Walker - Teaching. Caring. Building Hope

The Walker School is a Chapter 766-approved academic day program for children with histories of high-risk behaviors, chronic mental illness, language disorders, learning disabilities, and/or high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. Typical students at Walker School may have also suffered from severe trauma, histories of sexual, physical or emotional abuse, disrupted foster placements, and psychiatric hospitalizations. At admission, 85% of Walker students are experiencing severe behavioral difficulties; 40% have a documented neuro-developmental deficit and more than 35% have complex language-based disabilities.

For many children at Walker, these problems have left them emotionally overwhelmed and have resulted in a history of failure at school. Their unsuccessful attempts at learning to read or develop math skills have produced in them an aversion to school that jeopardizes their full participation in family and community life. Our belief is that despite these serious challenges, these children can learn. And at the Walker School, they do.

With the help of dedicated teachers, child behavior specialists, and clinicians, along with an experienced supervisory staff—all working cooperatively with parents and families—students at Walker experience academic success, many for the first time. Walker students who possess the requisite cognitive ability, on average, progress one full academic year on individualized, standardized testing with each year of instruction at the Walker School.

The Walker School combines the clinical expertise of a hospital with a commitment to academic standards of excellence. We have developed a school environment that can tolerate extremely disruptive classroom behavior by some children without sacrificing academic progress and continuity for all students.

The Walker Therapeutic After-School program is designed to support high-risk children between the ages of 5 and 13 with significant emotional, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. Children are typically enrolled in Walker After-School after experiencing failure in a community-based program and subsequent difficulty in finding a suitable, nearby, community-based program that can accommodate their acute need for therapeutic supervision. Walker After-School has the capacity to manage children with high-risk behaviors and complex diagnostic profiles, integrating therapeutic behavior management with normalizing age-appropriate social and recreational activities. By design, recreational activities are similar to those offered in typical community after-school programs, but with a higher level of structure and staff support.

Sometimes seen as a secondary concern for struggling children when compared to the central settings of home and school, an after-school program can play a critical role in ensuring permanency for struggling families. The availability of an appropriate after-school program can, in part, directly affect an overstressed parent’s capacity to devote requisite hours to a job while utilizing supervised care for a complex, high-risk child. The Walker Therapeutic After-School program was specifically designed to help children solidify academic and behavioral progress made at school and at home.

For some very high-risk children, an extended stay in an after-school program at a high level of care may be the least restrictive option. Attending the after-school program can be a critical component in the plan for ensuring permanency for a struggling child and family. For other children, this program can serve as a steppingstone toward a less restrictive, community-based program. As children’s high-risk behaviors stabilize and they develop more age-appropriate social skills, Walker will work cooperatively with families, schools and partner agencies to transition the child smoothly to a less-restrictive program within his or her community.

The Walker Therapeutic Summer Program provides support for families and children with high-risk behavior and complex developmental difficulties during the less structured summer months when school is not in session. Without the consistent framework that school provides, the families of high-risk children are at a significantly greater risk for disruption as they struggle to provide adequate supervision for children who lack the skills to function independently or in community-based summer programs or camps.

The Walker Summer Program is a day program that was designed to prevent regression to high-risk behaviors and support family preservation by giving children a positive, success-filled summer experience marked by achievement and pride. As part of a continuum of services, the Walker Therapeutic Summer Program helps children maintain and build on social and behavioral skills gained during the school year, leaving them in a better position to function successfully in the community, at home, and upon return to school in the fall.

For some very high-risk children, participation in a highly structured summer day program like Walker may be the least restrictive option. Attending the Summer Program can be a critical component in the plan for ensuring permanency for a struggling child and family. For other children, this program may serve as a steppingstone toward a less restrictive, community-based program. As children’s high-risk behaviors stabilize and they develop more age-appropriate social skills, Walker will work cooperatively with collaterals to smoothly transition the child to a less-restrictive summer program within his or her community.