The Intermediate Services Program mission is to promote academic, behavioral, and social-emotional growth within a supportive environment based on positive behavior strategies, clear expectations, constructive feedback, and intensive social emotional learning. The Intermediate Services Program is a district-wide, multi-tiered behavior program for those students who need intensive support and instruction in behavioral and social-emotional skills. The program’s main goal is to help the students build the skills necessary to be successful in order to transition back into the skills program’s classroom or general education classroom.

The Intermediate Services Program philosophy is that students should be served in the least restrictive environment which allows for academic and behavioral success. Children would do well if they could. Therefore, programming includes a strong emphasis on the development of social and emotional skills which are taught daily and reinforced through spontaneous and planned interactions with staff and peers. These skills are based on research-based behavioral and cognitive theories of intervention. Academic instruction is individualized to meet each student’s instructional needs while still being aligned with district curriculum requirements and state standards.

The Intermediate Services Program, currently provided at Walnut, is designed for students in Kindergarten through fifth grade to empower them to develop the strategies and skills to
overcome maladaptive behaviors and transition back into the Skills Academy or general education setting. Teacher: Student ratios are 1:1 for individualized learning. This option is used only when exhaustive interventions have been implemented without success in the child’s general education/resource program including the levels of support in the Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) that includes all three tiers of instruction and support