GNETS

 

THE LEARNING ACADEMY - formerly Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Academy 

The Learning Academy (TLA) is a member of the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS).

TLA is an educational program within the Savannah-Chatham Public School System that serves students in grades

K-8 (The Learning Academy at Isle of Hope) and 9-12 (The Learning Academy at Jenkins High School) from across

Chatham County who have been determined eligible based upon established criteria.

 

The Learning Academy serves students who have been identified as having severe emotional/behavioral

disabilities and student with significant autism.  Students are referred to The Learning Academy when

they are not experiencing success in their area school environment.

 

The Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS) is comprised of 24 programs which support the local school systems continuum of services for students with disabilities, ages 3-21.  The programs provide comprehensive educational and therapeutic support services to students who might otherwise require residential or other more restrictive placements due to the severity of one or more characteristics of the disability category of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD).

In 1970, the first GNETS program, the Rutland Center, was established in Athens to serve as a prototype for the statewide network that now exists.  Based on a model developed by Dr. Mary M. Wood, the program was funded by the State of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Education to serve students from 2 to 14 years of age.  Additional pilot programs were initiated in Brunswick and Savannah in 1971.  By 1976, 24 GNETS programs were established throughout Georgia and then expanded to serve adolescents over the age of 14 in 1979.

Students receiving services through a GNETS Program are referred by their local school system through the Individual Educational Program (IEP) process.  An IEP team may consider in-class services by a GNETS program for a child with an emotional and behavioral disorder based upon documentation of the severity of the duration, frequency and intensity of one or more of the characteristics of the disability category of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD).  This documentation must include prior extension of less restrictive services and data which indicate such services have not enabled the child to benefit educationally.  For children receiving in-class services, local schools are actively involved and exit criteria are developed upon entry into the GNETS program.