The Watertown School District provides specialized instruction for students in K- 12 who need individualized behavior intervention support. Our K-6 program is currently located at the Watetown Intermediate School. Both the Watertown Middle School and Watertown High School also offer a specialized classroom for students. This classroom focuses on the Boys and Girls Town Specialized Classroom practices. All special education instructors at all levels have received training at Boys and Girls Town of America in Omaha, Nebraska. The district strives to offer students with emotional/behavioral challenges with a cohesive program that will carry over into all grade levels. As students become more proficient with their individualized goals and are able to move through a leveling system and become more confident in their ability to transfer new skills and strategies into the mainstream environment with their peers.

—Acquisition Level – DAILY

—All students in the specialized classroom program begin at the Daily points level. There is high level of supervision and frequent feedback, immediate consequences, and restricted privileges. Students at this level are on a daily point sheet with very specific, targeted goals based on their identified individual needs and challenges.—

Fluency Building Level – PROGRESS

Students at the Progress level have shown that many of their —basic behavioral and social skills are in place. They often have new targets for their goals, can make qualitative judgements, begin to use negotiation for end of the day points as they reflect on their school day, begin the process of fading off of the daily point system, and have a higher level of social interaction. Students at the progress level are beginnng the process of earning classes outside of the specialized classroom.

Proficiency/Fluency Level – MERIT

At the Merit level teachers and therapists begin to fade social and artificial reinforcers, relate logical consequences, students have increased privileges, and there is a reduction in monitoring. Students at the Merit level have earned a large portion of their school day in their home school or have earned courses outside of the specialized classroom that are offered within their own school. Students at the Merit level have also demonstrated that they are able to transfer and apply skills learned in the specialized program.

—The Watertown School District Specialized Behavior program offers varying degrees of structure based on the individual needs of each student. Consistency in classroom management, indpendence and fading out supports, and an overall system that allows the student to select their own reinforcers and determine their own readiness to reintegrate into the general education classroom. This program has been very successful for our students.