RE-Education

Serendipity Center seeks to provide the best environment for its students to heal and become educated, productive community members. In order to achieve this goal, we built our program around the RE-Education model developed by noted psychologist Dr. Nicholas Hobbs.

RE-Education is a guiding philosophy, founded on the belief that children can be taught to manage their behavior. This unique framework focuses on the strengths inherent in each student and employs a variety of approaches in order to solve problems.

“In RE-Ed, no one waits for a special therapeutic hour. We try, as best we can, to make all hours special. We strive for immediate and sustained involvement in purposive and consequential living.”
— Dr. Nicholas Hobbs

RE-Education in Action at Serendipity

The twelve principles of RE-Ed define and guide our educational, treatment,  transition, and wellness services. For example:

  • We believe that reliable, understanding adults are instrumental for children striving to make changes. Serendipity staff members, all Teacher-Counselors in the RE-Ed tradition, are genuine, authentic, and constantly engaging with students to establish positive, healthy relationships.
  • We believe that with the right emotional education, disabled or traumatized children can greatly improve their communication and self-regulation skills. Practice, coaching, and role playing are activities that ready young people to navigate their emotional ups and downs.
  • We believe that the experiencing of community is essential, so we facilitate group interaction and foster leadership through student council, community volunteering, and campus jobs.
  • We believe that a child should experience joy every day. We accomplish this through fun school activities, such as dances, structured play, therapy llamas, and gardening, as well as through regular ceremonies recognizing successful steps forward.