By Traci Newell
 paul nyberg/town crier Program director Allison Arnold helps a student on his way to recess. |
No student is beyond help - that is what the dedicated staff at Achievekids believes.
Achievekids helps the emotionally and developmentally disabled from 5 to 22 achieve their potential through integrated mental health and special education services. The staff works one-on-one with students, offering mental health and behavioral counseling, vocational training, community integration, speech therapy and transition services.
Operating for 45 years, Achievekids serves 97 students at its campuses in Palo Alto and San Jose.
“We help children who have had difficulty in public school who were referred to us,” said Tom Drechler, director of the Palo Alto campus.
Most of the children are in the program because public school officials felt they could not educate them. Pupils come from districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, and nearby areas of Alameda and Santa Cruz counties. Each child comes with his or her public school per-student allocation, so parents do not have to pay tuition.
In order to fund all of its programs, Achievekids aims to raise $500,000 a year through donations.
The majority of Achievekids students are autistic, while others have a range of such disorders as Asperger’s syndrome, psychotic disturbances and mental retardation, Drechler said. According to Achievekids, 17 percent of the nation’s children have a developmental or behavioral disability such as autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation.
The program aims to help students become more self-reliant with their families, schools and community. Staffers take children on frequent field trips into the community to learn to do everything from following safety signs to taking public transport and buying groceries.
“Primarily, we try to teach the social skills necessary for our students to be successful in other environments and in the community,” Drechler said.
Achievekids has a number of nonverbal students who communicate using the picture exchange communication system. This system allows students to point to pictures to indicate what they want to do.
The school doesn’t come without issues, Drechler said. Often students have difficulty dealing with each other, but the staff helps them work through it. The students also have behavioral problems, but the staff is well trained in dealing with outbursts.
“We try to make it a little community here,” Drechler said.
The program focuses on helping the older students transition into the community. Students probably had marginal interactions with people outside school and their families before coming to Achievekids, Drechler said.
There is a classroom specifically for the younger students, designed with a higher academic focus. Drechler said the younger the student, the greater the chance he or she can learn enough skills to return to a public school.
Achievekids is a non-profit private school, funded for the most part by the per-pupil allocations from public schools and the Santa Clara County Mental Health Department. The school fills the cost gap with community donations.
For more information, call 494-1200 or visit www.achievekids.org.
