House Republican Policy Committee hearing held at Centennial

Recently, the House Republican Policy Committee convened a “Back to School” hearing at Lehigh’s Centennial School. The hearing gave university officials, school faculty, parents and students the opportunity to share the impact of this unique learning environment.

Centennial is an approved private school, funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and governed by Lehigh’s College of Education (COE). The school is guided by two interrelated missions: providing a world-class educational experience for students with behavioral challenges, and training aspiring individuals pursuing careers in special education and related fields. Approximately 90 students, ranging in age from 6 to 21, attend Centennial each year. 

Lehigh President Joseph Helble opened the hearing, followed by testimony from COE Acting Dean Robin Hojnoski, Centennial Director Julie Fogt, Lead Teacher Heather Caricari, and Technology Integration Specialist Sara C. Heintzelman. A second panel introduced testimony from Centennial parents Kristi Sadow, Melissa Howard Heptner and Jim Shields. 

In her testimony, Fogt outlined some of the approaches to education that set Centennial apart.

“One of the reasons Centennial School initially garnered national attention is an approach to educating students with emotional disturbance and autism without the routine use of physical restraint and seclusion,” she explains. A multi-tiered, positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) model was established over 25 years ago. During the first year of implementation, the use of physical restraints was reduced by 69%, and out-of-school suspensions declined by 16%. Twenty-five years later, the school has seen a 100% reduction in the use of physical restraint and seclusionary time out procedures and an 86% reduction in out-of-school suspensions.

“Centennial School treats its students with dignity and care, fosters a sense of belonging, supports social and emotional growth, and gives students a place where they are seen not for their disabilities but for their potential,” Fogt continues. Centennial promotes a culture of kindness, empathy, and mutual respect among students and staff. “Nice Matters” is the school’s unofficial mantra.

The number of students requiring special education services continues to grow nationwide—and in the state. “Pennsylvania schools are serving 53,613 more special education students than they were fifteen years ago,” Fogt shares. As the COE’s lab school, Centennial is helping to meet this need. The school serves as a training center for graduate students pursuing careers in special education, school psychology, counseling, and educational leadership, and other school-based professions. 

Centennial uses a teacher residency program to support graduate students as they master the research-based practices that set the school apart. Coupled with a team teaching approach, the residencies allow Centennial to operate without disruptions due to staff absences.

Heather Caricari began her career with Centennial as a teacher intern. For the past fifteen years, she has served as a lead teacher in Centennial’s high school program and as one of the school’s teacher mentors. “Centennial takes pride in providing mentoring experiences that are individualized and tailored to meet the individual needs of our teachers,” says Caricari. “We understand that our teacher associates and interns come to Centennial with a variety of experience and knowledge, some entering the classroom for the very first time, and because of this, lead teachers work to ensure their mentoring practices are individualized for each of their mentees.” Weekly team and individual meetings, and professional development, along with both structured and organic training and support help teacher interns graduate well equipped to lead their own classrooms and implement the best practices they have learned at Centennial. 

Sara Heintzelman came to Centennial 15 years ago as a teacher intern, studying for her master’s degree in Instructional Technology. During her first year at Centennial, she saw firsthand the positive impact that technology can have toward improving academic outcomes for students with learning disabilities. “I had a student, who I’ll call Eli,” she says. Eli strongly disliked writing and it was Heintzelman’s task to teach Eli to write. After he put a hole in the wall with his desk in frustration, Sara and Eli sat down to problem solve how they could approach writing differently. 

“I vividly remember our conversation,” Sara says.. “When I asked Eli what he didn’t like about writing, he said it wasn’t that he didn’t have ideas, it was that he couldn’t remember his ideas long enough to transfer them from his brain to paper.” Sara and Eli used an iPod touch to record Eli’s ideas, allowing him to re-listen to the recording as often as he needed and translate the speech to text. 

This was the start of Centennial looking at how they could use technology to bridge learning gaps for their students. Over the last 15 years, Heintzelman has been part of the team that integrates technology into Centennial students’ school experiences to better meet their educational needs. 

Centennial has installed interactive whiteboards in all of their classrooms, uses iPads at the elementary and middle school levels, and Chromebooks for high school students. Most recently, Centennial installed an Immersive Learning Center, a 360 degree room where students can travel virtually to anywhere in the world, teachers can view footage from classrooms, classes can preview community field trips, and much more. “The first K-12 school on the East Coast to have this technology, we are proud to be leading the way for other local schools who are considering immersive learning technology,” Heintzelman shares.

She continues, “An incredible source of innovation, teachers are always thinking about their students and how they can do more to help.” Central to that innovation is a positive school culture, a focus on individual student needs and strengths, research-based practices, and a willingness to think differently about solving problems that arise. 

Partnerships with students’ parents are also central to the success of Centennial. The impact of these partnerships is evident in the testimony shared by parents during the hearing. “[Our son’s] teacher has been almost like a co-parent or a coworker,” says Centennial parent Jim Shields. “Several times a week we get a call or an email and that communication is paramount to our son’s success.”

As Heintzelman says, “The solution to students experiencing success will not be found in a device or room; it will be found with us all thinking differently to innovate together.”

After a tour of the school and listening to the testimony presented, the state representatives shared their reactions. “The Centennial School’s science-based approach has set new precedents for how children with special needs learn and the importance of the environment in which they learn,” remarked Representative Milou Mackenzie (131st Legislative District). “We desperately need to modernize our school system, and Centennial School is playing a critical role in doing just that.”

“Pennsylvania’s 19th century school system is not equipped to educate 21st century students,” said Representative Josh Kai (15th Legislative District). “The Centennial School is the exception, advancing knowledge, using data, creating ideal environments for students in need, and ensuring the next generation of special education teachers have the skills.” 

A video of the hearing is available at www.pagoppolicy.com/video/policy (scroll to August 6 hearing).

To learn more about Lehigh’s Centennial lab school, visit centennial.lehigh.edu.