Central Massachusetts Special Education Collaborative

Hartwell Learning Center

 DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL: 

The Hartwell Learning Center (HLC) is a public, highly structured, therapeutic day school with small classroom size, low student to staff ratios, and a school-wide positive therapeutic behavior system.  In addition to group and individualized academic instruction, students receive individual and group counseling, case management, and crisis intervention.  The program focuses on improving academic, social, and coping skills while providing students with a safe, consistent, and positive learning environment.              

STUDENT PROFILE:

The Hartwell Learning Center serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade that are presenting with severe emotional disabilities. Some students may also have mild to moderate cognitive deficits. Many students have major psychiatric diagnoses and often receive psychotropic medication as a component of their outside treatment.  As a result of their psychiatric issues and social-emotional deficits, many students at the HLC exhibit behavioral difficulties including a high level of distractibility, low frustration tolerance, suicidal ideation, poor peer relationships, and weak academic performance. Some students display occasional aggressive behavior that is a function of their psychiatric illnesses or social-emotional deficits and not typically directed at others for the purpose of control or intimidation.  Many students at the HLC also receive support from outside agencies, including the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Children and Families, and the majority of the students receive outside therapeutic and psychiatric treatment.    

SCHOOL FEATURES:

¨      Academics aligned with the MA Curriculum Frameworks

¨      Small classrooms with a low student to staff ratio 

¨      Full-time clinical staff provide case management, crisis intervention, and individual and group counseling

¨      Social skills training

¨      School-wide therapeutic behavior system

¨      Positive Classroom Incentives and Individualized Positive Behavior Plans

¨      Individual and group counseling from school clinicians

¨      Sensory Room and Sensory Interventions

¨      Therapeutic Planning Center and De-Escalation/Intervention Rooms

Hartwell Learning Center (HLC)

CMSEC Board Members