FAQ’s
What do Pace School Programs include?
Pace School programs are a constellation of services that fulfill our mission to enable any child to thrive. Pace School responds to the needs of individuals, families and school districts and is committed to constantly evolving our programs and services. Currently Pace School Programs include:
Pace Approved Private School and Partial Hospitalization Program
What is an “Approved Private School” (APS)?
The 34 Approved Private Schools in Pennsylvania were created in 1961 to educate students with the most severe disabilities. APS’s are jointly funded by the Commonwealth and by the school districts that refer students. Services are free to eligible students
What is a school-based “Partial Hospitalization Program”?
A School-Based Partial Hospitalization Program (SBPH) enables children and adolescents to receive an on-site therapeutic level of care that is more concentrated than outpatient services and less intrusive than inpatient care.
Who attends Pace School?
Students who are educationally diagnosed with autism or emotional disturbance are eligible to attend Pace School. Students are between age 5 and 15 and are in grades Kindergarten through 9th grade. Referrals to Pace must be made by the child’s home school district. Pace Learning Center serves students with and without an IEP who are in Kindergarten through 6th grade. Referrals may be made privately or through the student’s home school district. The Moon Autism Support Program serves students K-6 who are placed by the Moon Area School District. Extended School Year programs serves students aged 5-12 and referrals are accepted privately or through the student’s home school district.
Pace Approved Private School and Partial Hospitalization Program
What characteristics distinguish the students at Pace School?
- 100% qualify in a category of special education. (See Who attends the School?)
- 100% have maximized the support services available within their school district.
- 100% have at least one mental health diagnosis and meet eligibility standards for Partial Hospitalization level of care
- On average, students entering Pace School are one to two years below grade level in reading and math.
How do students enroll at Pace School?
A referral must come through the child’s home school district’s department of special education. Parents interested in enrolling their child should contact the Intake Coordinator for additional information and guidance on the referral process.
How is Pace School the same as Public School?
The school provides the full range of academic subjects including reading, language arts, math, social studies, health/physical education, art, music, and computers. Other services include speech and language, reading specialists, and psychological services. Each classroom at Pace School is lead by a special education teacher certified through the PA Department of Education.
How is Pace School different?
The School blends mental health and developmental services through all parts of the school day, maximizing each student’s ability to receive necessary treatment with minimal disruption to learning. Pace School provides comprehensive school based psychiatric care for children to achieve their full academic potential.
What geographic region does the school serve?
Each year Pace serves 40 or more school districts from seven counties including: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Indiana, Washington, and Westmoreland.
What are the benefits to kids and families of placement at Pace School?
- Diversion from psychiatric hospitalization or residential placement.
- Help with identifying and accessing other resources needed by the family.
- Life-changing improvements in academic achievement, school survival, and life management skills.
- Children can return to public school, on track academically and ready to learn!
Pace Learning Center
How is Pace Learning Center different from Pace School?
Pace Learning Center (PLC) is a licensed private academic school serving children from Kindergarten through sixth grade. PLC serves both regular and and special education students. PLC tuition is fully paid by the school or parent who places the child. PLC does not include a Partial Hospitalization Program but provides behavioral health interventions in the classroom and in collaboration with Behavioral Health Providers in the Community. The PLC Supervisor works with families and community providers to work together with teachers to provide the best care.
How is Pace Learning Center the same as Pace School?
PLC provides the same high level of educational interventions using the best researched educational interventions available to meet every child’s learning needs. PLC is a certified Sanctuary® program providing a trauma informed environment where children can heal from chronic stress and adverse experiences.
Who Attends Pace Learning Center?
Students who are struggling in their current educational placement or who have special learning needs that aren’t easily addressed in other private schools. PLC is easily accessible to students from Northern Allegheny County, Butler, Armstrong and Beaver Counties.
How do students enroll at Pace Learning Center?
Parents or school district representatives should contact the Program Supervisor at 724-903-0083 or by email at cpopatak@paceschool.org.
Pace Extended School Year Program
Who can attend Pace School’s Extended School Year Program (ESY)?
Students who are identified by their school district as being at risk of regression in their learning or behavior during the summer break can be approved to attend ESY. Students who are not currently enrolled at a Pace School program will require an intake evaluation process and will not generally be eligible for participation in Partial Hospitalization services. Students must be between the ages of 5 to 12 years upon enrollment.
How do students enroll in the Extended School Year Program?
School district representatives should contact the intake coordinator before February 1. Parents may contact the Intake Coordinator for private enrollment of their child.
When does the program run?
The program runs for 5 consecutive weeks in July and the beginning of August. The program is in session for 5 hours per day Monday through Thursday and includes breakfast and lunch provided free of charge. Students generally are expected to attend all 5 weeks but family accommodations will be made as necessary.
What special programs are available at the Pace Extended School Year Program?
Pace Extended School Year program provides academic instruction individualized to the needs of each child. In addition, Pace partners with Gateway to the Arts to provide an arts infused curriculum based on the principals of esthetic education. Students are immersed daily in the artistic experience based on a specific work of art or performance art. The art changes throughout the summer in order to expose children to the broadest range of experiences. Over the past 3 years, we have found that every student, regardless of their challenges, can experience and learn from the arts and have fun while they are learning.
Moon Autism Support Program
What is the Moon Autism Support Program?
Moon Area School District contracts with Pace School to provide an Autism Support classroom in the J. H. Brooks Elementary School Building. The classroom is staffed by Pace School personnel and serves children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who might otherwise be placed outside of the District.
Who may attend the program?
Enrollment is controlled by the Moon Area School District and is currently limited to students in grades Kindergarten through sixth grade who are residents of the Moon Area School District. Placement into this classroom is made through the IEP team and is a joint decision between parents and school district personnel.
What makes the program different than regular special education classrooms?
The Moon Autism Support Classroom is specially designed to meet the intensive needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders including the complex language and behavioral challenges that make it difficult for them to participate in general education even with special education supports. Pace School brings the highest level of intensive interventions into the classroom utilizing our extensive experience with students with similar needs. The classroom has a high staffing ratio and is supported by a part-time social worker who coordinates services with families.
What is the benefit to students of enrollment in the program?
Students receive intensive interventions close to home in the most normalized setting possible.