Handicapped program wins praise

Handicapped program wins praise

YPSILANTI — A national magazine for parents of disabled children has ranked an Ypsilanti elementary school as the best in the country at “mainstreaming” handicapped students.

In its September issue, the Boston-based magazine Exceptional Parent cited Estabrook/New Horizons Elementary School, along with a California school, as the top elementary schools in introducing handicapped children into a regular school environment.

Estabrook/New Horizons combines regular education and special education students in the lunchroom, during assemblies, on the playground, on field trips and frequently in the classroom. The POHI -- Physically and Otherwise Health Impaired -- classrooms are not pushed into a corner of the building. Instead, regular education classrooms and POHI classrooms are next to each other. 

“Your program is an outstanding example of the sensitivity and caring a program can bring to the goal of mainstreaming exceptional children,” wrote Robert Hermansen, assistant editor of the magazine.