High Hopes, Inc.

GOALS
The goal of our school and therapy clinic is best stated in our mission: to equip children, youth, and their families with the skills necessary to achieve success through education, therapeutic services, and loving support.

OBJECTIVES
We reach our goals by setting objectives as follows:
• Children in the preschool and kindergarten will show development gains.
o 90% of the children in the preschool and 100% of the children in the kindergarten will achieve 9 months’ development gains in line with Brigance testing or the Stanford 10 Academic Assessment. For some children with special needs, 80% of goals will be met.
• Children and youth in the therapy clinic will make progress toward long-term goals.
o 85% of children and youth in the therapy clinic will make progress toward their long-term goals outlined in each client’s Individualized Plan of Care (IPC).

High Hopes Development Center focuses on our children within their family component. The teachers and therapists of High Hopes do not simply provide "services" for children, but rather they become an extension of their family. The children and parents of High Hopes consider themselves a part of the High Hopes Family. We walk alongside our families as they journey through the sometimes difficult and confusing journey of raising a child with special needs.

ACTIVITIES
A number of activities and programs help us achieve our goals and objectives. The list of activities is extensive. Some, but not all, activities include:
• Inclusive academic, social, and life skills for all children, regardless of developmental levels. Inclusion, at High Hopes, is the practice of educating and involving children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers.
• Development screenings twice a year to allow teachers to assess skill levels and specific developmental deficits for each child.
• Learning centers; story time; outdoor play; art; sensory activities; fine motor activities; music therapy; math, literacy, handwriting, reading, and phonics curriculum.
• Physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapy offered by our therapists.
• Therapy tailored to each child’s specific special need.
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices for children who are non-verbal.
• Amplification devices for children who are hearing impaired.
• Practice with braces and various types of mobility devices for children who cannot walk.
• Strength, range of motion, balance, and coordination exercises in physical therapy.
• Eating, dressing, writing, balance, and fine motor skills activities in occupational therapy.
• Articulation, pragmatics, fluency, and expressive language activities in speech therapy.
• Address food refusal, food selectivity, chewing, swallowing, etc. in feeding therapy.

In the High Hopes therapy clinic, therapists have an average of 19 years of pediatric therapy experience, making them leaders in their fields. Children work one-on-one with therapists reaching individual goals to produce strong, healthy life skills, increased self-sufficiency, and confidence.

In the High Hopes preschool and kindergarten we have a specially designed curriculum designed to allow teachers to easily adjust it for learners of all levels. Additionally, High Hopes goes above state requirements. All classroom lead teachers are degreed or have a minimum of 10 years preschool teaching experience. All teachers receive an average of 30 training hours a year (state requirement is 18 training hours per year) to care for and educate your child to the highest ability.

High Hopes has been helping children reach their maximum potential for 35 years. In October of 2018 we completed a building expansion allowing us to add four additional classrooms, including our first ever State approved kindergarten class. We also added 12 new private therapy treatment rooms to our therapy clinic, which now allows us to accommodate a minimum of 13,000 more therapy sessions annually. Our new multi-purpose area allows for more parent/caregiver workshops and trainings; camps and classes for adaptive dance, music, art, and social language; developmental milestone classes; and more.