New Florence 1 School to Offer Mental Health Services to Elementary Students

FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) — Florence 1 Schools is launching a new academy to serve students living with and struggling with mental health issues.

When Compass Academy opens this fall, it will be the first in the district to serve elementary students. For two decades, the district has offered mental health services combined with classroom instruction to middle and high school students.

Brian Denny, the district’s assistant superintendent for exceptional children, said the academy has been part of Superintendent Richard O’Malley’s vision from the beginning.

“I thank Dr. O’Malley for bringing us all together, pushing us and telling us we had to do something different,” Denny said.

The district designed Compass Academy to help students with educational disabilities as well as mental health issues. It is modeled after a traditional school setting while offering on-site counseling and therapy.

Music therapy, art and equine therapy are just a few of the ways the program will provide intensive support to students. The academy will serve students in grades one through five.

The previous program did not provide services to children in these grade levels. Instead, they received in-home tutoring and therapy.

Krystle Graham, the district’s clinical services coordinator, said the creation of Compass Academy will bring these students back into a school setting.

“In a smaller setting, where they’ll have therapy services throughout their day, they’ll also be assigned to school-based therapists,” Graham said. “They’ll have group therapy, individual therapy and behavior modification that’ll be kind of intertwined in a school setting.”

The corridors are now empty, but a new playground, a special sensory room and new classrooms are ready to welcome new students.

Patricia Nunnally, a special education teacher at the academy, is thrilled to see the impact of the program.

“I think it’s going to be great,” she said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for them to get back in the classroom, interact with their peers and it’s going to give them an opportunity to succeed.”