As both an approved private school (APS) and a school-based partial hospital component (PHP), Friendship Academy serves 155 students from first to twelfth grade, specializing in meeting their individual educational and mental health challenges. Friendship Academy provides services to students who are emotionally and behaviorally challenged.
Students may be diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD), depressive disorders, conduct disorder, Asperger's Disorder, severe anxiety and many other conditions. Our students have needs that cannot sufficiently be met using traditional educational programs or techniques. Students come from school districts within Allegheny County as well as surrounding counties as an alternative placement.
To address the treatment needs of our students, Friendship Academy is a psychiatric partial day hospital program that is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Office of Mental Health. Intensive treatment services are provided six hours per day during the school year.
The partial day hospital program provides comprehensive care that is individualized to the goals and needs of each child and their family. Services included in treatment are: psychiatric intervention, medical services, psychological services, social work services and emergency crisis intervention.
To serve educational needs, Friendship Academy runs a private elementary, middle and high school program approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Each student's program includes annual goals, short-term objectives, evaluation procedures and a variety of strategies. The primary focus of the educational program is to offer an individualized instructional program for each child. Our goal is to help students develop skills that will enable them to reach their maximum academic, social and emotional potential, while enabling them develop into life-long learners and contributing members of the adult community.
