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Round up: A look
at residential schools in
New England
CONNECTICUT
(October
2004 Issue)
Connecticut Franklin Academy, a boarding and day school designed
to aid those with nonverbal learning differences opened last year
in East Haddam, says Art Carey, spokesperson for the state's Department
of Special Education. "They're going the private school route,"
he adds.
The Academy defines nonverbal learning differences as neurological
impairment characterized by some of the following features: poor
time management skills, organizational difficulties, dyspraxia and
dysgraphia. The students are sometimes diagnosed with depression,
obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety, Asperger's Disorder
and Attention Deficit Disorder.
Frederick Weissbach, the school's headmaster, says that in addition
to the Academy's therapeutic benefits, the property's proximity
to the 490-acre Chapman Pond Preserve along the Connecticut River
will be a major attraction for faculty and students alike.
"With such an incredible resource at our doorstep, you can be certain
that Franklin Academy will develop an incomparable science curriculum
and outdoor education program," he says.
In other news, the Devereux Glenholme School in Washington, Conn.,
announced that it was recently granted affiliation with the New
England Association of Schools and Colleges in the category of Accreditation.
By seeking the affiliation, the school had to examine its program,
says Sharon Murphy, executive director. She says, "This has caused
us to raise the standards within the program's development and articulate
future goals."
Carey says that other residential programs are in the process of
being launched in the state, but that they are difficult to track
because they are tied into the state's juvenile justice system and
are usually represented by private agencies.
The move toward establishing these types of programs with the judicial
department is a new tactic, Carey says. "There was a feeling that
treatment programs needed to address educational initiatives," he
says. "So, even though they are in the juvenile justice system or
are under the care of the Department of Children and Families, they
are still entitled to quality education and the state is attempting
to address that (issue)."
Elizabeth Millard
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