Five years ago, Oskaloosa Schools began making significant progress in addressing behavioral challenges affecting student learning, developing systems and processes that have made the district a statewide leader and drawn educators from across Iowa to learn from its approach. A new therapeutic classroom program will build on that work, expanding the district’s levels of support and strengthening its effort to remain a statewide leader in behavioral systems. For a small number of students, however, the most intensive services are still not available close to home, forcing the district to rely on programs in other communities.
A new $540,000 Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grant will help Oskaloosa Community Schools build that capacity locally. The work will include a new off-site therapeutic classroom, stronger support for students in district buildings, coaching for specialized staff, and a more consistent process for involving families.
The award came through a competitive state program. Iowa school districts requested more than $11 million, while $2.35 million was available for the 2026-27 grant cycle.
The term “therapeutic classroom” may suggest a single room, but Oskaloosa’s plan is broader. The state defines it as a set of services for students whose emotional, social, or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to succeed in their current educational setting. The support is intended to help students build skills and eventually return to a less restrictive environment when appropriate.
“It’s not a place; it’s a set of services for those kids,” said Wendy Parker, Special Education Consultant for Oskaloosa Schools. “People look at it and think, ‘Oh, you’re only creating these off-site classrooms,’ but that’s actually not the full story.”
The district’s therapeutic classroom continuum will focus on three areas. It will strengthen Tier 3 behavioral support for general education students who need more intensive help, provide coaching and support for self-contained special education classrooms and establish an off-site therapeutic classroom for students whose needs cannot be met successfully in a traditional setting.
The grant also includes family engagement, data systems, professional learning and improvements to the district’s referral and transition processes. Those services will reach students and staff across the district rather than being limited to one school or grade level.
Oskaloosa has developed strong universal and targeted supports for most students, Parker said. Tier 1 practices serve all students, while Tier 2 provides additional help for those who need it. The grant focuses on the smaller number of students whose behavioral needs require Tier 3 or more intensive intervention.
The need is significant even when the number of students is small. A student experiencing serious behavioral challenges may need support that protects the student’s safety, preserves access to instruction, and helps classmates and staff maintain a productive learning environment.
“We have students, very few students, but we do have some students who need things we don’t offer,” Parker said. “We really want the capacity to serve all our students here in the district.”
Providing those services locally would also give the district greater continuity and oversight. When a student must attend a program in another community, the district depends on outside availability, arranges transportation and has less direct influence over the services being provided.
The grant period began July 1 and runs through June 30. Parker described it primarily as a planning and capacity-building year, giving the district time to collect data, train staff, study successful programs and establish the systems needed for long-term implementation.
District leaders hope to open the off-site classroom during the second semester of the 2026-27 school year. Its location has not been selected. An off-site coordinator will lead the development work, including identifying a location, hiring staff, designing instruction, arranging mental health support, and developing community partnerships.
The position is intended to continue beyond the grant year. District leaders are also considering whether the program could grow to include more than one classroom in the future.
Within each campus, the grant will support more targeted behavioral services. That includes improving functional behavioral assessments and behavior intervention plans, coaching staff in specialized classrooms and developing a clear process for determining when a student needs more or less intensive support.
The district plans to establish a formal family review process during the second semester, with a goal of regularly engaging every family whose child receives services through the therapeutic program.
Parker said the goal is not to create a place to send students when behavior becomes difficult. It is to intervene earlier and provide the academic, behavioral and mental health support students need to remain connected to school, their families and their community.
“Having effective programming for these kids with our most significant behaviors means that they have access to the supports they need,” Parker said. “It’s really the difference between falling into a system that is very restrictive and punitive and keeping them in an environment that is proactive, productive, caring and compassionate.”
One year from now, Parker said success would include an operating off-site classroom, stable staffing in specialized classrooms and a complete referral system that identifies students before their needs escalate. It would also mean seeing students respond to intervention, thrive in school and gradually need less intensive support.
For families, the investment carries a direct message about the district’s responsibility to every student.
“We love every student we serve in Oskaloosa,” Parker said. “We’re not giving up on any student. We are committed to working with families, accessing resources in the community and doing everything we can for every kid to be successful.”
As the district moves from planning to implementation, the grant will allow Oskaloosa Schools to build a more complete local network of support, one designed to respond sooner, keep students connected and give more children a path toward success in their own community.
