Key Center School is committed to helping our students to become active participants in the community to the maximum extent possible. Our Community Outreach Program is a critical component of that commitment. Since Key Center School is not a typical "neighborhood" school, our students and parents often do not live in the surrounding community. Our Outreach program serves as a two way street - bringing the community in to Key Center as well as taking our students out into our local community.

We bring the community to Key Center School in a variety of ways. For example, we invite experts from local garden centers and other local businesses to come to Key Center and offer extension activities and enhance what is being taught in the classrooms. We often enjoy having musicians from around the area, who share their talents with us and engage students with their music. 

Students from Key Center participate in instruction in the community on a scheduled basis. The goal of Community Based Instruction (CBI) is to provide instructional experiences that prepare students at Key Center to be as independent as possible. Some of the sites we visit include: Fire/Police Station, Post Office, Library, bank, parks, nursery/greenhouse, bowling alley, grocery stores, bookstores, pet stores, craft stores and dollar stores. These visits allow students to work on specific goals, including: Health/Safety Skills, Library Skills, Recreation Skills, Shopping Skills, and/or Money Management Skills; all of which contribute to developing independence for our students!