EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Since 1989, SCO Family of Services has been dedicated to the education of developmentally disabled and at-risk youth and adolescents. SCO Family of Services’s wide range of educational programs serve individuals and families. Programs include Special Needs Schools such as the Theresa Paplin School in Queens, Alternative School Programs such as the New Beginnings Center in Brooklyn, After-School and Community Enrichment Programs in Brooklyn, including the Beacon Centers in Bedford Stuyvesant and Sunset Park and the award winning “Life Lines” Community Arts Project. Services at these programs include academic enrichment, youth development services, community building, truancy prevention and life skills development.

• Theresa Paplin School

The school is an Article 81, special education non-diploma bound school which is part of the Ottilie Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) in Jamaica, Queens. The school serves severely emotionally disturbed and developmentally disabled adolescents who have been referred by the New York State Office of Mental Health and who reside at the RTF. The hands-on functional curriculum and vocational program is designed to give students the tools they will need to work and live functional lives.  

• Extraordinary Needs School

An extension of the Theresa Paplin School, the program provides two satellite classrooms in Brooklyn and three in Staten Island for adolescents with special education needs who reside in two of SCO Family of Services’s Extraordinary Needs Group Residences. The schools’ students consist of those with special education needs as well as those who have difficulty integrating in a regular school program.

• Tyree Learning Center

An extension of the Theresa Paplin School, the Tyree Learning Center works with developmentally disabled youth and adolescents who reside at the Sea Cliff Residential Treatment Center (RTC). The Center currently serves 42 of the 73 residents of the RTC, and plans to expand its services to all 73 youngsters once a new building is constructed. The curriculum is developed to provide each student with the highest level of individualized instruction possible and teaches necessary life skills in order to promote their ability to achieve a level of functioning that correlates to their full potential.

“We are continually striving for excellence in education and provide amazing educational opportunities for children with multiple challenges.” – Regina Collinson, Principal of Tyree Learning Center

• Madonna Heights School

Fully accredited by the state of New York, the school at Madonna Heights holds classes for middle school and high school aged girls which are designed to help students build a bridge in their lives that will help them return to their families and their own school while learning to lead fulfilling lives. Adolescent girls enter the program at Madonna Heights to learn to cope with issues affecting their lives, while at the same time continuing their education. This program allows them to earn credits to return to home schools or graduate with a Madonna Heights Diploma. Referrals are made by the Department of Social Services, Family Court, Special Education Committees of local school districts, and the Office of Mental Health. The school also offers all of the RCT’s and Regents tests required by the New York State Education Department.

Alternative School Programs

“Many of our kids can’t make it in a traditional school setting. They are labeled both by teachers and the other kids. Here we have a good team…we work together and we understand. We have had some outstanding successes.”
–Cecilia Rutledge, SCO Family of Services Program Director

• Educational Retention Program

Educational and family support services for high school students who are on 30-60-90 day suspensions from school. The program, located at the Genovese Family Life Center in Queens, provides a short term educational alternative for these adolescents until next steps can be determined. Family involvement is encouraged, as staff assesses how to best serve individuals and their families as a unit. Services offered include individual and group counseling, family counseling, job skills instruction and job search assistance.

• New Beginings Center

Based on an inititative designed by Mayor Bloomberg to improve the learning environment for all New York City high school students, this program provides an Alternative High School option for disruptive adolescents and places them in a smaller environment that is better equipped to cater to their needs. The program, which is located in Bedford Stuyvesant, serves students from various inner-city neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx and provides a semester long program consisting of academic classes, workshops and activities in an effort to later re-integrate them into regular schools. Part of the Family Dynamics programs and service offerings.

• After School Program

After school program providing after-school care and services including homework assistance,thematic object-base learning and arts instruction for elementary school aged youth at PS 81 in Bedford Stuyvesant. Part of the Family Dynamics programs and service offerings.

• AIDP: Attendance Improvement and Dropout Prevention

The AIDP program focuses on truancy prevention through academic support, counseling and guidance services as well as parent Involvement and family literacy services for the students and parents of middle school and high school aged youth at four schools: IS 291 in Bushwick, Flushing High School in Queens, IS 71 in Williamsburg and PS 116 in Jamaica. Part of the Family Dynamics programs and service offerings.

• Middle School Initiative

After school program providing after-school care and services for middle schoool aged children at IS 71 in Williamsburg. The program is funded by TASC the NYC Department of Education and the Robin Hood Foundation, and is based on the Carrera-Model program which incorporates family life and sex education into academic enhancements, homework support and tutoring, recreational activities and community leadership development projects. IS 71 also hosts an AIDP program at this location. Partof the Family Dynamics programs and service offerings.

• Beacon Center at PS 35

Community-based program located in a school setting offering after-school and evening services as well as weekend recreation services to meet the academic, physical, social and emotional needs of children and adolescents in Bedford Stuyvesant. The program also provides a summer enrichment program, family counseling and educational and recreational courses for families in the community. Part of the Family Dynamics programs and service offerings.

• Beacon Center at PS 314

Community-based program located in a school setting offering after-school and evening programs, weekend and recreation services, and summer camp programs for children, adolescents and adults in Sunset Park. Part of the Center for Family Life programs and service offerings.

• Community School Project at PS 1

Community-based program located in a school setting offering after-school and evening programs for youth and adults as well as summer camp programs for children in the Sunset Park community. Part of the Center for Family Life programs and service offerings.

• “Life Lines” Community Arts Project

The program, which is part of the programming offered by the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, is a free, comprehensive, year-round program for youths age 10-21 that brings together arts, education and social work to engage young participants in a group experience that promotes individual growth and builds community. Life Lines’ programs include an In-Schoool Arts Partnership between MS 136 and MS 821, an After-School arts and academic enrichment program, and Summer Arts Camp which provide quality instruction to youth from the community. Instruction is provided in areas such as percussion, dance, photography, creative writing, computer access and academic enrichment. The program also has a Traveling Performing Arts Troupe which is made up of youth in the community. In November 2003, the program was awarded the “Coming Up Taller Award” by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. This award recognizes outstanding out-of-school and after school arts and humanities programs for young people.

“”Life Lines” use of the arts to give expression to relevant social and emotional themes, to promote cultural understanding and to strengthen connections between people is particularly beneficial at this time of uncertainty in our city and country” - Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, 12 th District New York

• Youth Employment Program

Program provides teens with after school and evening work experience, training and academic assistance, and assists in summer employment search at three locations: The Beacon Center at PS 314, the Commmunity School Projects at PS 1, and at MS 136 which are located in Sunset Park.

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