Essex Academy Upper School

Essex Academy Upper School is a therapeutic educational program for students with social and emotional disabilities and specific learning needs. This program provides a supportive, academic environment that leads to personal and academic growth and learning. The school provides a small, structured academic and therapeutic environment for students who are currently unable to make effective progress in a typical school setting because of their social/emotional needs. Academic curriculum is based on the guidelines set forth by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks and the Common Core.

In addition to academics, the staff is committed to providing each student with concrete career skills in a variety of vocational settings. Many students have the opportunity to participate in vocational placements including, but not limited to: wood shop, culinary arts, and auto shop. Experiential learning is designed to give students an opportunity to have community-based experiences to generalize learned behaviors and skills.