The High Road School of Norwalk - Waterbury campus is a privately owned, state-approved special education day school serving children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. To best meet the needs of this particular population, we’ve created a small, structured learning environment that focuses on personalized academic, behavioral, and transitional goals to ensure our students’ growth. And our scholastic program — serving elementary through high school aged students meets all state-mandated guidelines and regulations as we work with each student individually to help them either reintegrate into the public school system or proceed toward graduation.

Our talented team of highly trained special education teachers modifies the curriculum in accordance with the graduation requirements of each student’s home school district. Supplemented by the expertise of skilled and caring therapists and support personnel who work with our students on an as-needed basis, our program concentrates, above all else, on the success of all of our students on all fronts —in school, at home, and in the community. To help them achieve this success, as much as possible and as often as possible, we maintain a low staff-to-student ratio that allows ongoing customized instruction, and we strive every day to nurture the warm and caring atmosphere of our school, characterized by an unwavering commitment to each student’s academic, social, and emotional development.

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 Back to School 2010 - 2011 NEWS

Open House

2010 Fine Arts Festival

The High Road Schools of CT held their second annual Fine Arts Festival on May 14, 2010 at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Meriden. The festival brings together all of the schools in the CT region to showcase their art work and creative talents.

The Fine Arts Festival is a culmination of a yearly school project called m-map. It is the Masters March Activity Project which integrates the fine arts into all of the academic disciplines. Norwalk teacher, Pamela Thompson, coordinates the projects for the entire region. Students, as always, are encouraged to “celebrate, cultivate, and challenge, the mind”, which was the slogan adorned on tee-shirts made by Transition Coordinator, Kathy Szabat and the Upper school students for all the student participants.

This year’s theme was “Finding Your Voice.”  One stand out project included a dinner party where each student invited a person of their choice to the dinner table. Each student designed the place settings for their special guest and also wrote a conversation that they think they might take place. The variety of guests included Martin Luther King, Jr., James Bond, Barack Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Besides all of the creative and inspiring art work, students also had an opportunity to show off their musical talents!  Students sang a variety of contemporary songs, as well as, writing and performing original rap songs and skits. A few students also accompanied their performance with guitar or keyboard.

This year the Arts Festival drew close to 300 people including students, parents, district heads and friends. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the art work and was energized by the students’ performances.

The Festival culminated with some fun interactive dancing led by Broadway dancer, Hally McGehean. Ms. McGehean led the students in some line dances including the Cupid Shuffle backed by our very own staff D.J. Jeff Benham.

Fall Family Fun Day

On Friday, October 23, 2009 The High Road Schools of CT held a Fall Family Fun Day at Plaskos Farm in Trumbull, CT. Students, staff, and their families were invited to "come on down" to the farm for a hay ride, corn maze, and a pumpkin to take home. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of our schools (Wallingford, Norwalk and Waterbury campuses) to come together to meet one another and enjoy some old fashion fall activities for the afternoon!
 
All participants also enjoyed a visit to the country store for some fresh apple cider, cider donuts or ice cream. A fun afternoon was had by all.

Related Services 

High Road Schools help the students to make the most of learning opportunities by staffing certified specialists to help each student with additional support as needed.

Our speech and language therapy program includes a coordinated and individualized approach. In group work, as well as individually, our certified speech therapists help the student to correctly produce the sounds in words, increase speech intelligibility, develop vocabulary knowledge and understanding, and utilize appropriate conversational skills. Emphasis is placed on pragmatics; such as turn taking, topic maintenance, asking appropriate questions, and socialization.   Also, grammar, syntax, and written expression are addressed.

Our occupational therapists help students with sensory, perceptual, and motor problems better meet the daily demands of their environment. She uses directed play as the primary method of treatment; however, classroom consultation directly with teachers and assistants regarding the student’s abilities is also key to their success. Directed play includes activities such as mazes or target games to develop the student’s eye and hand coordination or ball games to increase coordination between two sides of the body.  Through the use of movement, touch, and other functional activities, the student better develops the responses needed to function in the classroom, home, and community environments.  As the child ages and his or her needs change, the focus is on the acquisition of specific skills.  These can include learning to measure baking ingredients, personal care, or crossing busy streets, depending on the student’s abilities.

Our social workers help students with emotional and social growth issues.  They focuses on helping the student develop age-appropriate skills and behaviors for the classroom.  Through the use of recreational and other activities, they assist students in building self-esteem, applying social skills, and practicing leadership and team participation.  The students are seen individually and in small group sessions.  It is also not unusual to find social workers in the classroom leading social skills activities.

A consulting psychologist and behaviorist are also available on an as needed basis.

At High Road Student Schools all related services personnel work closely with the classroom teachers to assure integration into all classroom activities.

The various and diverse transitional services of High Road Schools allow students to apply the skills they have acquired in the classroom — academic, social, behavioral, and otherwise — to “real-world” contexts in order to gain an understanding of the economic forces in society and of the professional culture in general. All of the programming that is designed to transition the student from school to work emphasizes preparation for productive employment after graduation. To make this employment as successful and fulfilling as possible, we help the student explore his or her interests and then build upon natural talents in choosing possible career paths. As students mature, we encourage them to gradually become more self-reliant. Our Transitional Services staff aids in this process by giving the students just the right amount of independence and interaction with the wider community, while still providing the supports necessary for the students to feel secure and confident.

School-to-Work Program
Our School-to-Work Program offers students the opportunity to participate in true-to-life jobs within the school setting. The end goal of the program is to develop the student’s employment skills and social skills in order to maximize their potential for success in the real world. As such, students seek to obtain jobs by first filling out an application and interviewing for the position they are interested in, as they would in real life. Once the student obtains a suitable position at the school, they are held accountable for their attendance and performance.  We work with them on such aspects of employment as punctuality, responsibility, and working independently. One of the jobs the students procure involve our student-run, on-the-premises retail business. Also, students participating in the School-to-Work Program are trained to operate many state-of-the-art machines that make customized products.

Community Work
High Road Schools afford students the opportunity to take their learning out of the classroom and transfer it into the community. We work with our students to practice the proficiencies they have mastered in the School-to-Work Program, and then, when a student is ready, a job coach accompanies them to volunteer or paid job sites out in the community. We partner with a wide array of local-area businesses, including restaurants, hospitals, preschools, and retail shops to expose the students to real-life work experience and social interactions. In this way, students can explore numerous career avenues and gain valuable work experience to list on their résumés.

IEP Management System

High Road Schools of CT is pleased to announce the implementation of IEP Direct web based management system in our Norwalk, Wallingford, and Waterbury locations. The utilization of this program will better serve the needs of districts and students with more efficiency and accuracy in creating individual educational plans.

For more information about the High Road Schools of CT, please contact Carol Revill, Outreach Coordinator @ 203-294-9139 or Brooke Violante, Chief School Director @ 203-840-1030.

Extended School Year

High Roads Schools of CT accepts referrals for our Extended School Year Program
(summer school) from local school districts. The ESY programs are available to our existing students who qualify, as well as, classified students who do not attend our schools during the regular school year.

Each child who is enrolled in the Extended School Year program will receive individual and small group instruction based on their current school year I.E.P. The extended year program addresses academic and social skill maintenance, transitional services (16 years and older), and enrichment activities. Speech and language, occupational and physical therapies, as well as social work services are provided for those who require them.

The school day for extended year is 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. and the program runs Monday – Friday for approximately 6 weeks.

2010 Extended School Year Dates

Starting Thursday, July 1, 2010 - Friday, August 13, 2010.
No school on Monday, July 5 due to July 4th observance.