The Newton Learning Center
Reno/ Northern Nevada

For more information or to set up a visit at our Reno site (475 Monroe please call: “R.J.” (Rebecca) Jimenez at: 408-966-8024

Second Start was asked, by parents of special needs students and who are familiar with our program in San Jose, to create a Private Non-Profit Special Education School in the Reno/ Northern Nevada. To that end Second Start has for the last two months been involved in a due diligence investigation to determine the feasibility of establishing a private school in the Reno area. Although the final outcome is yet to be determined it is a strongly likelihood that we will be establishing The Newton Leaning Center in the Reno Area. We are currently accepting applications from students and are looking for a physical site for our program.

The Newton Program is a social-cognitive educational program geared towards educating students on the upper end of the Autistic Spectrum. Our students are intelligent, unique, fun—loving, and diverse. However, regardless of their unique qualities and varied diagnoses,they all have one thing in common: difficulties navigating the social realm.

In The Newton Program we put a strong emphasis on teaching social thinking—not just social skills. The difference is that “social skills” are a scripted set of behaviors, while learning to think socially will help students to become more aware of the world around them and how their behavior affects others. Students take a daily social thinking class and because of the team-teaching model that is employed, the concepts they learn in this class are integrated into their entire school day, through all of their academic classes.

In The Newton Program we know that our students hold great potential and can achieve many goals in their lives. We believe that tackling social deficits and building adaptive behaviors and self—monitoring skills will help our students achieve their goals. We pride ourselves on creating an emotionally and physically safe environment where students feel comfortable taking appropriate risks, trying new things, and building strong relationships with students and staff. Students are expected to complete classroom jobs each week, including leading tours to Program visitors with another Staff. This is a great opportunity for students to practice their social thinking skills and interact with new people. Our students face many challenges in their lives and we'd like to provide them with many tools for success.