School Board Hears from River Rock Academy: Prospective AEDY Service

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth, also known as (AEDY) is a recent service that has been discussed at length by the Keystone Central School Board. The board heard Thursday evening from River Rock Academy.

New to Lycoming County, River Rock Academy has its roots in the York County area as early as 2005. Since then, they have expanded and opened branch campuses in Schuylkill, Cumberland, Berks, Bradford, Delaware, and Lycoming Counties.

John Imp, the Bradford County Campus Director, and Brandon Huff, Vice President of Operations, were present at last week’s meeting to discuss the organization.

“Operating 12 campuses around the commonwealth, our Lycoming County location is an alternative education facility for students in grades 6-12 where we provide regular education and special education services,” Brandon said. “The criteria for coming to our school includes behaviors such as a disregard for school authority, violent behavior, weapons violations, expulsion, or suspension, which both carry a 45 day stay in our school.”

As what was described, students have their goals aligned for their reason for referral, and the overall goal is to have the student back in their regular school within 45 days.

“Students get their core academics while here and do not lose anything education-wise while being here,” Brandon went on. “In addition to academics, they also receive social skills instruction, conflict resolution, and up to 2.5 hours of individual counseling a week, along with field trips and guest speakers which are a big part of our program.”

School Board member Roger Elling expressed his interest in, “looking forward to partnering with you in the future.”

Butch Knauff asked Brandon and John about certifications.

“Are your instructors all certified,” Butch asked. “All of our staff are certified teachers in Pennsylvania, but certifications are not needed to teach in an AEDY school,” Brandon said.

Board member Elisabeth Lynch expressed her happiness that River Rock Academy is so close in proximity to Keystone Central School District.

“Do you provide reports on student progress and numbers of students participating in your program,” Lynch asked. “Yes, we send home weekly progress reports on student progress and behavior, and on the 40th day we plan a meeting with school administrators and teachers to discuss the students progress. We like to think that we share more than what a normal public school does,” John said.

Receiving positive feedback all around, board member Jeff Johnston chimed in to express his satisfaction with the organization.

“It looks like a good program, with a certainly good track record with what was done in the past and it is comparable to Nittany Learning Services. I think we are excited to have another option nearby, it is a great opportunity and we are excited about it,” Johnston said.