Many students come to us after a long series of problems at home, at school, and in the community. In other settings they have been seen as either failures or victims. At Pioneer Special Schools we are adopting a skills-based approach that replaces the blaming and punishment/reward systems that children and their families have so often dealt with in the past. Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is a way of teaching and parenting that makes use of every child’s wish to be understood and enlists him/her as a partner in developing skills for effective learning and living. It all begins with one premise:

Kids do well if they can.