Spurwink Services at Spring Harbor Hospital

Spurwink Services provides educational programming to school-age patients at Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, Maine. Educational services are delivered under the guidelines set forth by the Maine Department of Special Education. This classroom-based tutorial program is designed to meet the needs of individual learners. Students receive two hours of service per day, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and school vacations.

This tutorial program has four main goals:

• Academic Instruction - The program provides a core academic curriculum based on Spurwink Services' curriculum or on materials and assignments sent by the local school system. The use of school district materials for children allows them to maintain a connection to their sending school and eases the transition when they are ready to return. Progress reports and all completed assignments are sent to the home school on a weekly basis.
• Normalization - A classroom-based instructional model is used. This approximates, as closely as possible, a fundamental aspect of the students' lives prior to entering the hospital and helps to maintain a degree of normal routine.
• Social Skills - In addition to the academic expectations in the classroom, the program strives to reinforce appropriate social skills, in terms of relationships with both peers and adults. Given the deficits many students exhibit, the development of these skills is of primary importance.
• Feedback to Schools - Part of the services offered by the program is consultation to the sending district. This is achieved through weekly educational reports, attendance at IEP (Individual Education Plan) meetings, discharge planning meetings and phone consultations.

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Spurwink Services at Spring Harbor Hospital