Support that walks into the classroom with your child.
School-based ABA therapy delivers behavior support inside your child’s existing classroom, daycare, or after-school program. A trained Clementine team member partners directly with teachers and aides, so the skills your child is building generalize to the actual environment they spend their school day in.
- Real-time support inside your child's classroom
- Direct collaboration with teachers and aides
- Aligned with IEP and 504 plans
Skills generalize where they are needed.
A child who learns to ask for a break in a therapy room and then has to translate that to a classroom is doing two jobs - learning the skill, then learning to use it in a brand new context. School-based ABA collapses those two jobs into one. The skill is taught and practiced inside the environment where it will live.
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Real classroom
Where the moments actually happen.
Group instruction tolerance, transitioning when the bell rings, raising a hand, lining up, sharing materials, recovering from a peer conflict - these only exist at school. School-based ABA practices them in the rooms where they need to work.
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Teacher-allied
Educators as partners, not bystanders.
Your child's teacher gets a consistent collaborator who is in the classroom alongside them - sharing strategies, modeling responses, and adjusting plans to fit the classroom flow. Teachers tell us they leave the partnership using strategies with their entire class.
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Generalization
Skills built where they will live.
Behavior support that lives at school stays at school. A child who learns to handle a denied request in the actual classroom they sit in every day doesn't have to relearn it later. That is the entire point of generalization.
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IEP-aligned
Coordinated with your school plan.
Your child's IEP or 504 plan is the framework - our work aligns to those goals, contributes data to those reviews, and shows up at meetings when invited. We are an addition to your child's school team, not a parallel one.
A typical week, from both sides.
School-based ABA is a partnership. Below is how it runs in practice - what your child’s Clementine team is doing inside the classroom, and what is happening alongside it on the parent and educator side.
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Your team joins the classroom
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Real-time scaffolding
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Brief check-in with the teacher
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Weekly recap with you
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Step-back and re-plan
These are illustrative schedules. Your child's actual session times are set with your care team.
Whether you are a parent or a school administrator, here's how to start.
School-based ABA usually involves two decision-makers: the parent who wants the support and the school that hosts it. Below is the path for each.
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For parents
Start with a benefits check
A short phone call with our intake team. We verify your insurance, confirm Clementine serves your area, and walk you through what school-based looks like specifically for your child.
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For parents
Loop in your child's school
With your permission, our team reaches out to your child's school to introduce school-based ABA and confirm they are open to hosting it. Most schools say yes - the conversation often takes a couple of weeks.
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For schools
Start a partnership conversation
If you're a special-education coordinator, principal, or district admin interested in bringing Clementine into your school, contact us directly. We'll explain our partnership model and contracting options.
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Together
Initial assessment and IEP alignment
Once both parent and school are on board, our team conducts an initial assessment at school. We align the treatment plan to existing IEP/504 goals and present it to your school team before sessions begin.
We accept many insurance plans.
Insurance is our job, not yours - our team can help get you started.
Considering school-based therapy? Here's the rest of the path.
Bringing therapy into your child’s school day is just the first decision. The next steps are short and predictable - most families move from an introductory call to a steady schedule at school in about a month, and we carry the paperwork the whole way.
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A first conversation
Tell us about your child, what a hard day looks like, and where you'd most like help. It's a real conversation - no intake script, no pressure to sign anything.
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We verify your coverage
Our team checks your benefits and files the prior authorization for you, then comes back with a straight answer on what your plan covers. The insurance legwork is ours, not yours.
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An individualized assessment
A Clementine clinician watches how your child plays, communicates, and learns, then writes a treatment plan around goals that actually matter to your family.
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We coordinate with your child's school
We align with teachers, aides, and your child's classroom routine so support fits the school day - and if pairing school with home works better, we'll plan that together. You never have to sort this out alone.
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Sessions begin
Your named care team starts on a consistent schedule inside your child's school day, ready to get to work from the very first day.
Caregiver Coaching
We teach you the same strategies your team uses, so progress doesn't stop when a session ends - it carries into mealtimes, bedtimes, and everything between.
School Coordination
Your team stays in step with teachers and aides so the approach is consistent across your child's day - even when therapy happens somewhere else.
Monthly Progress Reviews
Every session adds data; every month you sit down with your team to review the progress together and decide what comes next.
Roughly four weeks from that first call to therapy - you focus on your child while we handle the rest.
Questions about school-based therapy.
For parents
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Does my child's school have to agree to this?
Yes - school-based ABA requires the host school’s agreement, since it involves an additional adult working with your child during the school day. Most schools are open to it; we will help you have the conversation and provide all the partnership paperwork.
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Will my child be pulled out of class?
Generally no. School-based ABA is designed to work inside the classroom alongside your child’s existing teacher. The whole point is generalization - practicing skills in the room they actually live in.
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How does it work with my child's IEP?
School-based ABA aligns with - not replaces - your child’s existing IEP or 504 plan. We contribute data to IEP reviews, attend meetings when invited, and adjust our treatment plan to support the goals your school team has already set.
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Can my child have both in-home and school-based therapy?
Yes, and many families do. In-home hours for caregiver coaching and household routines, plus school-based hours for the school-day moments. Your clinician will recommend a split based on your child’s needs.
For schools and districts
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What does a Clementine team member do in our classroom?
Our team member is an additional adult focused on supporting a specific student (or students) for whom a clinical behavior plan is in place. They are not a teaching aide and not a substitute. They follow the classroom flow, coordinate with the teacher, and provide real-time support during specific moments outlined in the treatment plan.
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Are they trained and supervised?
Yes. All Clementine school-based team members are trained in ABA methodology and clinically supervised by BCBA’s. We carry our own liability insurance and provide background-check documentation for any team member entering a school.
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What paperwork do we need to sign?
A simple host-site agreement that outlines the schedule, responsibilities, and confidentiality terms - usually a few pages. We provide the draft. Most schools have it reviewed and signed within a few days.
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What if we have multiple students who could benefit?
We support multiple students within the same school regularly. For multi-student arrangements, we can structure shared resourcing or per-student programs. Contact our partnership team and we will tailor a plan.
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Who pays for this?
In most cases, the student’s health insurance pays - not the school’s budget. Clementine bills directly to the student’s insurer. The school’s commitment is in space, time, and coordination - not in dollars.
Logistics
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How many hours per week?
Typical school-based programs run anywhere from 5 to 20 hours per week, depending on the student’s needs and the school day’s structure. Your clinician will recommend a starting point.
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What if my child changes schools?
We continue services at the new school as long as it is within our service area and the new school agrees to host. We help with the transition paperwork on both ends.
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What if we want to reduce hours over time?
That is the goal. As your child’s skills strengthen, hours scale down toward consultation-only - where our team coaches the teacher periodically instead of being present daily. The exit ramp is built in.
Have a school-specific question?
Whether you're a parent or a school administrator, our partnership team can answer specifics that this FAQ does not cover.