Five Star Interlocal Co-op
School District 60-K001
1405 E. Moses
Cushing, OK 74023
1-866-355-2667 or (918) 225-5600
Fax: 918-225-3026
The S.T.O.P. Program (Short Term Optional Placement)
S.T.O.P is a new program at the Five Star Interlocal Co-op building set up to service children ages five through twenty-one who have been referred to the program due to some kind of emotional or behavior problem and have been previously found eligible for special education services.
The S.T.O.P. Program is designed to assist Five Star Interlocal school districts to address students in behavioral crisis. The students have all been identified as needing special education services and may have a variety of disabilities. School districts will refer students to the S.T.O.P. Program as an alternative to out of school suspensions. The length of stay for each student will be determined by the referring school district along with the FSILC staff. The students are placed in a self-contained room with not more than a total of twelve students. There is a Coordinator as well as two aides in the classroom(s) most times. The Coordinator is experienced in working with this population as he has served as a classroom aide in our programs for students with emotional disturbance. S.T.O.P. students receive transportation to and from the program by their home school district. The S.T.O.P. Program consists of three components:- Academics: Each student is sent work from their home school and work is completed individually. Assistance is given on an as-needed basis.
- Behavior Management:The behavior modification program at S.T.O.P. is a level system as well as a token economy. The students earn tokens every ten minutes for positive behavior and tokens are taken away through a fining system for negative behaviors. By the end of the day, the student must have earned a minimum amount of tokens (75% positive behavior for the day) to make their day. Five good days on one level will move them to the next level. As the student moves up the level system, we wean them from the token economy system, preparing them to follow the rules with immediate reinforcers. The goal for every student that enters the program is that they reach Level 8, have 10 good days on Level 8, they are then reintegrated back to their home school. There are no time out rooms in the classroom(s). Students can ask to take a time out any time they feel they need one or staff can request a time out any time a student is out of control. Any time a student is physically out of control and a danger to themselves or someone else, the staff may physically restrain them using CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention) and/or calling the police. All staff at S.T.O.P. have been trained in CPI which is a nationally recognized intervention program.
- Therapeutically: The therapeutic component of the program consists of every student receiving a bare minimum of 30 minutes of individual therapy per week, 60 minutes of group therapy per week and 60 minutes of family therapy per week. These are all minimal if the student is having a particularly hard day or class period and the therapist is called and the child is seen.
The students receive daily group therapy focusing on the reasons they were referred to S.T.O.P. and how things could have been done differently.
Each student also receives individual therapy once a week or at least once during their time in S.T.O.P. (if they are there less than one week). The therapeutic intervention will assist students in addressing their behavioral crisis.
Program Goals for S.T.O.P. Alternative are as follows:
- To provide an educational atmosphere that fosters desire by students to succeed in school.
- To strengthen all academic skills to their maximum level of functional performance.
- To develop within each individual student a positive self-concept.
- To help students learn to cope with every day stress regardless of its origin.
- To prepare all students to live independently both socially and vocationally.
- To mainstream students back to their resident district school whenever appropriate.
- To instill within each student, the emotional and physical ability to function as an independent and self-sufficient adult.