Crawford First Education

Crawford First Education, Inc. creates effective, comprehensive, fiscally responsible alternative education programs which address and improve the problems of special needs students. We take seemingly insurmountable problems in education and break them into manageable pieces. Our team is guided by the philosophy that we can teach students to use the internal controls needed to reintegrate successfully into the educational and societal mainstreams.

Crawford First Education provides specialized schools and programs to facilitate academic and social growth for students grades K-12. Throughout all of our programs, we emphasize awareness and appreciation of many cultures and ways of life. Our goal is to affirm the strengths of cultural diversity and nurture the self-esteem and ethnic pride of all students. Students learn to recognize and value their own culture, as well as appreciate the cultural differences of others. A variety of cultural awareness activities expose students to the diversity and commonality of people.

Our curriculum includes values clarification, coping skills, conflict resolution, building self-esteem, effective communication skills and anger management. We present numerous opportunities for students to learn, practice and internalize value characteristics that are essential for developing moral character: responsibility, respect, fairness, citizenship, trust and compassion.

Crawford Day School, Portsmouth, Virginia Crawford Day School provides a supportive and organized environment essential to the education of students who have not been successfully educated in the public school setting. Crawford Day School is an intensive and therapeutic placement for special education students in grades K-12.

Port Enterprise Program, Portsmouth, Virginia The Port Enterprise Program offers services for special education students not requiring the intensity of Crawford Day School, yet who require highly supportive and individualized educational services. Port Enterprise is a transitional program for students who are demonstrating a readiness to re-enter the public school system.

Day Treatment Services combines intensive therapeutic interventions with individualized educational programming to serve students with mental, behavioral or emotional issues that result in significant functional impairments in the school and community. Under a psychiatrist’s and licensed clinician’s supervision, the program offers individual, group and family counseling, along with behavior management strategies. Therapeutic activities include specialized academic instruction, daily counselor-facilitated, structured therapeutic activities and on-going support and guidance towards meeting Individualized Service Plan behavioral goals. Individual counseling addressing trauma or difficult emotional experiences that often precipitate negative behaviors is offered as well as family counseling to help strengthen communication, interaction and coping skills. Students receiving Day Treatment Services are enrolled in our Port Enterprise Program and are offered either special or general education instruction from certified teachers. Day Treatment Services are Medicaid eligible. Services offered in Portsmouth, Virginia.

WINNERS Camp, Portsmouth, Virginia This summer program is designed to facilitate recreational and social learning experiences for children ages 5 to 21. Through a variety of interactive and enriching activities, campers gain a positive sense of self as they learn to make diverse choices.

STARS Summer Program, Portsmouth, Virginia

The STARS Summer Program is specifically designed to provide intensive support, guidance and supervision to children with special needs. This program provides a highly structured and therapeutic environment that addresses and accommodates the needs of children with severe emotional, behavioral and/or developmental disabilities.

 

Transition Advocate Services

Transition Advocate Services provides an opportunity for students to acclimate to the larger school environment while an assigned advocate works to monitor and guide the students’ adjustment to changes in responsibilities and academic expectations. This service can be provided to students in the cities we currently serve: Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Crawford First Step, Portsmouth, Virginia This program offers children in grades 9-12 a functional educational curriculum that meets their individual academic, vocational, social and behavioral needs. In addition to the functional curriculum, the program stresses assessments, integrated instructional strategies, realistic goals and objectives to ensure efficient transition, skill-oriented training and a therapeutic environment. Students also develop job-related skills, independent living skills and effective communication skills.