The Story Of Townsend Community School
Townsend Community School serves 1,500 students
throughout the state of Ohio. About 91% of its
students are considered at-risk and have experienced
trauma. The traditional school setting is not the best
for them, so students attend Townsend Community
School for a more blended learning environment.
Students have the option of going to the school
building, community libraries, or taking classes at
home. The school provides buses for students two or
three days a week or teachers meet students at their
community libraries. Students have the flexibility and
options to decide what works best for them.
At Townsend Community School, about 25% of the
student population qualify for special education
services, yet it was extremely difficult to provide
services to students who were so spread out
across the state. In 2016, the school partnered with
PresenceLearning to provide its students with special
education services through teletherapy, which has
consisted of speech-language therapy, occupational
therapy, and counseling services. Today the school
continues to partner with PresenceLearning to meet
its needs. PresenceLearning provides access to remote
clinicians to offer services no matter where the student
is that school day.
Students have enjoyed the services and rarely ever
complain about attending sessions. “Students feel
very comfortable and productive during sessions,” said
Jill Hudgel, special education coordinator at Townsend
Community School. “It’s great to see students enjoying
services and making progress, and it is always huge
to be able to provide them something to brighten
their day.”
For students in the school building, they feel special
when they get to go upstairs for their session. “You can
tell in their demeanor that they are making progress,”
said Hudgel. “It’s been great having the flexibility of
serving students no matter where they are.”
Townsend Community School has also gained helpful
insights from PresenceLearning. “The clinicians are
proactive about clarifying any possible concerns and
explaining questions,” said Hudgel. “It’s nice having
clinicians who are confident while having discussions
with us. They’re very proactive in reaching out to us
and keeping us informed of any red flags.”
Parents’ reaction to the delivery of online therapy
services was similar to their initial reaction to a
nontraditional school; there was hesitation from
parents toward teletherapy. That hesitation quickly
went away when they realized the accommodations
were working for their students. “Once parents were
able to see the quality of the sessions, they were able
to understand these accommodations are what is best
for our students,” said Hudgel.
The PresenceLearning administrative platform has
also helped the school answer any questions parents
may have about their child’s progress. “When parents
have any questions, I can quickly refer to the notes in
the platform,” said Hudgel. “I don’t see the students
every day, so it’s useful to have all the progress
and notes in one place so I can answer parents’
questions.” The platform has also been helpful as
the school goes through a special education audit
by the state. They are able to easily and quickly pull
the reports needed, which has relieved the school’s
stressors during the audit.
Working with PresenceLearning has been an eyeopening
experience for Hudgel. “It’s been great to
provide stability with speech therapy or occupational
therapy,” said Hudgel. “A little goes a long way so it has
been something special for our students.”
