This study identifies essential program elements for Whatcom Discovery Center, a Northwest Educational Service District cooperative program providing academic and social/emotional development services to students who are challenged with severe social/emotional and/or chronic mental health disorders. The seven (7) Superintendents and seven (7) Special Education Directors from the public school districts in Whatcom County, Washington were interviewed, using a guided interview questionnaire, to elicit their professional expertise, impressions and ideas regarding what essential programming elements they deemed necessary for student success. The findings are compared to established best practices and federal, state and local mandates, and substantiated the assumption that the perspectives of the Whatcom Discovery Center stakeholders are meaningful, knowledgeable and definable in an explicit manner. Findings include key programming elements identified for student success. Placement of students impacted by EBD needs to be in a least restrictive setting and meet the nature and severity of their disability. All personnel must meet highly qualified standards and be provided on-going professional development. Teaching and learning needs to incorporate both academic and social/emotional learning opportunities, coupled with consistent assessment and progress monitoring. Identified growth areas include increased mental health services, professional development and mentoring for in-district EBD staff, expanded program capacity, and increased district-program communications and coordination. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]