About Us

CHILD's Main Building on its campus in Renton

Our Mission: To provide innovative school programs, therapies and training that promote social, emotional, and academic development for children with significant learning and behavioral challenges.

Our Vision:  We envision a world in which every child succeeds. 

CHILD is a three-component 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides: 

  1. Therapeutic day-school services

  2. Pediatric therapy services (Speech, Occupational Therapy and School Counseling) for students enrolled at CHILD (determined by their IEP); and
  3. Support and training for parents and professionals.
      

Since 1977, we have successfully educated children with a range of conditions that interfere with learning including:

  • Communication deficits
  • Inability to self-regulate
  • Anxiety
  • Impulsivity
  • Behavioral challenges
  • Disorganization
  • Inflexible thinking
  • Sensory Processing Disorders

CHILD addresses the needs of children often denied access to local education programs due to challenges posed by severe sensory processing disorders, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, emotional-behavioral disabilities, autism, and extreme anxiety.  Students are placed at CHILD in partnership with public school districts and most transition back to their home school districts within 1-3 years.
 
CHILD provides therapeutic interventions to reach children who would otherwise continue to fail at school.  The goal of all CHILD programs is to align the efforts of children, their families and school personnel to increase understanding of learning differences and help children overcome the obstacles to their learning, so they are able to successfully transition back to school programs in their home communities. 

At CHILD, the focus is on developing a set of durable core strengths – increased levels of self-regulation, an increased ability to maintain relationships, and increased coping skills – to help children achieve ongoing resilience.  CHILD employs a project-based curriculum where integrated arts, music, videography and outdoor education are all part of our core programming.

 

In the late 1990's, CHILD's founder discovered that the primary beliefs that fuel our work most closely matched those of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model developed by Dr. Ross Greene, which is driven by the belief that “kids do well if they can.” and is an empathy-driven, non-punitive, psycho-educational approach to solving the problems that are causing concerning behaviors. With tools like the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) developed by Dr. Greene, staff at CHILD learn to identify the triggers for counterproductive behavior as well as each child’s lagging skills. Dr. Greene’s research indicates that children who are challenging are lacking skills, not motivation...skills like flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving.

 

Credentialed/licensed teachers, mental health counselors, occupational therapists, and speech/language pathologists develop and implement activities sequenced over time to help children master behavioral and sensory challenges.  Small class sizes and high teacher to student ratios ensure focused attention for each child.  Students are encouraged to express themselves and actively engage in problem solving with staff and fellow students. As students increase their problem solving skills, they build the resilience required to participate in more typical settings.

CHILD offers a full-time, year-round program with open enrollment throughout the year, subject to availability. 

CHILD is an approved private school in Washington State.  Private schools are approved annually by the State Board of Education.  Approval indicates the private school has met the minimum requirements to insure the health and safety of students, and that the school offers a sufficient program of basic education to meet usual graduation requirements. 

CHILD is also an approved Non Public Agency by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to provide contracted therapeutic services to students from public school districts whose resources cannot adequately serve the complex needs of struggling children.

CHILD does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, ancestry, age, political ideology, religion or other personal characteristics.