Scranton, PA: New school for "growing population of SPED students" (autistic)

Sept 11, 2026, Times Tribune:  Scranton School District opens Jim Connors Learning Center on East Mountain

SCRANTON — A new school site in Scranton named for a former mayor will help serve a growing population of special education students, including pupils with diagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

The Scranton School District held an open house Thursday of the new Jim Connors Learning Center at Monticello East, a grades K-2 autistic support school at 1509 Maple St. on East Mountain.

After purchasing the building in December to help address capacity concerns and accommodate a growing special education population, the district named the school for the former city mayor who died in 2024 at age 77.

“He was a huge, huge supporter of schools. You can’t come up with somebody better when you talk about somebody who’s a supporter of public education,” Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D., said in an interview at the open house.

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The Connors school is an expansion of the district’s Monticello center-based program for special education students at the Electric City Academy at 1739 Dickson Ave.

Part of the Connors school opened Aug. 26 with eight classrooms and 45 pupils. Work ongoing in another section of the building will create 10 emotional support classrooms there. Once that section is completed, the Connors school will have a total of 18 classrooms that could accommodate a total of up to 200 pupils, Principal Katelyn Nocera said. .  . .

The district has a large and growing need for special education services, Keating said.

“The need is significant,” Keating said. “We are currently running in this district 58 autistic support classrooms. There are school districts that don’t have 58 (total) classrooms.”

The district also currently has 21 emotional support classrooms.

“The goal always — I’ve said this a million times — we want everyone back in traditional school. We want everyone in their home schools. But there are kids, especially our youngest ones, who need some real intensive services in the beginning to be able to make that transition and this (Connors school) is going to provide that,” Keating said.

Districtwide enrollment is over 9,300 students, which is about 500 more than had been projected only a few years ago, Keating said.

“The population in the city is growing and it’s shifting. West Scranton right now is the hot spot,” Keating said.

The expanded Monticello program now having an East Mountain location will complement and augment the district’s school-based programs for special education students, which continue.

“When you look at kids on the spectrum, you need to meet them at their needs, so that’s what we’re doing,” Keating said. “We want to be able to provide the education the kids need.”

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