Sowers Special Education Center serves students with severe social and emotional needs. It is governed by local, state and federal mandates and laws for Special Education. Educational services are individualized to meet each student’s needs as determined by a Child Study Team (CST) and documented on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). We provide a unique environment where students achieve essential social, emotional, vocational and academic skills necessary to transition into the adult world. Our qualified staff encourages each student to be creative and to explore vast career and post-secondary options, as well as to value themselves and others.
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Achievement Highlights
- Double Digit Gains in Math May 2005
- Double Digit Gains in Reading May 2005
- Full Kansas Quality Performance Accreditation By Kansas State Board of Education August 2005
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Directions
Exit I-135 at Pawnee. Go east on Pawnee to Hillside. Go south on Hillside to Range St. Go west on Range to Wassall. Go west on Wassall to Sowers. See Maps for all USD 259 locations. Top
Mission
The mission of Sowers Special Education Center High School is to ensure that students with significant behavioral problems who are placed in our building will learn the skills and acquire the knowledge necessary for success at continuing stages of their lives in a small, safe, nurturing environment using an appropriate curriculum taught by highly qualified staff who respect and teach the worth and dignity of individuals, using appropriate resources, to meet students' needs; and create partnerships that encompass the total community.
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Campus Improvement Program
Students will increase appropriate behavior at school as documented by the Behavioral Management System. Students will improve their attendance as determined by improved attendance, punctuality and time on task. Students will increase their math/problem solving skills as determined by their IEP and demonstrated by the use of multiple assessments. Students will increase their reading skills as determined by their IEP and demonstrated by multiple assessments. Students will increase their writing skills as determined by their IEP and demonstrated by multiple assessments. Top
Site Council Information
Each school has a site council, which is a group of parents, community members, business representatives, teachers and other school staff. Site councils identify, consider and discuss educational problems and issues at the school. Councils provide advice and counsel for evaluating state, school district and school site performance goals and objectives. Councils may also recommend methods that may be employed at the school site to meet these goals and objectives.
Meeting Day:
Time:
Location:
Chairperson:
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Programs
- Our Developmental Disabilities Program offers students the opportunity to learn vocational and life skills. The program is centered on a functional curriculum which may include, as determined by the IEP, basic work skills, community survival skills, functional academic skills, and appropriate social behaviors.
- Sowers Special Education Center’s Learning Center is specifically designed for students with severe social and emotional needs. The program is aligned with USD 259 curriculum standards. The curriculum is then adapted and modified for each student according to their academic needs based upon service needs from their IEP.
Course work is offered through a variety of modalities which include: computer assisted instruction, audio visual materials, written materials, and research. Not all courses will use all approaches. Both a certified teacher and a paraprofessional are available to assist the students.
The program allows students to:
- Move through course work at their own pace
- Construct a flexible schedule
Criteria for Enrollment:
- Meet Certificate of Eligibility for Placement in Special Day School
- Be in the 11th grade or above
- May attend until the age of 21
- Have Child Study Team approval
- One method we support students in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), is to provide Re-Integration Services for students who are ready to move back into their base high school. These services include:
- Supervised tours and visits prior to re-integration
- Regular visitation from trained staff at Sowers Special Education Center
- Progress monitoring on regular intervals
- Ongoing support to base schools to ensure success
- Sowers also offers Vocational Training for students whom the Child Study Team recommends for a less restrictive environment (LRE). This course work may include:
- Career Interest Surveys
- Resume Development
- How to Fill out an Application
- How to Dress for an Interview
- How to Interview Successfully
- Job Search Skills
- Credit for Holding a Job
- Transition Services - Sowers Special Education Center also works with a variety of outside community agencies that provide wrap-around services. It is our goal to work as a team with any service agency that you may already use, or to assist you in finding an agency that might fit your needs.
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Student Activities
- Newspaper
- Yearbook
- Various Clubs
- Group Activities
- Field Day
- Camp Day
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School History
Sowers Alternative High School is housed in the former Sowers Elementary School, named for Fred A. Sowers. Wichita's first newspaper, The Vidette, was started in April 1870 by Mr. Sowers. In 1873 Mr. Sowers started the Beacon, the first daily newspaper in the Arkansas Valley. He served on the City Council for two terms and on the Board of Education for three terms.
Sowers Elementary School opened September 8, 1953, with 307 pupils and 10 teachers. Forsblom and Parks were the architects for the 12 room structure. The school was not connected to the city gas or water lines. The children waded the creeks in wet weather unless the parents brought them and braved the ruts left by the construction company along the east bank of the canal. There were times of high water when the Joyland train was used to transport the children across Dry Creek.
Two footbridges were constructed in the spring of 1954 to span the creeks. For two years no street, as such, came to Sowers. In 1954 a footbridge was constructed across the canal, and in 1956 Wassall was paved and a bridge constructed across Dry Creek. There was much discussion and some dissension between the Board of Education and the City Commission about the placement of the school and the consequent need for the construction of the street and bridge. The newspapers took up the story and dubbed Sowers the "Helicopter School."
The land for the Sowers site was acquired during the time when the Board of Education could buy no land outside the actual boundaries of the city. By necessity, available undeveloped land was often acquired that did not represent the ideal site. For beauty, the Sowers site is ideal; a city park of eight to ten acres is adjacent to the school site.
In the fall of 1966, highway construction, the paving of the canal, and a $60,000 footbridge across the canal and highway were started. For two years school and construction went on side by side.
A peak enrollment of 452 was reached in 1958-59. Declining enrollment closed Sowers as an elementary school at the end of the 1989-90 school year.
The building was reopened as an alternative high school in the fall of 1990 with Fred Leichtenfeldt as principal. The school maintained a special day school program for special education students and a program for regular education students who had significant behavioral problems at their base school. Regular education was discontinued in the spring of 1994 leaving the school to serve only special education students.
From A History of Wichita Public Schools, c 1997
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