Academics

Approved by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) as an Eligible Facility, The Joshua School's academic and educational programs offer opportunities for quality instruction in reading, math, science, social studies, and other academic courses. Students who successfully complete the program can also receive a diploma from the school. CDE has called our staff "highly dedicated and exceptionally respectful towards students and each other" and noted that our instruction has a "strong focus on academics and accountability without a minute wasted."

The School-Age Program is year-round, serves children 6 years through 21 years of age, and offers 30 hours per week of intensive educational and behavioral intervention. We work collaboratively with families to identify priorities, develop educational objectives, and evaluate program outcomes. Academic subjects are taught using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a science with over thirty years of research known to increase communication, learning, and appropriate social behaviors. ABA strategies used to teach skills/behavior may include the following:

  • Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
  • Naturalistic Teaching Strategies
  • Pivotal Response Training (PRT)
  • Verbal Behavior (VB)
  • Incidental Teaching
  • Natural Environment Teaching (NET)
  • Fluency Training/Rate-Building

We offer services from highly dedicated and qualified professionals in the fields of Special Education, Applied Behavior Analysis, Speech and Language Pathology, Special Education, Occupational Therapy, and Music Therapy. In addition, students in the program experience weekly opportunities to interact with typically developing peers in the community (see Community Outings). In addition to traditional academics, common targets/ skills that may need to be taught include the following:

  • Learning readiness skills
  • Pre-Academics
  • Communication (receptive and expressive)
  • Imitation
  • Attention
  • Independence
  • Motivation
  • Compliance
  • Gross and fine motor skills
  • Daily living skills
  • Initiation
  • Social Interaction