Lighthouse School, Inc. is a Chapter 766 approved, non-profit, non-sectarian human service corporation located in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Lighthouse School operates effectively according to an interdisciplinary staffing format which provides comprehensive and integrated services for more than 200 special needs students.
How is Lighthouse School funded?
Nearly all of Lighthouse School’s annual operating revenue comes from a tuition payment from each city and town in which enrolled students reside.
How is Lighthouse School regulated, licensed and accredited?
Lighthouse School is accredited and licensed annually by the Massachusetts Department of Education. This includes an evaluation of all programmatic components of the corporation such as the physical facility, curriculum development, educational and clinical programming, pharmaceutical policies and personnel systems, etc. In addition, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Purchase Services regulates and annually reviews all fiscal systems. This regulatory process includes a certified annual audit conducted by an independent accounting firm. Lighthouse School also maintains active regulatory relationships with a variety of other governmental agencies including the New Hampshire Department of Education, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, the Massachusetts Office for Children and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.In addition to a certified audit, Lighthouse School annually submits to the Massachusetts Department of Purchase Services a detailed account of all data related to financial operation. This account is reported in the RSC-1100 Annual Cost Report. The Massachusetts Department of Education also requires a separate accounting procedure for federal funds received by Lighthouse School and examines all financial systems during the course of an annual site visit evaluation.
Lighthouse School is one of the first institutions to receive charter approval by the National Commission for the Accreditation of Special Education Services, an accreditation which lasts for a four year period. This accreditation demonstrates Lighthouse School’s commitment to providing the highest standards of educational services for its students, and its value as an example for other institutions in the field.
What are the hours of the school day?
Students arrive at school at 8:30 AM and conclude the academic portion of the school day at 2:20 PM. All school days are full; there are no half days.
What types of children does Lighthouse School service?
Lighthouse School services students ranging in age from 3 to 22 years of age with these children having any number of diagnoses, both medical and psychiatric. Lighthouse School one of the few private schools that accepts students exhibiting complex, severe and often unique combinations of special needs. The students come from over 70 cities and towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and are referred through a variety of sources including public and private schools, parents, hospitals and other human service agencies.
What types of disabilities do your students have?
Some have medically related conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Seizure Disorders or Fragile X Syndrome. Others exhibit varied levels of difficulty with cognition, perception, motor skills and overall developmental delay. Still others have moderate to severe emotional, psychosocial/behavioral and learning difficulties. In recent years Lighthouse School has accepted more and more students with dual-diagnoses making the population diagnostically unique. Few other schools are capable of providing the comprehensive, interdisciplinary and intensive services that these children require.
Is there any type of student you will not service?
Lighthouse School will consider any student who at the conclusion of the Enrollment Team process is determined to be appropriate for the services provided by Lighthouse School.
Are teachers certified?
Teachers at Lighthouse School are certified by the Massachusetts Department of Education to teach Special Needs Education. All other service providers are educated and certified according to the requirements of their specific disciplines.
Are the staff full or part-time?
Most of the staff are full time. All Special Education Teachers, In-House Clinical Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Neuromotor staff, Administrative Support Staff, Supervisors and the Management Team work during normal business hours from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. All Teaching Assistants work traditional school hours and then several more hours per week for meetings and training. Family Therapists are at work at 11:30 AM several mornings because they have meetings with families during evening hours. Occasionally Speech Pathologists or Occupational Therapists with advanced training or psychiatric or other consultants are called in who offer additional support services on a part time basis.
Are your services direct or consultative?
Most professional services are provided on a direct care basis, however, consultants in areas of Speech and Language, Psychiatry, Psychology, Medicine, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and others are utilized on a regular basis to offer specialized expertise.
What specific services does Lighthouse School provide?
A cornerstone of Lighthouse School’s philosophy is to provide comprehensive and integrated services. Lighthouse School provides under one roof a set of diverse yet highly integrated services held together by a common treatment technology called APEX Bioeducation. Departments include Education, Vocational, Neuromotor, Speech and Language, Clinical and Medical Services. A Crisis Support System is in place that offers 24 hour per day, seven days a week family support services provided by clinical therapists and supervisory personnel who are equipped with pagers. Lighthouse School has also developed a comprehensive Family and Community Outreach System developed to provide services to families during evenings and weekends at home and in the community.
So, how are you different from other schools?
What makes Lighthouse School unique is its advanced clinical treatment philosophy which is incorporated into the principles and methods of APEX Bioeducation. The integration of these methods produces an environment which is highly conducive to quality education and clinical treatment and ultimately improved functional adaptation all students.
What is APEX Bioeducation?
APEX Bioeducation is a technology for the education of life. APEX stands for Assimilated Personal Enrichment EXperiences and is a system designed to promote optimal life success. When a child experiences APEX, two essential areas of child development are fostered: self-concept enhancement and intrapsychic conflict resolution. As these areas develop they result in a more consistently positive and realistic view of oneself and a more consistent ability to adapt effectively to different interpersonal situations and the varied circumstances that typically occur for people in life. This ability to adapt is referred to as functional adaptation. APEX Bioeducation thus prepares children to be successful in all categories of life experience. It helps children to grow and expand their intrinsic and extrinsic capabilities. Bioeducation strengthens children’s self-concepts and interpersonal interaction skills by teaching them to think, feel, act and interact in beneficial ways. It helps them to make good decisions and to be motivated to pursue productive goals. It strengthens their ability to confront life challenges with objectivity, maturity, determination and a positive attitude. All this happens because APEX Bioeducation provides school experiences that replicate the very real issues that children are confronted with in life within the context of a supportive and therapeutic environment.
What is meant by self-concept?
Self-concept refers not only to the way a person feels about him or herself, but also how realistic these feelings are and how effective they are in helping the person interact with others in real life situations. Self-concept has three components:
Self-esteem - how I think I amIf these components are realistic and in balance, a person is then able to recognize his abilities and limitations, achieve as much as possible and get satisfaction out of doing so. If these components are damaged, unrealistic and out of balance, a person’s ability to function and achieve success in life will be limited.
Empathic self-concept - how I think others see me
Idealized self-concept - how I would like to be
What is intra-psychic conflict resolution?
All of us experience conflicts both with those around us and within ourselves. A normal part of growing up involves the resolution of these conflicts. As we grow, resolution of conflicts allows us to focus on the needs of others realistically without compromising basic self-needs. Unfortunately many of these conflicts, instead of being resolved, are internalized and left unresolved. For example, we might learn to be polite not because it is an effective social skill, but because we fear punishment. This would leave this "anger" it produces bottled up inside. This is an example of an intra-psychic or "inside myself" conflict. APEX is based on the notion that unresolved intra-psychic conflict (which is made even worse when there is the additional burden of a disability) is a major reason for a person’s inability to achieve desirable goals and to adapt functionally to life situations. The careful and consistent resolution of these conflicts is a major focus of APEX Bioeducation.
What is so important about self-concept enhancement and intrapsychic conflict resolution?
These two concepts are the cornerstones of effective living. A student with a balanced and realistic view of himself brings a positive, balanced attitude both to the classroom and to the problems and pursuits of life. One who is able to understand his own inner attitudes and is able to resolve conflicts utilizes this understanding to build positive and effective relationships with others.
What about the three R's - Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmetic?
Lighthouse School certainly provides traditional academic curricula. In addition to this the quality of the educational experience is augmented and enhanced by APEX Bioeducation which motivates students to take advantage of the state-of-the-art interactive technologies available to them.
Couldn’t all children benefit from APEX Bioeducation?
Of course they could. All children can benefit from APEX because all children have behavioral, emotional, and social as well as academic needs. For children to achieve all that they are capable of achieving these needs must be attended to collectively. All children need to know how their thoughts and feelings influence what they do both with their abilities and with their relationships with people. This does not mean that all children are "emotionally disturbed," but the basic need to grow cognitively, emotionally, socially, and behaviorally is present in all human beings. Parents and families are the primary guide in a child’s life, but other institutions must build on and support the work of the parent.
Are you trying to take over for parents?
Not at all. The primary influence and responsibility for teaching and guiding children lies with parents and families. Even so, they often need help with this heavy responsibility. Some parents, for a variety of reasons, are unable to consistently deal with their children’s complex issues. Others are unaware of their children’s basic needs and the approaches required to help them grow. As children grow and spend more time away from home there should be a system that continues to focus on appropriate attitudes and actions in a caring, open and consistent way. This system should seek to constantly involve parents. This system should be a resource and a partner in responsibility, not a judge or usurper of authority. APEX Bioeducation is such a system.
Do you have a summer program?
Lighthouse School operates on the public school calendar and therefore it has no academic classes during the summer. However, the 24 hour crisis support system is continuously staffed, as is Family and Community Therapy, throughout the summer months.
What are your facilities like? Do you look like a real school?
Lighthouse School is a red brick building with playgrounds, lockers, classrooms and a gymnasium. It looks like any traditional school one would find in a suburban neighborhood. For thirty years Lighthouse School has worked to perfect a learning environment for children that is technically sound in its design, yet rich in those qualities that most closely reflect the nurturance found in a warm and close knit home. Our new building (also in Chelmsford) set to open in the fall of 1997 is a state-of-the-art, computer-networked building that blends tremendous educational efficiency with subtle, yet sophisticated clinical effectiveness.
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Copyright © 1997 Lighthouse School, Inc. |