Esther B. Clark Schools
Who We Serve
We believe in the promise and potential of every student.
Our Students
Esther B. Clark School is designed to meet the educational needs of students with existing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) with one of the following primary eligibilities:
- Emotional Disability
- Other Health Impaired
- Specific Learning Disability
- Autism
While each of our students brings a unique set of experiences, strengths, and attributes to the table, all have experienced challenges in previous school settings that have ultimately prevented them from deriving educational benefit in those settings. EBC is designed to support the social-emotional regulation development of students and we specialize in working with highly complex learners.
Challenges Our Students May Face
Frequently presented challenges of our student population include, but are not limited to:
Anxiety, depression or other mood dysregulation
Struggles with self-management, disruptivity and/or impulse control in the classroom or on the playground
Acute awareness of discrepancies between self and peers, leading to poor self-image
School refusal and/or escape-maintained behavior during the school day
Poor working memory and/or slow processing speed
Executive functioning struggles (task initiation, work completion, time management)
Difficulty forming and maintaining healthy friendships; socially isolated
Rigid or inflexible thinking; frequent social conflicts
Inaccurate perspective-taking or interpretation of situations
Sensory issues or sensitivities
Low frustration tolerance, ending in fight, flight or freeze behavior
Instances of behavioral escalation to the point of aggression and/or destruction of property
Significant and ongoing mental health challenges, including self-harming behavior
How We Help
At EBC, we can help. With the expertise of EBC’s program and staff, children with social-emotional challenges re-engage in learning and develop positive skills to transition back to a mainstream school environment.
Enrollment
As a nonpublic school, Esther B. Clark School partners with school districts from all over the Bay Area and beyond to deliver specialized services to meet the educational needs of individual students. The enrollment process is performed via referral from the student’s home school district. For District placement inquiries please contact our Director of Schools: Tara Keith, tkeith@chconline.org.
Enrollment Process for Esther B. Clark Schools Starts at the District Level
- If you are interested in placement at EBC, please talk to your home district.
- District-based IEP team agrees to seek placement at a nonpublic school.
- Student’s home district sends a referral to EBC.
- Initial conversation between EBC and caregiver(s) to exchange information and explore a potential placement.
- Student and caregiver(s) tour EBC campus, participate in an interview with the EBC leadership team and receive further information about the EBC program.
- If all parties are in agreement on the appropriateness of the setting, the student’s district is notified of the student’s official acceptance to EBC.
- The district amends the student’s IEP to reflect the addition of specialized services delivered in the nonpublic school setting.
- A start date is determined and transportation is arranged.
Because of your staff and your school, our son now has a second chance at an education and of creating a happy, healthy life for himself.
―EBC Parent
