Soar Learning Center (SLC) supports students and families with a positive classroom and school-wide culture, as well as individualized classroom accommodations.  Students and staff engage in collaborative problem-solving and skills building to teach and support students' self-awareness and competency.  SLC builds community connections, and supports families by proactively meeting basic needs without the experience of stigma.

Soar Learning Center has numerous initiatives that create and foster a school environment that cultivates resiliency amongst our students.  These initiatives include the implementation of mindfulness strategies within the classroom, including the use of the Mind Up curriculum for our K-8 students, Brain Breaks, and student access to the Calm App.  More specifically, Soar Learning Center’s introduction of sensory spaces within the classroom during the 2017-2018 school year has allowed improved outcomes in the areas of self-management and emotional regulation.  These spaces have been designed to reduce stress and allow access to sensory items or manipulatives that appeal to the five senses.  Classroom teachers and behavioral interventionists receive ongoing professional development to engage students in not only educational activities, but also social-emotional learning that assists in identifying and self-managing their emotions.  Staff members create and maintain routines, traditions, and celebrations to build predictability and connection among students, family, and the school community.  

These consistent and persistent efforts continue to make Soar Learning Center a viable option to alternative day treatment and educational support for children in the Franklin, Grand Isle and neighboring communities. Soar Learning Center students continue to demonstrate progress in academic, behavioral and clinical areas due to the initiatives stated above.  

• Franklin and Grand Isle Counties' supervisory unions and school districts
• Chittenden County Schools (Winooski Elementary School, Milton Elementary School, Milton High School, and Colchester Elementary)
• Department for Children and Families
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• St. Albans Town
• St. Albans City Police Department
• Local pediatricians

• Add executive functioning skills assessments to programming
• Implement executive functioning skills development interventions & supports across all grade levels
• Implement additional brain-based teaching strategies that address executive functioning deficits
• Continue to develop a trauma sensitive school community through professional development, leadership support, and implementation of program practices that promote resiliency in students
• Implement ongoing training for staff that increases awareness and knowledge of increasing resiliency in vulnerable learners
• Develop classroom, school-wide, and community-based support that promote positive connections between staff and students, among students, and between the school and home
• Continued efforts to sharpening verbal de-escalation techniques that provide support without unnecessarily labeling problem behavior, without adding limits on behaviors which are safe, and which promote comfortable choices for students.
• Increase use of principals of Applied Behavior Analysis, ACR and Handle with Care which are embedded into the structure of the program to promote and sensitive, responsive environment that promotes physical and psychological well-being.

Social Determinants of Health Impacted by Soar Learning Center:

• Access to Education
• Access to Healthcare,
• Resources to Meet Daily Needs
• Vocational Assessment & Training
• Transportation
• Mental Health
• Substance Use Prevention
• Social Support
• Public Safety