http://www.sageday.com/therapeutic-education/public-school-students/ | This article discusses how to successfully transition a student from a therapeutic environment to a public school environment, for more information visit www.sageday.com

1. Successful Transition From Therapeutic
School to Public School
By Christopher Leonard, LCSW, M.Ed. Director of School
Operations
Sage Day Schools offer a smaller, therapeutic environment for
students who are not thriving in a larger public school due to a
variety of emotional issues. Our goal is to help our students
achieve a healthy level of academic success and emotional
healing so they can smoothly transition back to mainstream
educational programs and/or the workforce. Given the proper
preparation and support, a significant number of our students
can successfully return to their home school districts. Although
many of our students may be apprehensive about change,
providing the right supports helps them recognize that they can
succeed in spite of their fears or concerns. Here is an overview
of how we support each student through the transition from Sage
Day Schools back to the public school.
We ensure that the student is in fact ready for transition.
In order to demonstrate readiness for transition to the
mainstream setting, a student should exhibit the following
indicators over a period of at least six months:
Stronger connection to the school community as evidenced by
participation in school activities. Peer interaction should be at a
level necessary to engage in the collaborative work expected
of
students in mainstream settings and/or the workforce.
Successful participation in at least one activity or class in the
mainstream district is an even stronger indicator of readiness.
Maintenance of grades that are in line with the student’s ability
and engagement in the learning process as evidenced by
consistent use of effective study habits.
No incidence of hospitalizations, self-injury or other

2. maladaptive
symptoms of the underlying emotional issues that led to the
need
for out-of-district placement.
Active involvement in counseling (private or through the
school)
to help with the transition and other developmental issues.
Successful interaction with the community outside Sage Day
via
employment, participation in a club, team or other sustained
activity.
Sometimes a student will request a transition before he or she
has demonstrated a sufficient number of these indicators. In this
case, we first help the student recognize the need to
demonstrate the indicator. Then we support the student in setting
and pursuing the goal of achieving the indicator.
We prepare the student and family by engaging them in
sustained dialogue about the transition.
We talk at great length with the transitioning student and his or
her family about the upcoming return to their home district.
Although we cannot prepare the student for everything that might
come up, discussing, recognizing and reframing fears and
concerns in advance helps the student feel more at ease with the
upcoming change. We remind the
transitioning student of their successes and accomplishments
and help him or her recognize the confidence he or she has
developed as a result. We also do not overlook what the student
may still need to work on. For example, the shy student may
continue to experience difficulty with peer interaction. However,
we can help this student recognize and utilize coping skills to
maximize his or her success in working with peers.
We establish a formal transition plan and schedule.

3. Once the student has maintained the solid performance
indicators outlined above, we collaborate with the student,
parents and school district to set up a formal transition plan. This
may include a period of time during which the student spends
part of each school day at Sage Day and part of the day in his or
her public school to support the student in re-acclimating.
We engage in sustained communication with the student,
family and school district.
Our educators, clinicians, and administrators all know how
important communication is to the success of our students’ daily
school life. Accordingly:
We maintain an ongoing dialogue with our students and their
parents about each student’s progress. This occurs formally
and
informally via discussions with teachers, individual, group and
family therapies, progress reports, report cards and parent
teacher conferences.
We work with district administrators and their staffs to maintain
open lines of communication between students, their families,
and the schools so that returning students feel more at ease in
their home districts.
We provide the districts with updated information about each
student’s challenges and progress through quarterly
summaries;
these summaries cover the students’ overall social and
emotional functioning as well as report cards that focus on
academic performance.
We encourage the student to get involved at his or her
district school.
Students who get involved with activities at their district school
develop a stronger connection and relationship to their school. A
student can enjoy even greater comfort and confidence when he
or she pursues an activity in-district (e.g., art, music, community

4. service, etc.) that he or she has enjoyed at Sage Day Schools.
We help establish a supportive in-district atmosphere.
The most important aspect of making an easy transition to a
district school is to give students ample opportunity to express
their feelings and thoughts—just as they have at Sage Day
Schools.
We work with school administrators and school psychologists
to
develop an atmosphere in which students feel empowered to
address their concerns in the moment, rather than allowing
these
concerns to become obstacles to progress.
In addition, we work with the student’s child study team to
discuss the areas in which the student will need continued
support upon return to the sending district.
Our embedded therapeutic services are available in many New
Jersey school districts; these services provide a supportive
bridge between the therapeutic environment students had at
our
Sage Day Schools and their lives back
at public school.
We support parents through the transition.
Sometimes the parent of the transitioning student may feel his or
her own anxiety about the student’s transition back to public
school. At other times, the parent may want the student to
transition before the student is ready. In either case, it is
important to listen to the parent and engage him or her in the
process.
At Sage Day Schools, we are committed to making the transition
from a therapeutic school back to public school as smooth as

5. possible for students and their families. This is a key component
of our commitment to getting our students ready for the
challenges they will face during life after Sage Day.