Seth Nesmith, Director of Residential Services

2010: Year in Review

Heartspring’s residential program was busy during the 2009-10 year. Across the nation, many schools like Heartspring have faced financial hardships due to the economic downturn and have had to adjust how they deliver services. Here at Heartspring, due to all of the hard work and effort by our staff, we have been able to avoid some of these issues. During the last year, we were able to keep our homes fully staffed and maintain a high quality level of services. For most of the year all of our beds were full, meaning we had 48 students living here at Heartspring in one of our six group homes, as well as going to school on campus. In January of 2010, we increased the number of residential students to 51 with the opening of our off campus home, Group Home 7 (G7), which is a duplex that has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, located approximately three miles from campus.

The staff working in our group homes continued to improve the lives of our students by helping them gain as much independence as possible in their daily lives outside of the classroom. Our students work on self-care and independence skills and enjoy a lot of outings on the weeknights and weekends. We take advantage of many opportunities given to us by being located in Wichita. It is very important for our students to be able to generalize the skills and tools they learn at Heartspring in a home and community setting. That is why we teach self-care skills, home management skills, and accessing the community on a regular basis.

Paraeducators in the group homes work with the staff in the classrooms to ensure a consistent delivery of quality services to our students. We look forward to being able to continue delivering such services to our students in the residential setting with the help of all the Heartspring staff and the resources of the greater Wichita area.

Community Based Learning

Wichita, Kansas is a friendly metropolitan area which provides many opportunities to work on Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals in the real world. Students participate and build skills during outings such as going to the grocery store, shopping from a grocery list and ordering meals in restaurants. Community Based Instruction helps generalize the skills taught in the home and classroom.

Miracle League

Five students from the Heartspring School had the opportunity to participate in Miracle League Baseball in the spring. The Miracle League is specifically designed for children with disabilities. Students enrolled in the Heartspring School enjoy a variety of recreation and leisure activities on campus and throughout South Central Kansas.

Group Home 7

In 2010, Heartspring opened a new group home off campus housing three students who are preparing to transition out of the Heartspring School to adult services. Living in G7, students focus on independence skills including cooking, cleaning and time management.

Prom

Each year during the annual Parent Weekend, students and their families put on their fancy dresses and suits and spend an enjoyable evening at the Heartspring Prom. Hosted by Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, Prom is the highlight of the weekend where families can spend quality time with their children while dancing the night away.

Residential Life

Students enrolled in Heartspring’s residential program live in one of seven group homes. Within the homes, all of the students have their own room and parents have the freedom to help make it unique to their child. Many students have TVs and computers in their room, which they often select as a leisure time activity.