Merit Academy

Merit Academy is a regional special education school placement for children and adolescents with a variety of emotional and behavioral disabilities which interfere with learning in a traditional educational setting. Elementary, middle, and high school students who are referred by their local school districts are eligible for placement in the program. 

Merit Academy offers a comprehensive treatment approach rooted in the principles of humanistic and behavioral psychology. Merit Academy's goal is to improve a student's overall educational, emotional, and social functioning, and return the student to a school placement within his or her own school district when the student is ready. Length of enrollment varies as a function of each student's individual needs and circumstances.

Merit Academy enrolls students who present with a wide range of difficulties in the areas of emotional, behavioral, social, and academic functioning. Included in this population are students who exhibit internalizing symptom profiles as well as students who, at times, are prone to engage in externalizing symptoms. Diagnostic indicators common for students enrolled in the program include mood instability, attention deficit/hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, school avoidance, behavioral dyscontrol, oppositional behavior, and other social impairments. The students' academic abilities range from very superior to below average and the students are highly diversified with regard to socio-economic status and ethnicity.  Academic instruction and vocational experiences are coupled with counselling, problem solving, behavioral and sensory regulation strategies and related services (as needed), and are all included to create the therapeutic milieu.  All students are typically working towards high school graduation. Relationships developed in Merit Academy help students utilize behavioral strategies to meet with success and feel good about school again.  
 

Program inquiries or referral information can be sent to Kristen Wilson at wilsonk@cestrumbull.org.