Jefferson City Public Schools' transition classroom, a little-known program in the Miller Center that serves just a handful of students, is making some transitions of its own.
The program started last year for students from kindergarten through fifth grade with social or behavior concerns. The problems range in type and cause. Some students, for instance, enter kindergarten without having the benefit of preschool and the structure and social interaction it provides.
Some of the students served by the program are in regular education classes, while some are in special-education classes.
"There is a misperception that some of these kids are just spoiled or they're just choosing this behavior, or their parents don't care," said Sherry Taggart, lead teacher in the transition classroom.
After the first year, those involved evaluated the program to consider changes. One of the biggest changes they made was to switch the program from full days to half days, with the exception of Fridays, which are still full days.
On Fridays, the transition class teachers visit their students in their regular classrooms to support their teachers and help identify the triggers that cause them to act out.
That change was made after visiting other schools with similar programs and noting that they all used half days, in part so the students would still keep up with academics while going through the program.
Another change is the addition of a behavior interventionist who is available to the elementary schools four days a week.
District officials say now that the program has been around for a year, it's better understood and utilized within the district.
Taggart said the program is more about problem-solving and less about finger-pointing.
But that doesn't mean misbehaving children don't face consequences for their actions, Foster said.
"I think there's a public misperception that kids don't get consequences when they misbehave. And that's simply not the case," she said. "I know that all the principals that I work with have different layers (of discipline), just like you do with your own child.
"A lot of strategies have been tried before we get to this point, with these particular students, but they don't respond well to suspensions," Taggart said. "They've already probably been suspended, most of these children. And then we're almost kicking them out of school more than helping them.
"What we hope this program will do is hopefully explicitly teach those expectations in a very small environment where they have time to practice those skills," she said. "And by going back to their home school, they have time then to transfer those skills to the regular classroom."
Schasta Flowers, a teacher in the program, said when students return to their original classrooms they are given individualized cards to help remind them how to deal with situations they struggle with.
Flowers said, "It's their own kind of security blanket that has cards in it that helps them deal with "What do I do when I'm anxious,' "What kind of things can I do to calm myself down?' or "How do I get the teacher's attention appropriately?' They'll have their own little toolboxes that they'll take back and that they can refer to while they're in the classroom."
"It's a unique program that has a lot of time invested in building relationships," Taggart said. "Both relationships with the staff, relationships with the parents, relationships with the children of course. And the children have a voice in this. We want to hear (from them) what the curriculum does."
Parents play an essential role in the program, and are expected to be active participants. The program includes weekly meetings with parents, and sometimes home visits from the educators.
The program started as a full-day program adopted from the "Rage to Reason" curriculum developed to reduce explosive behaviors and to teach kids the coping skills necessary to handle frustration and problem-solve. St. Louis consultant Amy Buie developed the program, and does in-service training for the district.
Besides Taggart and Flowers, the two full-time teachers in the program, three full-time paraprofessionals also work with the program, in addition to supervision from Foster and Logan.
Just as the behavior problems can't be lumped into the same category, the transition classroom isn't a one-size-fits-all program. The program's goal is to transition students back to their regular classrooms through individual work with the child on social or emotional issues that are unique to that child.
Sometimes transitioning a student back to their home classroom takes weeks; other times it takes months.
Last year, the program served a total of 13 children at different times, and successfully transitioned nine of them back to their original classrooms.
This year, the program started with the remaining four students. Since then, two have transitioned back to their respective elementary schools, and two are in the process. Five new students have been added.
Taggart said some of the results from the program are gradual, while others are more dramatic. Last year, they had one "Cinderella story" in which they saw a major turnaround in behavior.
Starting the program last year was a team effort, involving a lot of work by a lot of people.
"There was a lot of screening, team support, teacher support, behavior interventionists and assistant superintendents involved," Taggart said. "All of these people were involved to make sure to screen and target the students that needed it for acting out behaviors."
The program also includes in its meetings any outside agencies - such as counselors with the Division of Family Services or Pathways - that are already involved with families that have children in the program.
When all of these people get on board with the program, Taggart said, "that's when true life change happens."
She said success in the program spreads to success in families - families that are sometimes driven apart by the stress that behavior issues cause.
"We're saving not only kids when we have programs such as this, but we're saving the families," Taggart said.
Logan summed up the program this way: "We are really wrapping our arms around the kids that need us most."