District plans small 'Rose City' resilience program to bring students in therapeutic placements back in‑district

Norwich — District officials described plans to expand the Rose City program and to pilot a small resilience program aimed at students in therapeutic or out‑of‑district placements who are not attending those programs. The goal is to provide in‑district supports that build school stamina and progress toward credit recovery.

Why it matters: Bringing students back into district programs can reduce costly out‑of‑district placements and provide services locally; the plan affects students with significant social‑emotional and attendance barriers.

District staff reported Rose City presently has nine students and that the district anticipates four sections next school year — two elementary and two middle‑school sections. Officials said they expect elementary classes to reach full enrollment and that the district is "starting small and going big," proposing initial cohorts of about five students to build stamina and provide individualized supports. The working title for the initiative is the "Rose City School Resilience Program."

Staff said the resilience model would pair social‑emotional supports — including a social worker and family engagement — with credit‑bearing online coursework through the Apex Learning platform for eligible high‑school‑age students. District staff noted that the program would include trauma‑informed practices and align behavior support training to local therapeutic programs: the district has adopted the Safety Care de‑escalation curriculum and scheduled advanced Safety Care training for the Rose City team.

Discussion vs. decisions: The board received the proposal and asked questions about enrollment and credit‑bearing coursework; no formal vote was taken. Officials said details such as staffing, exact start dates and enrollment targets are still being worked out and will return to the board with additional specifics.