Our Program
Let’s Learn
At The School at McGuire Memorial, we follow a traditional 180-day school calendar, with classes from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM daily. There is also an Extended School Year program offered during the summer for qualifying students. Our pre-school, elementary, and secondary students all advance according to both their ages and capabilities.
Small Classes Focused on Individual Progress
Class size is limited to eight students, with each class staffed by one special education teacher and at least two paraprofessionals. One-to-one support is also available for students with extraordinary needs.
An Education Supervisor conducts the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process and writes Re-evaluation Reports. She supervises the teaching staff, serves as a liaison with families and school districts, and ensures that each student has an appropriate program that is implemented according to her or his IEP. The annual IEP process is important and required – it is the guiding document for the student’s education for the entire year.
Specialized Approaches
For students on the autism spectrum, we follow a standards-based, comprehensive curriculum of individualized education including pre-academics, academics, daily-living skills, social skills, vocational training, and communication training delivered both in school and in community settings.
Using a specially designed curriculum for students with multiple disabilities, we emphasize attending, responding, and initiating. Daily instruction includes functional academics, communication skills, social skills, and daily-living skills.
Beyond the Classroom
Art, music, physical education, health, computer-skills, and library-skills are all part of our general curriculum. We also offer programs that come to our campus, including the Carnegie Library Bookmobile and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s “Museum on the Move.”
Older students (age 14 and over) also have an opportunity to participate in our vocational training program, thus helping them develop job-readiness skills and daily-living skills as they prepare to transition from school to work.
We are pleased to provide a full range of supportive services for students – including positive behavior support, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and nursing support.
Tours of our school are available to anyone interested in learning about our facility, faculty, and students. Just contact us to arrange a session.