A new learning center for students with autism and intellectual or developmental disabilities will open at 1180 Province Terrace, Menasha.
The Chileda Learning Center was originally established in Stevens Point in 1973 before moving to La Crosse in 1977. The new Menasha campus will welcome students for the first day of school on August 26.
This is the first expansion of the Chileda Learning Center, but Director Robert Becker said there has been high demand in La Crosse for many years.
“They have been contacted by people from across the state of Wisconsin and from other states who are also looking for internships, and they realize that there is still a great need for student services in many other areas,” he said.
Chileda specializes in students with severe autism, Becker said, a group that other schools sometimes struggle to accommodate. About 60% of the school’s students are nonverbal and communicate through touch devices or sign language. The school serves students ages 5 to 21.
“The new day school will provide a nurturing and stimulating environment that promotes academic success, social-emotional development and student independence,” a press release said.
The Menasha campus is approved to accommodate 37 students, but the school’s goal for this year is to reach about 30 students.
There will be three classrooms with seven to eight teachers in each. Each room will have a teacher, a behavioral therapist, and several classroom assistants. The school also employs an occupational therapist and a speech therapist on-site.
“Sometimes we bring in additional people just for fun, like a music therapist. That’s not part of the curriculum for our students, but we sometimes do it just as a supplement,” Becker said.
Each student at Chileda receives an individualized education plan, or IEP. The school is a nonprofit and works with several school districts, which coordinate with parents on when to send students to Chileda. The corresponding public school district pays for each student sent to Chileda, Becker said.
Transportation is also organized by the relevant public school and Chileda includes the cost of a hot lunch in the daily rate paid by the public schools.
Chileda also offers “sensory-sensitive” classrooms designed to protect students who may try to run away or escape.
“Each of our rooms has an outside door, a door to the outside, but it leads into a fenced area. So even if our students decide to jog, they just run into the playground,” Becker said.
There is no application deadline. Becker said many students start at a traditional public school and transfer to an alternative institution during the year.
“In some cases, parents learn about Chileda first and pass the information on to their school district, in other cases, school districts learn about us and introduce their families to Chileda opportunities,” Becker added.
Enrollment for the new day school program is open and the Menasha campus will offer a campus tour on August 16.
Contact Kathryn Muchnick at [email protected] or 812-568-4468.
