AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2005 > November > 10
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Inside a Psychoed Center
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For years I’ve heard horror stories about psychoeducational centers, often from lawyers who represent students assigned to them. Psychoed centers are for students with behavior and emotional problems someone has deemed too challenging for a traditional school.
I had heard these schools were dumping grounds filled with black boys and indifferent teachers.
I once mistakenly showed up at such a center, which had no sign anywhere indicating what it was, and the secretary basically freaked out at the sight of me. This year, when DeKalb named its teacher of the year, I was surprised to see she works at Shadow Rock Center, a psychoed center serving students in DeKalb, Decatur and Rockdale.
When I pursued an interview with Michele Evon Jones, the school district’s public relations officer first suggested, at the suggestion of Shadow Rock’s principal, that we meet off campus. Things are done differently at Shadow Rock, he said. I said I would rather meet Jones at the school and noted that I would not expect to speak with or photograph students. This satisfied everyone and on Monday I drove out to the center, which is located in a subdivision of upscale homes next to an elementary school known for high test scores. Here’s the story I wrote about Jones.
She’s an amazing, intelligent teacher, a woman with a calling. That didn’t surprise me. After all, she’s teacher of the year. What did surprise me is what I saw, and didn’t see, at Shadow Rock Center.
First off, it looks just like any other school inside and out, and there was a sign over the front entrance. The first few classrooms I passed on my way to Jones’ office (She was promoted to administrator this year), contained very few students, two or three, with their desks at opposite corners. They were hunched over their work, and their teacher was saying encouraging things to them, like “I know you can do it.”
While in Jones’ office, I heard some commotion, but nothing that caused me pause. Jones and I talked about stereotypes about psychoeducational centers. She said the issue that most often causes concern is the school’s use of restraints with some students.
Another common complaint is that teachers there don’t teach, they just try to get the kids to behave. Jones gave me a tour, and we were able to watch classes from observation rooms. In one class, about seven kids were working from a math textbook. The teacher was calling them up to work out a problem on the whiteboard. The problem involved multiplying numbers with decimals. “It isn’t 2 + 2,” Jones said.
Inside the next class, a parent volunteer was leading the students and teacher in yoga exercises. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the class. In both classes, I saw several girls and several white students. Then we ventured to the hall with the younger students, including one kindergartner. The kids were up, moving around. No one was out of control.
I was struck by the range of kids. Some were visibly disabled, nonverbal, autistic etc. Others showed no outward signs of behavior or emotional problems. Jones said she works hard to convince parents that a referral to Shadow Rock isn’t a prison sentence. Many students will return to traditional school, though Jones said some will need for the rest of their lives the structure a place like Shadow Rock can provide.
I left Shadow Rock with a positive impression, that it’s a school providing a needed service in a compassionate way. I don’t doubt for a second students are sometimes inappropriately referred to psychoed centers by teachers and administrators who are out of patience with them. Nor do I believe all psychoed centers are like Shadow Rock.
But at that school on that day, teachers were teaching and kids were learning. I saw it with my own eyes.
