Fine motor skills are a big focus in Sarah Hornback’s class.
The teacher, who works with students with some of the greatest cognitive needs, walks her small group of mostly 13- and 14-year-olds through tasks like using scissors, gluing crafts and washing their hands. Things they’ll need to know for years to come.
A few of her eight students are nonverbal, meaning Hornback relies on communication boards and visual schedules with bright photos to help them follow along. She also has as many as four adults working alongside her in the room on any given day.
It’s a level of attention Indianapolis Public Schools officials said they simply couldn’t provide in a school setting before their new partnership with Hornback’s employer, an educational services company called ChanceLight. Now, these students get their own attention from teachers and staff in a classroom.
“We differentiate for every student individually,” Hornback said, “from needs more support to needs less support, so whether that’s autism or intellectual disabilities.”
IPS entered a nearly $2 million contract with the Tennessee-based company this year to help the district relaunch its ROOTS therapeutic day program under a new name — Margaret McFarland Learning Academy.
ChanceLight recruits and hires staff, and has helped with a recent refresh of classroom space, bringing in new carpet, furniture, cabinetry and lighting.
IPS staff say the change helped the district open its therapeutic day program on the southeast side fully staffed on the first day of school for the first time. That’s a big deal considering Indiana, like much of the country, is grappling with a multiyear shortage of special education teachers.
IPS provides support for students with disabilities in schools across the district, but teachers at Margaret McFarland provide the highest level of individualized care for students.
McFarland students may be referred back to a program in a general education school once they show greater signs of independence.
The partnership has also allowed for the creation of Hornback’s classroom.
In the past, IPS students needing that level of support would have been directed to a homebound education program, away from their peers.
“This partnership has allowed us to expand our special education continuum,” said Cortnei Flucas, IPS’ unified student supports officer. “This is the first year that we have offered programming for this profile of student at this intensity level.”
Launching Margaret McFarland Learning Academy
The McFarland academy name is a nod to the program’s southeast Indianapolis location at IPS’ former Margaret McFarland Middle School.
The program shares the building with IPS’ Positive Support Academy, an alternative school for middle and high schoolers who may have struggled with behavior challenges in a traditional classroom.
Unlike at Positive Supports Academy — which takes students through referrals from district employees, sometimes as an alternative to expulsion — students come to the McFarland program through a case conference.
Case conferences are meetings between educators and parents used to decide the best accommodations for students with disabilities.
Each program in the McFarland building has its own space. Doors are kept locked between the two and each has its own entrance.
On the Margaret McFarland Learning Academy side, where ChanceLight assists, students are greeted with wide hallways and bright, unfinished murals — an ongoing project in the school which engages students with therapeutic painting.
“We specialize not only in therapeutic support, but social-emotional support, behavioral support, cognitive behavioral therapy for students that may fall on the autism spectrum,” Flucas said. “It runs the gamut.”
About 30 students are currently enrolled at the academy, but that fluctuates based on students’ needs.
ChanceLight employs 25 staff at the building with other IPS employees on hand to provide one-on-one support for students as outlined in their individualized education plans.
Rachel Black, vice president of business development for ChanceLight, said the national company uses an active recruiting model that scouts educators across the country who may be interested in relocation.
“Our intentionality around staff that really believe in the mission and working with the students, that’s really a big driving force in our recruitment efforts,” Black said. “They’re looking for this particular type of program setting to work in.”
What’s different about Margaret McFarland?
ChanceLight staff serve students at Margaret McFarland through two types of classrooms: a “core classroom” for students with intense cognitive needs and a “base classroom” for students with emotional disabilities.
Both classrooms are equipped to meet the needs of the students they serve. Hornback’s core classroom, for example, has a bathroom where students can practice changing clothes and brushing their teeth.
Base classrooms, on the other hand, group students by grade level, and their curriculum more closely lines up with material offered in traditional classrooms. These students, however, may grapple with heightened emotional responses and need cooldown time throughout the day.
Their classrooms share a hallway with the academy’s “refocus area” — an empty classroom with natural lighting and no loose furniture or objects that could be thrown across the room.
Next door is a flex room that serves as a second stop for students before returning to the class. There, students can sit at a desk and work on assignments in their own space without the distraction of other people around them.
There are also spaces, such as a sensory room and a library, where students can deescalate through reading or walking on a treadmill. And, staff work with community groups to provide yoga, art, acting and other elective opportunities.
A small office suite is also staffed by two onsite social workers and a psychiatrist, who can connect students and their families to resources, such as addiction treatment services and rental assistance.
Staff say it’s part of an array of services that’s meant to support students both at school and at home. Some students will stay in the program temporarily until they’re deemed ready to go back to a more traditional school environment.
When that happens, ChanceLight puts a transition plan in place to help students adjust to new teachers and passing periods at their home schools. The ultimate goal, though, is to also prepare students for real world experiences.
“That’s why the partnership has to be so tight between IPS and ChanceLight,” Flucas said. “Because all of us have a desire for students to make it back into a less restrictive setting so that they are able to begin preparing for life after K-12.”
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Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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