Early on in JRA’s history, we sadly had to conclude that one of our older students had mental health issues that we weren’t equipped to handle, and he needed long term hospitalization. Because we had done a good job of shielding our younger students from this teen’s problems, they didn’t understand why he was leaving. […]
whose fault is it?
One thing that makes JRA unique is that we will take children with behavior problems. Not all of our kids have these issues, but they certainly don’t scare us. There is a culture of fear and blame circulating around these kids, one that is not helpful to anyone. If a teacher has a child in […]
in charge of the world
A delightful part of this summer has been helping a small friend of mine get ready for kindergarten by working on phonemic awareness, letter sounds, and beginning reading. Although she is very bright, reading skills do not come easily to her, and she is anxious about school beginning. Her anxiety has begun to spread and […]