Primary Intervention Program (PIP/Special Pals) at Friday Harbor Elementary School Lopez Island School District, Orcas Elementary School, San Juan Island Head Start - Specially trained adult volunteers provide children with in-school social and emotional support through child-directed play. In this county over 150 Children, preschool through primary grades have benefited from United Way’s investment in PIP.

Play is used to work through stressors in the children’s lives, to find and express meaning to their experiences. This past year 100% of participating children showed significant gains in the behaviors that prompted the original referral to the program. 378-5209 (San Juan), 376-2286 (Orcas), 468-2201 (Lopez)

Research shows that disruptive behaviors by one or two children in a classroom can reduce an entire classroom’s ability to learn and a teacher’s ability to teach.