TUSTIN, Calif., Oct. 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The SeaStar Brain Injury Foundation, with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, unveiled its new school name, SeaStar - The School for Neuroeducation, at a ceremony today before a group of more than 60 educators, community leaders, students, and longtime supporters of the school. Previously called The Tustin Center, SeaStar is one of only four schools in the nation that caters to the special needs of children who have survived brain injuries, and it remains the only facility of its kind on the West Coast.
"California is fortunate to have such an important school serving a special need," said O'Connell. "I'm proud to be here today to honor this facility, help announce its new name and spend time with these wonderful students who have shown amazing progress since enrolling here."
SeaStar offers a 12-month comprehensive brain injury-specific educational (certified non-public school) and therapeutic program to 18 students, with the capacity to serve 42 students. Within a 60-mile radius of Tustin, there are more than 850 children and adolescents in the public school system who are educationally classified with Traumatic Brain Injury. Many of these children would benefit from a SeaStar's program.
"There are more than 850 youth within a 70-mile radius of Tustin currently living with an acquired or traumatic brain injury who would benefit by attending our school," said SeaStar co-founder Scott Tempel. "Having professionals who have been specifically trained in working with students with brain injury makes our educational facility equal to none. Our staff takes pride in the work and progress of our students, and they're making a difference in the lives of some very special kids."
SeaStar was started in 2001 by the parents of Alex Tempel. Alex, who sustained a brain injury in 1998 at age three, moved from his home in Laguna Niguel, Calif., to a brain-injury school in Massachusetts for more than three years because of the lack of a brain injury school on the West Coast. Seeing the need for such a school and wanting to bring their son home, Scott and Cheryl Tempel formed what is now called the SeaStar Brain Injury Foundation for children with acquired and traumatic brain injury.
According to Cheryl Tempel, "The school's new name came out of an inspirational story I heard at PTA meeting 15 years ago about a boy who kept throwing starfish back into the ocean to keep them from dying when they were being washed ashore. Each starfish he threw back into the ocean was making a difference in their lives, just like we do at SeaStar. Our students are like our starfish, and we provide them with a path to grow and excel to their greatest potential."