Behavioral Services at the Gateway School
Crisis Prevention and Intervention (CPI) Services
Here at Gateway School we maintain a group of staff who have been trained in Non-violent Crisis Intervention through the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), an international organization with an excellent reputation for educating staff in safe, respectful and noninvasive methods for managing disruptive and assaultive behaviors.
The core philosophy behind the CPI organization is to maintain the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of both students and staff members. The ultimate objective is to de-escalate difficult situations that arise as early as possible by understanding students’ anxieties, body language and behaviors.
Gateway School has a permanent crisis team who, along with the instructional and related services staff, provide an immediate response to any problem within the school at the earliest stages. The entire staff is trained several times a year, with a level of training depending upon their role.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services
Our Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Program, is overseen by the Principal, Kevin Jones. The program is an approach to assist instructional staff with behavior modification strategies for those students who would benefit from this type of intensive intervention. At The Gateway School we engage in classroom observations, behavioral review with teachers, and family conferences. He works collaboratively with staff to develop, implement, monitor and update individual behavior plans to help each student succeed to their potential. Consistency and teamwork is the cornerstone of this program to help students understand social expectations and the positive interpersonal rewards associated with appropriately learning to manage their behaviors.
Gateway School’s methodologies are to reduce problem behavior and increase socially significant skills is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). This Program provides a variety of services that include direct instruction and behavior reduction programs. The principals of ABA are used to organize the delivery of services to our students. Based on school and parental input, student assessment, and direct observation, skill deficits are identified and programs are developed.
Many of the Gateway School instructional staff has been educated in the principles and strategies of ABA. These strategies and interventions focus on objectively defined behaviors of social value; they attempt to discover the function of problem behaviors within the school and community environment; and they enable staff to intervene to improve the behaviors under study, while demonstrating a reliable relationship between their interventions and behavioral improvements.
Behavior Therapy Services may include:
- Application of behaviorally-based interventions and techniques
- Functional behavioral assessments
- Collaboration with instructional staff and related service professionals
- Behavioral intervention plan development
- Curriculum development based on the needs of the student
- Direct staff training
- Design and implementation of data collection
- Data analysis to monitor and determine the effectiveness of interventions
- Parent assistance and training
The focus of the science of ABA is to determine why students engage in problem behaviors through careful observation, data collection and targeted interventions. When the “function” of the behaviors have been discovered, socially appropriate replacement behaviors are taught to the students.