As winter comes to a close and warmer weather approaches, your mind may be drifting to thoughts of summer time. You might also be considering a summer special education job working with children. If so, you’re in luck! The Watson Institute is hiring compassionate individuals to join our team of camp aides, site supervisors, special … Read More
The Watson Institute is celebrating Music in Our Schools Month! At Watson we provide students with special needs with a variety of opportunities to learn and work towards their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. At Watson, we recognize that music education programs can play a powerful role in the lives of young people and can … Read More
Recently we highlighted the Makerspace Initiative and how the Watson Institute Friendship Academy has embraced the program, building makerspace into our special education curriculum. This month, we’d like to show you how it’s being implemented in our elementary-aged students’ curriculum! At Friendship Academy, students with behavioral and emotional challenges in the elementary school level attend … Read More
The Watson Institute is committed to providing exceptional special education programs and services to children with special needs in Western Pennsylvania. To demonstrate our commitment to excellence, Watson voluntarily seeks accreditation from NCASES (National Commission for the Accreditation of Special Education Services) every five years. The Watson Institute Education Center program encompasses our special education … Read More
At the Watson Institute, helping children with special needs reach their educational and developmental goals is our priority. Each students’ goals are unique and individualized based on their needs and abilities. For one student at the Education Center Sewickley, this school year has opened up a world of possibilities for him as he is now … Read More
The Watson Institute supports students with special needs through various academic and social initiatives and incorporates IEP goal-work into every aspect of our students’ school day. These types of initiatives and classroom projects can vary within each special education school program at the Watson Institute. In celebration of National Mentoring Month, we are highlighting how … Read More
What are Child Behavioral Health Services? Child mental and behavioral health can be defined as the complete well-being and optimal development of a child in the emotional, behavioral, social, and cognitive demains. (Barwick & Urajnik, 2013). Child mental and behavioral health services target the emotional and behavioral wellbeing of children to thrive and live to … Read More
What is Makerspace? A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school, library or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools. (1) Makerspaces in education transform teaching and are an innovative approach for fostering creative project learning – which allows students to explore interests, … Read More
At the Watson Institute’s family of special education schools, teachers and support staff strive to embed students’ IEP goals into daily activities in the classroom. One initiative born of this effort is the School Store. The School Store has been set up in the school cafeteria at the Education Center South and opens to students … Read More
Every year, students with special needs at the Watson Institute’s Education Center Sewickley participate in classroom projects to develop their vocational and life skills. A few times a year, these projects are created to also support charitable activities to teach the importance of supporting the local community and citizenship. Students in Gabrielle Sikora’s classroom follow … Read More