The treatment component of the Southern Penobscot Regional Program is designed to help students learn needed skills relative to their cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral development. By acquiring the needed skills, students will be better prepared to return to their referring school districts and successfully participate in the learning environment of the public schools in their home community.  

     At the SPRP the classrooms have small numbers of students and there is a low student to staff ratio.   This allows school staff the opportunity to give students the individual attention and support they need prior to the development of problems or when problems first become apparent.  By working with students early on, before the development of serious problems, students are taught how to negotiate and effectively deal with stressors that are inherent in the learning process in school.

       As students progress through the program and acquire the skills they need they become less dependent on receiving intensive attention and support from school staff.  In this process they also become increasingly self regulated, socially competent, and able to assume more responsibility to guide their own learning.  By becoming higher functioning independent learners, SPRP students will acquire the life skills they need to gain fuller access to the benefits that our society has to offer.  

     Students at SPRP will be given academic work that is adjusted to their current instructional level of academic functioning.  Students will be provided with the level of assistance they need in order to do their assignments in a timely manner, demonstrate quality work, make a valid effort and maintain appropriate behavior.  To successfully meet these academic expectations students will need to practice the required self-regulation skills, self-directed learning skills, socialization skills and conflict resolution skills that are the foundation of the program.  First, students learn the necessary skills and then through repeated practice, they are able to internalize them.  This process allows students to assume more personal responsibility for their actions.

     The rate and degree of progress of students at SPRP depends upon the extent to which they meet the criteria of personal responsibility and acquire the needed skills to become higher functioning learners.  The staff at SPRP will be there to help guide and assist students as they work to acquire the educational skills they need.