School-based Services
Four Oaks has collaborated with local school districts across the state of Iowa to create unique and innovative school based programs to meet the needs of at-risk students. Programs are focused on assisting students in understanding the impact of their behavior choices, identifying alternative strategies and practicing self-management skills in order to help them successfully re-enter school and increase their chances for future academic success.
A Trauma Informed Approach
- Four Oaks uses Trauma Informed Care in all of our programs, allowing us to look beyond a child's behavior to the deeper trauma that caused it.
- “What happened to you?” is the question that matters.
- This approach helps heal the child so he or she can truly move successfully into adulthood.
- Skill sets that are internally adopted through safe interactions and progressive mastery result in long-tem success.
Four Oaks Classroom Types
Alternative Classroom
A classroom that focuses on middle school or high school aged students who struggle with anger management, substance abuse behaviors, etc. The behaviors have predictable and identifiable triggers.
Therapeutic Classroom
A classroom that targets middle school or high school aged students who have difficulty managing their mental health and have experienced significant trauma. These behaviors are unpredictable and do not have identifiable triggers.
Elementary Classroom
A classroom that is exactly the same as the therapeutic classroom, but focuses on elementary aged youth.

Trauma-Informed Professional Development and Consultation
We offer Trauma-Informed Care Professional Development to schools or districts that hope to better understand the social, emotional and behavioral needs of their students. Our professional learning options are customized to match the needs of your school.
We offer four core sessions: Intro to Trauma- ACEs and Basics of Neuroscience, Importance of Relationships, Understanding Trauma Triggers and Re-enactment, and Compassion Fatigue and Self Care. Learning about trauma-informed care is not a "one and done" session. Understanding childhood trauma and its long-term developmental effects on the brain and body is a complex endeavor. We will work with you to design a plan to best meet the needs of your staff and students.
We also offer Trauma Sensitive School Coaching and Consultation in order to help staff develop their internal capacity to become a trauma sensitive school. Our team is ready to facilitate long-term plans with building leadership teams to guide the process of creating a culture that is less punitive and more restorative in nature.
We help facilitate development of Trauma Champions within schools and districts through direct training experiences and access to our growing network of educators with similar goals across the state. We offer great flexibility in the service options and customize the product to fit your needs, ultimately helping staff learn how to apply a trauma sensitive lens to current and future practices, polices and initiatives.
If interested in learning more about Education Services that
Four Oaks provides, please contact
Debbie Craig
TotalChild® Strategy and Operations Officer
319-784-2242
dcraig@fouroaks.org
Our Locations



Dubuque Four Oaks School
180 West 15th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
563-557-3100
West Des Moines Alternative Classroom Learning Resource Center
3550 Mills Civic Parkway West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-633-5051
West Des Moines Therapeutic Classroom
Walnut Creek Campus
1020 8th St.
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-633-6445

Winterset Elementary Classroom
Winterset
Elementary
School
404 S. 2nd Ave.
Winterset, IA 50273
515-462-1551

Marshalltown Alternative, Therapeutic & Elementary Classrooms
Marshalltown Learning Academy
1002 S. 3rd Ave.
Marshalltown, IA 50158
641-754-1004