MENASHA SCHOOL_frame_9288.jpegThe Chileda Learning Center prepares to welcome students to its new campus in Menasha, Aug. 16, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A new day school program in Menasha is aiming to meet the needs of special education students in the Fox Valley.
The Chileda Learning Center, located at 1180 Province Terrace, is designed for children and individuals ages 5 to 21 with autism and intellectual or development disabilities. It will welcome students for the first day of school August 26.
“We serve special education students — typically students who are highly autistic in the severe-profound area of autism; intellectually disabled, traumatic brain injured students. Many of our students are non-verbal, but we work with school districts to provide an excellent educational alternative for them,” said Rob Becker, principal of Chileda Learning Center’s Menasha center.
Chileda boasts state-of-the-art classrooms, innovative learning spaces and unique curriculums and student programming options.
Becker said the school is fully staffed by a team of behavioral specialists, teachers, direct support specialists. It also offers on-site occupational therapy, recreational therapy and speech and language therapy.
We are committed to providing a nurturing, stimulating, and safe environment that fosters academic success, social-emotional development, and promotes lifelong learning.
Becker said some students exclusively attend Chileda, while others spend half the day with their school district and the other half at Chileda. It’s up to the students’ families and districts to decide the best course.
According to Becker, the Menasha campus will not only serve the Fox Valley region, but hopes to welcome students from as far as Fond du Lac and Green Bay. He said the services Chileda provides are in high demand.
“There aren’t a lot of places like Chileda. Our La Crosse site is contacted by school districts all the time saying, ‘Would you please open a site closer to us? We really need this in our area, but it’s too far for us to bring our students over to La Crosse.’ So that’s a big reason why we opened up the Menasha center. We were hearing from the Fox River Valley that they wanted more choices educationally, and we felt that this was a great location for us,” Becker said.
Chileda was originally established in Stevens Point in 1973 before moving to La Crosse in 1977. Its new learning center in Menasha is the first satellite campus.
“We think this is a great site. This area of Wisconsin needs more service in this area, and if this goes well, Chileda will look to expand to other places within the state of Wisconsin and maybe even beyond that,” Becker said.
To learn more about Chileda, click here.
Comments