspects of the Sanctuary® Based Learning Program?
The program is based on the Sanctuary® Behavioral Model and operates around seven guiding principles:
Nonviolence – Helping to build safety skills and commit to a higher standard.
Emotional Intelligence – Helping to teach emotional management skills.
Social Learning – Helping to build cognitive skills.
Open Communication – Helping to overcome barriers to healthy communication, learn conflict management, reduce acting-out, enhance self-protective and self-correcting skills, and teach healthy boundaries.
Democracy – Helping to create civic skills of self-control, self-discipline and administration of healthy authority.
Social Responsibility – Helping to rebuild social connection skills, establish healthy attachment relationships, and establish sense of fair play and justice.
Growth and Change – Helping to work through loss and prepare for the future.
What will an SBLP classroom look like?
Academic courses will be taught by certified teachers. Behavior support will be provided by experienced behavior counselors and additional support staff members from Sarah Reed.
Will the academic plan be customized?
Yes. An educational plan will be developed for each student with a focus on improving math and literacy skills. Students will also take coursework in social studies and science. The SBLP academic curriculum was designed by the school district’s coordinators of science, math and literacy. Related arts instruction will also be offered each quarter.
How will behavior be supported?
The behavior counselor will work in the classroom with the teacher to conduct the Sanctuary® PsychoEducation Curriculum. This individual will also offer immediate intervention when a student acts out through verbal and non-verbal prompting as directed by the Safe Crisis Management Curriculum.
The behavior counselor will also conduct ongoing incentive programs, which include maintaining a point system for daily tracking of behaviors as well as a levels system to provide increased privileges as student’s behavior improves. All incentive programs will follow the philosophy of Sanctuary®.
The support staff will organize and manage a “refocus area” for students who are asked to leave the classroom. This area will provide a calming, therapeutic atmosphere for students to process through their behavioral issues and return to class as soon as possible. The support staff will utilize Sanctuary® related tools, such as development of Safety Plans for all students, calling Red Flag meetings when necessary, following the Sanctuary® S.E.L.F (safety, emotional management, loss and future) structure when working with students, and will utilize and model the Seven Commitments of Sanctuary®.
All staff will be committed to maintaining a safe, calm, therapeutic, Sanctuary®-based atmosphere in the program during all times to assist the students with learning academically as well as teaching the coping skills that will be necessary when they return to their home schools.
What other mental health services will be provided?
In addition to the behavior counselor and the support staff, SBLP will also include a Master's level therapist. This individual will provide group counseling, individual counseling as warranted, and work closely with the families to try and engage them in their child’s treatment. The therapist will coordinate with the behavior counselors and support staff to provide a consistent Sanctuary® based program. A district Special Education Supervisor will serve as the liaison between the home school and the SBLP Program. The Special Education Supervisor will meet with the SBLP team monthly to review student progress and discuss possible transitions back to the student’s home school.
Will transportation and food service be provided?
Yes. Transportation will be arranged for referred students. All SBLP students will receive breakfast and lunch provided by the school district’s food service.
How long will students be in the SBLP program? How will they be supported after they return to their regular school/classroom?
A student’s stay in the SBLP program will be determined on an individual basis. After discharge, the Special Education Supervisor will monitor the student’s progress in their home school.
Contact Information
Students must be referred by their IEP team.