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® Education for Learning Fundamentals (SELF) Program?
SELF stands for Sanctuary® Education for Learning Fundamentals. The program is a partnership between Erie’s Public Schools and Sarah Reed Children’s Center, a certified Sanctuary® site. Our SELF Program is a behaviorally based initiative for students experiencing difficulties in the school setting. The program focuses on behavioral issues that are impeding academic growth, and we aim to help students react to difficult or stressful situations in a positive way rather than acting out.
Program is held at the St. Ann's School on East 10th St., in Erie, PA. Program welcomes students in grades 3-8. They must be referred to the program by their school administration. Classroom structure includes a certified teacher and a behavior counselor, as well as additional support staff from Sarah Reed.
What are the major aspects of SELF?
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, 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 a SELF classroom look like?
Academic courses will be taught by Erie’s Public Schools 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 SELF 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® Psycho-Education 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 counselors, SELF will also include a master’s degree 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 to provide a consistent Sanctuary® based program.
Will transportation and food service be provided?
Yes. Transportation will be arranged for referred students. All SELF students will receive breakfast and lunch provided by the school district’s food service.
How long will students be in the SELF program? How will they be supported after they return to their regular school/classroom?
A student’s stay in the SELF program will be determined on an individual basis. Students’ progress will be reviewed after 45 school days by the SELF team, the parent/guardian of the student and an Erie’s Public Schools Administrators to discuss transition plans.
Contact Information
1020 East 10th Street
Erie, PA 16503
Phone: 814.838.1954
Fax: 814.806.2788
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