From Convent to Corporation for Kids
Lighthouse School, Inc. was established in 1967 (as The Holy Union Special School) to provide educational opportunities for special needs students in the greater Lowell, Massachusetts area for whom alternative resources were non-existent. The school relied exclusively on nominal parent contributions as a source of funding until 1973, when Chapter 766, the Massachusetts statute for special education, was introduced.
Since that time, Lighthouse School has grown and now offers Comprehensive Biodevelopmental Services to a large network of communities throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Our Facilities:
Lighthouse School currently operates at two sites. Both sites feature comprehensive treatment services integrated with a full complement of educational and interdisciplinary services — those unique characteristics that have defined Lighthouse School for over 50 years.
25 Wellman Avenue
Our site at Wellman Avenue, our first purpose built, state-of-the-art facility, opened in 1997. It was designed to meet the wide-ranging needs of all of our students and the staff who serve them. The building and its grounds allowed us to not only provide the highest level of educational, vocational and therapeutic services, but to do so within a safe and nurturing environment.
285 Mill Road
Our new facility at 285 Mill Road, which opened to students in 2021, is dedicated to our oldest students, with a programmatic emphasis on transition preparation:
- Generalization of insights and skills to post-secondary settings
- Collaboration with adult services and other community based care providers
- Vocational training and preparation
- Educational advancement including: credit acquisition, states mandated testing, and exploration of post-secondary educational options
- Individual and Group Therapy
The opening of the Mill Road facility also allows us to provide a high staff to student ratio across the two sites.
