On 5 May 2021, Sarah McGuire, Director of the Cannon Valley Special Education Cooperative, spoke to the Rotary Club about the Cooperative. Ms. McGuire highlighted the Cooperative’s mission, which is to prepare every special needs student to learn and succeed in our communities. She explained the Faribault, Medford, Owatonna, and Northfield public school districts make up the Cannon Valley Special Education Cooperative and it was established in 2016. She went on to say that school districts are required to have special education in place to meet the needs of all students. Thus, the Cooperative serves those students from the four communities whose needs are specific and often represent the most vulnerable. Ms. McGuire also mentioned the economic and programming advantage of cooperating with the four other school districts to meet the special education needs in our communities.
Explaining how the Cooperative works, Ms. McGuire commented that there are three different programs serving specific students. The first program, the Sun program, meets the needs of students who have communication or hearing devices and strives to enable the students to gain academic, social and emotional development. Students can stay in the Sun program until they are 21.
The second program is housed in the Alexander Learning Academy and serves the area’s most vulnerable students. Students at the academy have intense social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Students come to the Academy and then transition back to their home districts once it is judged they are ready to return to their home school. Ms. McGuire said starting next year, the Alexander Learning Academy will be building in a significant mental health component. She added the students attending the Academy need a lot of care and direction during the day.
The third program is the Step program. This program is for students ages 18-21 and most of these students have completed and graduated from high school. The Step program gives the students the opportunity to continue their education in order to nurture the students to live independently. Ms. McGuire noted that a work component is an integral part of the Step program. The students have job coaches to assist the students in transitioning to the workplace. Ms. McGuire added that the cooperative is always looking for additional partners to work with the students.
Ms. McGuire ended her presentation by highlighting the Cooperative will be moving into a large space at the Faribo West Mall. She commented that this will be the first time the cooperative will be located under one roof, which should help with programming and efficiencies. She expects to take possession of the site on 1 June and to be fully operational by mid-June 2021.
