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A Salem private school for at-risk students and students with special needs is expanding in the hopes of attracting new students.

The Gus Mitchell School, part of HopeTree Family Services, recently started enrolling day students to complement its residential program. So far, only one day student has enrolled. But HopeTree officials are hopeful that the expanded services will help fill a need in the region's special education programs that is likely to get more pronounced as the economic recession lingers. School districts may find that they have to scale back their alternative programs, leaving HopeTree to fill the gap.

"Whether they spend the night here or they go home to their parents or they go to foster parents, we're going to teach them. We have available spots in our school and we're going to make use of them," said Mark Early, a spokesman for HopeTree Family Services.

HopeTree, which used to be known as Virginia Baptist Children's Home, began as an orphanage in 1890 and has been expanding its services ever since.

Many of the Gus Mitchell School's students have either been expelled from area public schools or have specialized needs that are difficult to meet in public school settings. In some cases, students stay at the residential program because they have nowhere else to go. Tuition comes from several sources, including parents, state and local school systems or public service agencies.

About 14 students are in the residential program, down from 35 or 40, according to HopeTree officials. The decline is because of a state effort in recent years to send children to foster care rather than to residential programs, Early said.

"Organizations like ours that were getting a fair number of placements from the county departments of social services have seen their numbers drop off dramatically," he said. "The benefit to a residential program like ours is that there is someone there 24 hours a day, awake and supervising the kids."

About two years ago, before enrollment declined, HopeTree started planning the construction of a new building to house the Gus Mitchell School, as well as the organization's other programs such as services for developmentally delayed adults.

The new building, set to open this summer, will have enough capacity for about 80 students, said Mary Oefelein, the school's education supervisor. Right now, the school is in a converted house that dates to 1920.

"It meets the requirements and everything, but it's not the right environment the kids need for school," said Early.

The school also is launching a new diploma type, focused on vocational careers. Students will have the opportunity to learn trades through a partnership with Virginia Western Community College, said Oefelein.

"We are small enough that we can do a lot of modification," she said.

HopeTree also offers an independent living program for older students undergoing the transition from a tightly controlled residential program to life in the outside world. The organization also is trying to increase its enrollment in the independent living program by making it available to students from other social service agencies.