The S.E.L.F. A program is located on the Tempe McClintock campus and is a public/private partnership school. The partnership provides the Tempe Union High School District with local control and support, fluidity of placements, and significant fiscal savings.
Our Vision
The Student Empowered Learning Facility (S.E.L.F.-A) is a specialized program that provides the highest level of social/emotional support for each student while maintaining the rigor of academic standards. We envision a society in which all youth can be successful. We are committed to making success a reality for all youth. We strive to positively impact youth and the professions who work with them by focusing on program development, professional training and child advocacy.
Mission
In the S.E.L.F-A.. program, we believe that all students can and want to succeed. It is the mission of the program to assist students in overcoming social and emotional challenges in order to become productive citizens. We strive for our students to become College, Career and Community (3-C) ready by providing students with increased therapeutic supports, a structured learning environments, and clear and consistent expectations.
Program Overview
An important goal of the S.E.L.F. – A classroom is to provide students with the tools necessary to function independently. The learning environment in our S.E.L.F. – A classroom is carefully designed to decrease student dependence on the teacher and to encourage the development of skills that will lead to a productive and satisfying life. The program emphasizes building independence through individualization and planning, by understanding the whole child, and by developing effective and comprehensive programming to meet each child’s unique needs.
Like other Menta programs, the S.E.L.F. – A utilizes a collaborative and data-based problem-solving process to identify students in need of additional interventions, develop appropriate interventions, and progress monitor student response to interventions. The problem-solving process uses a functional behavior approach to understanding student behavior and developing function-based interventions in behavior plans. Functional behavior assessment is an evidence-based practice that is at the heart of Applied Behavior Analysis. Problem-solving teams consult with BCBA’s on data collection, data analysis, and intervention planning.
Learning environments in the classrooms thoughtfully integrate specific evidence-based strategies from the Structured Teaching Model developed by Division TEACCH, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
• Physical Structure: Our educators carefully structure physical aspects of the classroom to meet the students’ needs for optimal success, arranging the room to fit the child rather than trying to make the child fit the room.
• Visual Schedules: Individualized visual schedules use objects, photographs, icons, or written words to communicate to the student where he or she should be and in what sequence.
• Work Systems: A visual work system organizes the activities that a student will complete in a specific location and provide visual organization to support student independence.
• Communication Systems: Many students with disabilities have difficulty in effectively communicating. Individualized communication systems are used to teach functional communicative behaviors helping students negotiate their world, regulate their behavior, and interact with others.
• Sensory Supports: A variety of sensory supports are available both inside the classroom and in sensory rooms outside the classroom to increase student’s awareness and decrease sensitivity to sensory input.
Grades 9-12
