Governance

Mission Statement

Paper on walls

Centennial School is a special education school that provides individualized services in a safe, nurturing, supportive, and affirming environment. Within the context of current research-based strategies, Centennial School aims to help students achieve to the best of their abilities, the skills necessary for success in traditional school environments and the community at large. In addition, Centennial School assists in the preparation of aspiring special education teachers and related personnel.



Staff can...

Teachers talking
  • make positive and sometimes profound differences in the lives of our students.
  • talk positively about our students; their families, and our colleagues.
  • change student behavior by changing staff behavior.
  • examine the effectiveness of our efforts through progress monitoring.
  • expect conflicts to occur in our setting and staff can successfully resolve those conflicts by focusing on the issues and sharing responsibility professional interactions. 

(Fogt & Arbolino, 2006)

Students can...

Teacher talking to student
  • meet the expectations we set for them.
  • learn to manage themselves.
  • think before they act.
  • make positive changes in their lives.
  • be held accountable for their actions. 
    (George & George, 2003)

Because we believe that our students can and will learn to control their own behavior, we don't feel the need to control them.

Philosophy

Students using blocks
We believe...

that creating a successful day school program begins with creating a culture of success and a culture of hope. Both students and staff must believe that what they do on a daily basis, every hour of the day, leads to the achievement of their purposes and goals. At Centennial School, we believe that we have established an environment where that happens.

Our sense of optimism and hope stems from our philosophy about the children and youth we serve -- a philosophy that values:

  • Helping students
  • Nurturing students
  • Supporting students

Centennial School is an Approved Private School in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that works with children and youth with emotional disturbance without using seclusion time-out and routine physical restraint. 

We are proud of our commitment to positive behavior management strategies for guiding our students to pro-social behavior and improved self-control.