ADHD school mulls branch
The Youngstown branch is in its third year.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A new community school already operating in Youngstown plans a branch in Warren next year to serve children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and Asperger's syndrome.
The nonprofit Summit Academy Community Schools also have branches in Akron, Canton, Middletown, Xenia, Lorain and Parma.
"The entire curriculum design is based on the latest research and best practices for working with that population," Summit founder Peter M. DiMezza said.
Asperger's syndrome is a high-functioning form of autism.
The Youngstown school opened in 2001 and serves 190 pupils, making it the largest Summit school, Principal Kathy Mioni said. Although most are from the Youngstown city school district, the school serves children from 14 districts, including pupils from Austintown, Boardman, Salem and Weathersfield.
A few of the pupils' home districts bus them, but parents in districts that don't must provide transportation.
"Some parents drive 45 minutes a day one way," Mioni said.
Schools start by serving those ages 6 to 12, with another level added each year to age 15, DiMezza said.
He said the school hasn't secured a Warren location, but he expects that to be done within three weeks. An informational meeting with academy officials is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, Mahoning Avenue N.W.
Funding concerns
Enrollment is free to pupils. But because money from the state for education follows pupils, the local school districts that serve potential Summit pupils could face losing money.
Warren Superintendent Betty J. English said the district gets between $5,500 and $5,600 from the state per pupil. That amount increases for pupils deemed to have special needs.
As of last month, the city school district was losing about $1.3 million to charter and community schools, said Linda Metzendorf, school board president.
Earlier this year, the academy contacted James Russo, executive director of business operations, about buying or leasing the former Devon Elementary School. The school district closed the building at the end of the 2002-03 school year.
Under Ohio law, if a school district involved in an Ohio School Facilities Commission project elects to sell former schools, it must give first dibs to community and charter schools. If a school district opts instead to demolish the buildings, it may do so without offering them to community or charter schools.
Russo said Summit Academy didn't make further inquiries after touring Devon.
The Youngstown school is in its second building on Oak Hill Avenue after outgrowing its space in Renaissance Place on the same street. By the end of this school year, the new building also is expected to be full. It employs 40 teachers.
Details of program
The schools started in 1997 when a clinical counselor from Akron who had a large practice of children with ADHD started visiting his children in their schools, Mioni said.
"They were mostly removed from the regular classrooms because of their behavior," she said.
The counselor created an after-school learning center for the children, working with a martial-arts teacher. Martial arts can help ADHD and Asperger's children with concentration.
The advent of charter schools in Ohio and the encouragement of parents prompted the formation of the Summit Academy schools.
"We try to provide the best environment for children to learn in," Mioni said. "The new school in Warren will operate in the same way."
Those attending Summit often haven't demonstrated high reading skills but generally excel in the arts and sometimes technical skills.
"We teach children where they are so there's less opportunity to get bored," the principal said.
Children sometimes are broken into levels rather than grades to focus on their skills in different areas, which may not match their ages. They're broken into small groups.
A misunderstanding
"It's a misperception that ADHD children don't pay attention," Mioni said. "They pay attention to everything. They can't filter out."
Besides academic subjects, art, music and martial arts, the school also focuses on social skills.
Children with ADHD yearn for friends, but because of a tendency to blurt out a thought or feeling, friendships can be severed quickly.
"We do a lot of role-playing, working on how to be appropriate," Mioni said.
denise_dick@vindy.com