Highland High School’s DLP and ERR classrooms resume on ISU campus
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) —Six days after a fire partially destroyed Highland High School, learners from the school’s developmental learning program (DLP) and extended resource room (ERR) resumed in-person learning in a new temporary home.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Idaho State University stepped up to offer classrooms to accommodate approximately forty learners from the two programs. ISU’s College of Education’s Albion Hall classrooms occupy the same location that currently houses the Arches program, the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25’s post-secondary transitions program for 18-21-year-old learners.
The offer immediately set plans into motion for Highland’s special education teachers and paraprofessional staff members to move their classroom instructional materials and personal care items to their new temporary home earlier this week. On Tuesday, staff members met at Highland High School and began loading dozens of bins into a PCSD 25 truck. By Thursday, Highland staff welcomed their learners back to resume face-to-face learning.
Learners and staff were visibly excited for the opportunity to return to a classroom, with learners cheering how good it felt to have a place to learn so soon after last Friday’s fire.
The effort included restructuring the district’s door-to-door transportation schedules to deliver learners and their personal care equipment, including wheelchairs, to the new location. The PCSD 25 food service department also solved significant logistical challenges to continue preparing and delivering daily meal service for each learner.
“Idaho State University and the College of Education work hard to accommodate us in a matter of hours and days,” said Janelle Harris, Director of Special Services for the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25. “We are blessed to have educational partners in the community who understand that it is our top priority for all of our learners, including those with special education services, to resume face-to-face instruction as soon as possible.”
The program’s teachers and staff now face the additional challenge of planning for the entire school day in order to fulfill each learner’s general education requirements and individualized learning plan (IEP).
“Highland’s staff is poised and ready for the challenge. I’m proud of our team’s ability to make this vision a reality in less than a week’s time," Ms. Harris said.
