At Greenwood school GRCC celebrates new classroom

NEW DIGS: The Grande Ronde Child Center’s new classroom at Greenwood Elementary School has about 1,300 square feet of space. - DICK MASON

A historic step by the Grande Ronde Child Center is complete.

The GRCC now has an on-campus presence in the La Grande School District. A new classroom for GRCC at Greenwood Elementary School was formally opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

“This is an exciting moment,’’ said Jim Sheehy, the GRCC’s executive director.

The classroom went into use Sept. 16. Children at GRCC, which has operated in La Grande since 1973 at 902 D Ave., are those who are behind in school because of behavior and emotional problems.

GRCC students at the grade school normally do not attend Greenwood classes. But the students are participating in school activities under the supervision of Greenwood’s staff. The children take part in recess with Greenwood students, eat lunch with them, attend school assemblies and programs and use the school’s library.

Two of GRCC’s 10 students are now at Greenwood. Sheehy hopes to have at least seven at Greenwood by the end of the school year.

GRCC’s classroom building replaces a Greenwood modular that was torn down this summer. The

classroom was built with money from a $135,375 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, a $5,000 grant from the Wildhorse Foundation and $1,655 from 17 private donors throughout the state. The classroom, which has about 1,300 square feet, contains a classroom, two offices, two restrooms, handicapped accessible ramps and more.

The La Grande School District provided a foundation and sewer and water lines. The district also has made connection points available for a fire alarm, the Internet, cable television, a phone system and an intercom.

GRCC owns the building. However, after 10 years ownership will revert to the school district.

The GRCC is maintaining its site at 902 D Ave. The children being taught at the Greenwood site, Sheehy said, are those “able to function more adaptively in a regular school environment.’’

Sheehy said GRCC students are benefiting enormously from being at Greenwood because they are in a traditional grade school environment. The students at Greenwood are continuously monitored by at least one GRCC staff member.

“It is sight and sound supervision. They have to be able to see and hear the students at all times,’’ Sheehy said.

Natalie McDonald, a GRCC classroom assistant, said the students she works with are enjoying the opportunity to come to Greenwood.

“They like having a new set of friends and lunch breaks (in the cafeteria),’’ McDonald said.

Dorothy House, a GRCC child treatment specialist, said that children attending the program’s 902 D Ave. site are looking forward to coming to Greenwood.

The Greenwood classroom is giving GRCC students at 902 D Ave. added incentive to make progress. “It is a carrot for them,’’ Sheehy said. “It is a steppingstone for them to get back into public schools.’’

The Grande Ronde Child Center was directed to set up a classroom on an elementary school in January 2007 by Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc., which contracts GRCC.

Sheehy then began searching for a campus site. He hoped to find a Union County school district with classroom space available that GRCC could rent. Unfortunately none of the school districts had space available that met GRCC’s needs.

“People wanted to help us but they couldn’t (because of lack of appropriate space),’’ Sheehy said.

Sheehy became discouraged. “I had worked a year and gotten nowhere,’’ he said.

Sheehy then began trying to get a classroom built on an elementary school campus. He was encouraged by the reception he received from the La Grande School District. “The La Grande School District has been a very good partner in helping us,’’ Sheehy said.

The GRCC received a huge boost in September 2008 when it learned it would receive a $135,375 grant from Meyer Memorial Trust.

“When we got the grant we said, ‘OK, we can make it happen,’’’ Sheehy said.

If not for the Meyer Memorial Trust grant the GRCC classroom at Greenwood would not be a reality today, Sheehy said.

The GRCC later received a boost from the Union County Commission on Children and Families, which donated $8,270 to the project. The money was donated on the condition that it be used only for the operation of the GRCC’s program at Greenwood, not construction of the classroom.

Sheehy said that having a site at Greenwood will make more students eligible for admission into GRCC’s program. This will help the GRCC’s long-term viability by putting it in a position to draw a greater range of children who need help.

GRCC’s financial status has been hurt in recent years by falling enrollment caused by new state regulations that make it harder to provide services for children with behavior problems. The GRCC has also been hurt by the economic downturn.

Children attend GRCC an average of 16 months before they are discharged. Youths close to being discharged will be placed in Greenwood classrooms to let educators see how they do in a regular school environment. The children will be supervised by GRCC’s staff while attending Greenwood classes.