Finding qualified teachers can be challenging for rural communities. Finding speech, occupational and physical therapists can be daunting and expensive. As school districts continue to seek ways to fill these roles, Teachwell Solutions and the Chamberlain School District have partnered to provide those services over Distance Learning Technologies, or DLT.

We were having such a hard time finding providers at a reasonable cost

“We really got started in this during the pandemic,” said Calico Hunjah, Special Education Director at the Chamberlain School District. “We were having such a hard time finding providers at a reasonable cost, but then we were introduced to Terri at Teachwell.”

While there was skepticism within the school district on the viability of providing these services virtually, students and faculty quickly found value and success in remote therapy.

“We’ve been working with the same three providers since we got started,” said Calico. “One of them is our online high school special education teacher because we just couldn’t find one to hire.”

Urban schools often have many students utilizing these critical services that warrant full-time staff, where rural schools may only need a provider on a part-time basis.

“This is where Teachwell comes in,” explained Terri Jensen, Related Services Coordinator at Teachwell Solutions. “Through DLT we are able to connect with students in one school for half a day or a full day and complete the therapy they need, then connect with a different group of students in another school.”

This reduces the overhead costs for individual schools while allowing flexibility to find the right therapists for their needs.

Recently Teachwell received a DLT grant through USDA Rural Development to further expand services to five additional communities. This expansion means more rural students will benefit from more services. Unlike a traditional school setting, adding new specialties for schools to tap into is simplified with DLT.

“We are always thinking of new ways to assist rural schools,” said Terri. “If we identify a need, we have the ability to research how to provide that service, hire the appropriate staff, then offer that service to schools that would otherwise be unable to offer to its students.” Teachwell hopes to be the solution for rural schools that face shortages and to be their resource to provide those services.

Teachwell Solutions is a non-profit education co-op created by South Dakota public schools, specializing in alternative education, special education, therapy services and supported transition programming.

East Dakota Educational Cooperative, doing business as Teachwell Solutions, received a Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant for $200,930 in September, 2024.

To learn more about Rural Development’s Distance Learning and Technology grants, visit RD.USDA.Gov.