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PR Newswire

May 12, 2009

A San Jose special education program has been honored with international recognition

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pine Hill School, a 35-year-old special education non-public school received Peter Batten from Australia's "The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust" last week. Mr. Batten, a Churchill Fellow, is tasked with finding the best Autistic programs in the World. After detailed and extensive research for which he received his fellowship, he scheduled an in-person visit to those schools and programs across the globe that he found to be most effective in helping moderate- to high-functioning Autistic children.

Pine Hill School was one of two schools he discovered (the other is in Brighton, England) which warranted a personal visit. He was particularly interested in the "Newton Learning Method" of Social Thinking Class structure and application, curriculum individually and uniquely tailored which engages students to excel in learning, reading programs, integrated counseling services throughout the school day and several other programs.

In the same vein, Mr. Batten found Pine Hill's staff to be uniquely effective. Some on the staff are Asperger's Adults, giving the program a genuinely personal identification and connection of staff and student.

Pine Hill School's excellence has been commended by the State of California Department of Education and recognized nationally, but this is the first International Recognition.

Australia's "The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust" is administered by Her Majesty the Queen's representative to Australia: Sir Michael Jeffery and can be reached at: www.churchilltrust.com.au

Pine Hill School is operated by Second Start Learning Disabilities Programs Inc., a 501c3 California Nonprofit organization. Second Start has been helping children with disabilities in the San Jose/South Bay area for 35 years.

Source: Second Start Learning Disabilities Programs

CONTACT: L.E. Boydston of Second Start Learning Disabilities Programs, +1-408-979-8210, ext. 210, leb@secondstart.org - Web Site: http://www.secondstart.org/ - http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/