Editor’s Note: Stephanie Thompson, the Star’s People Editor, is a member of the Region V BOCES Board, representing the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees.
The entrance doesn’t look too different from last year.
However, new motivational posters hang from the walls, showcasing the Wyoming’s code of ethics and the idea of “ubuntu,” a word describing the value of having compassion for all members of a group. A portrait of President Andrew Jackson is still prominently displayed.
While Jackson Elementary School may have closed in May, Region V BOCES now occupies the first floor of the building, providing services to Sweetwater County School District No.1 and No. 2 through its Roosevelt Learning Center. Region V BOCES is an group serving 13 school districts in seven counties throughout western Wyoming. It operates four schools focusing on helping students with developmental disabilities. At three of those schools, the goal is to re-integrate those students back into the traditional school system. The group is funded through mill levies passed by its member school districts.
The center moved into the recently vacated Jackson Elementary School as their original home, the former Roosevelt Elementary School in Rock Springs, was determined to need significant improvements and renovation.
Dan Mayer, the executive director of Region V BOCES, said the issue initially came up after Region V BOCES needed to replace the boiler system in the aging Roosevelt Elementary building, discovering other issues with the building would need to be addressed as well. Last year, the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees voted to close Jackson Elementary due to declining enrollment rates in Green River. That closure created the opportunity for Region V BOCES and the district to work together.
“It’s been a great partnership,” Mayer said.
The learning center has room to service 20 students at the Jackson building, an increase over the amount they could house at Roosevelt, and currently has 10 students. The program can accept students from fifth and sixth grade to high school students. Aaron Carr, the director of the Roosevelt Learning Center, said they could accept students as young as third grade, but would need to make some adjustments to the center before doing so.
Carr said one of the most important ideas he tries to pass along whenever he speaks about the learning center is that students are not sentenced to attend the learning center.
The learning center, confined to Jackson’s first floor, has not only classrooms, but a designated cafeteria, art room, gym space and a sensory room designed to let students experiencing sensory overload to calm themselves. Lunches are provided by Sweetwater County School District No. 2, purchased at a rate of $2.85 per meal.
Classes themselves don’t just cover curriculum, but offer a means of behavioral therapy for students, offering a healing environment for them to be involved in. Teachers also offer hygiene items and clothing for students as well, should they need soap, deodorant or a clean set of clothing for the day.
“We want to set (students) up for success,” Dave Nelson, a Region V BOCES board member from Kemmerer said.
Outside of the learning center’s services, Mayer said they provide the two school districts with psychiatric services.
He said Region V BOCES also seeks other avenues to assist and grow its services for the districts.
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