Joy Habovick has seen a change in her son since he started attending the NHS School in State College which opened in 2007.
The Bald Eagle resident says her son had anxiety issues and difficulties in the State College Area School District that prevented him from getting the most out of his education.
But NHS – an organization with schools all over Pennsylvania that specialize in working with children with autism or emotional disorders – brought out a side of her son she had never seen.
“He likes coming to school now, and he’ll come home and tells me about what he’s learning,” Habovick says. “He’d never done that before.”
But NHS had a problem: too many students were realizing that an alternative educational experience was the perfect fit for them, leading them to seek out a new location with extra space.
NHS Community Relations Director Amanda Boland says they’ve moved from their old building on Research Drive to a “nice rural setting” on Fox Hill Road, surrounded by open fields and a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
Brittany Russel, 13, of Bellefonte came to NHS last year. She says the school’s individualized approach has helped her “learn how to calm down when I get mad,” along with other coping skills. Brittany says that she’s excited for the chance to have more new students and potential friends join her school.
“This space is much better,” Russell says of the new building, which features brightly painted murals and Dr. Suess quotes along the walls. “There’s a lot more room, and I think it’s more put together.”
Jeff Guiser – the school’s very first student – had the honor of christening the school’s new location during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon. He told the crowd of his classmates, parents and school staff how NHS had helped “make me a better person” before cutting the blue ribbon in two with a pair of golden scissors.
“The new space has made my life tremendously easier,” says NHS instructor Tara Rippey. “It’s so much easier to be in this building.”
Rippey says she felt “very constrained” in their old space, which hindered her ability to connect with her students. She says that NHS has a very student-focused learning environment, with small class sizes. Her class has only 12 students, who stay with her all day. This lets her “get to know my students on a personal level,” which may not happen in larger classes or when students have multiple teachers throughout the day.
Boland says the new building will support continued growth, with space for up to 60 students ages five to 21 in need of emotional support or individualized instruction. In addition to covering all subjects from history to math, the new space also boasts quiet spaces for students, an outside playground, a hallway library and speech and occupational therapy rooms.
“My son doesn’t really like school,” Habovick says. “But he likes coming here.”
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