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1. Description of WSD's residential cottages
The student housing is comprised of six residential cottages. The three residential cottages, Watson, Roberts, and MacDonald, are located on the south side of the WSD campus in between the Norththrop Elementary School and the Business Office.
In front (north) of the cottages is a large grassy area known as "the neighborhood" where students can enjoy supervised recreation outside during free times. The grassy area behind the cottages, which is fully fenced, is off limits to students when unsupervised.
At maximum capacity, the cottages can house up to 84 students. Residential student ages may range from 5 - 21 years of age.
The three residential cottages, built in 1999, each have two sides (like a duplex): Watson cottage - west and east, Roberts cottage - west and east, and MacDonald cottage - west and east. Each side has seven two-person bedrooms, which house up to 14 students. One of the bedrooms and its connecting bathroom is wheelchair accessible. As this bedroom is towards the front of the cottage, it also may be used to house students who need closer supervision due to behavioral concerns.
In addition to the seven bedrooms, each side of the cottage has a living room, dining room, kitchen, mud room (small outside entry room that contains a freezer), laundry room, storage room, staff/visitor bathroom, family room, and staff office. There are connecting bathrooms between two bedrooms in the rear area. The bedrooms are lockable, and students can have keys to their own bedrooms. However, bedrooms cannot be locked when there is a student in the bedroom. The bedrooms can be locked when the students leave the bedroom for security purposes. There are flashing light "doorbells" on the bedrooms. Unless there is a perceived emergency, staff will respect the privacy of students by using the doorbells before entering the bedrooms.
Bathroom doors are lockable, with a thumb latch lock on the bathroom side of the doors. Only staff has keys to the bathroom doors. (For a staff member to enter an occupied bathroom using a key, there must be a specific reason to enter, such as a perceived emergency, and specific protocols for entering must be followed [these include talking with other residential family members to obtain more information, pounding on the door, and having a same sex staff member enter].)
Each cottage side has three entrances/exits: the main front entrance (key access), the front side mud room (card access) and side family room (key access). All entry doors remain locked except the front entry, which is locked anytime a staff person is not in the cottage and at 9:30 p.m., Sunday through Thursday.
There are fire alarm pull stations and smoke detectors in each cottage. A Simplex fire alarm panel located on the east side of each cottage building monitors these fire alarm devices. The cottages are equipped with a fire sprinkler system.
Click here to see inside the cottages.
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2. Residential Placement Procedures
Students are placed in the Residential Program based upon one or more of the following criteria:
. Consideration given to distance from home
. Consideration given to placement as requested by a social service agency
. Consideration given to age for age-quota placement in residential sections
. Consideration given to students' communication ability and personality traits for room and roommate assignments
. Consideration given for level of special needs of students as per professional recommendations
. Consideration given to parental request for placement and roommate assignments
. Consideration given to student request for roommate assignments or changes
. Change of placement considered for reasons based on behavioral issues as requested by professional staff working with student and by parents or by recommendations from child-focused agencies
. Consideration for ratio-balance within the sections of the Residential Program
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3. Residential families
WSD's Residential Program offers a unique model of family living in the cottages. The use of same sex, multi-aged family groupings allow social interactions that help students develop positive self-esteem and positive self-identity. Since its inception (in the 98-99 school year), WSD staff has found that these residential families have several benefits for the students:
. With different age students, the residences feel more like home instead of institutions
. This arrangement allows more opportunity for student-to-student mentoring
. Older students can help younger students with homework and life adjustments
. Older students serve as role models for the younger students, and may amend inappropriate behavior because of the presence of younger children
. All students are more involved in WSD activities (e.g., younger students feel more a part of graduation because they have residential family members who are graduating)
. Incidental learning and language development occur when the younger students watch the older ones
. There has been a marked decrease in behavior referrals and overall suspensions after the residential families were initiated
WSD recognizes, however, that mixing older and younger students may also create some concerns for the safety of the younger students. Safety and care of WSD students in the residential program is maintained by the low staff-to-student ratios and effective supervision practices.
To ensure minimum disparity among students who share bedrooms, the two same-sex roommates are as close in age and maturity as possible. Although the residential staff strives to match well-suited student roommates, occasionally there are mismatches or conflicts with roommates and/or a student in a family. SLCs work with the students to resolve the situation, and to help the students learn problem-solving skills. If the situation cannot be resolved, one of the students is moved to another residential family.
Based on current student population, there are three female families and three male families in the cottages.
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4. Facility safety
In order to ensure a safe residential facility, residential staff will ensure that:
a. Indoor and outdoor premises are in a safe and sanitary condition, free of hazards, and in good repair;
b. Furniture and equipment is safe, stable, durable, and age-appropriate;
c. A flashlight or other emergency lighting device in working condition is available for use;
d. Telephones are readily accessible to staff and students;
e. Staff can gain rapid access in an emergency to a bathroom or other room the student occupies;
f. The premises are free from rodents, fleas, cockroaches, and other insects and pests;
g. There is adequate storage space for play and teaching equipment, supplies, records, and students' possessions and clothing;
h. Cleaning supplies, toxic substances, paint, poisons, aerosol containers, and items bearing warning labels are inaccessible to the students;
i. Containers filled from a stock supply are labeled to identify contents;
j. Fire safety regulations are complied with;
k. Provided lighting promotes visibility and comfort for the students;
l. The temperature is maintained at sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit or higher and is regulated for the health and comfort of the students.
When any of these conditions are not met, the SLC will promptly report the situation to a Dean.
In addition, the Dean will check each residence for facility safety on a monthly basis, and report findings in writing to the Facility Manager and the Residential Program Supervisors. Any identified concerns that are beyond the authority of the Residential Program Supervisors will be shared with the Superintendent by the Residential Program Supervisors at their next weekly meeting.
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