Milestones has two school campuses for students ages 3-22. This page will provide general information about our school program as well as detailed information about each campus. Click on the expandable links below to learn more.
CURRICULUM
Milestones adheres to the Connecticut State Standards for all of our programming. Given the wide range of skill sets and deficits our students exhibit, we employ a diverse curricula and instructional materials, as well as a high percentage of teacher-created materials that allow for a highly individualized program of instruction tailored to meet each student’s unique needs. Teachers make modifications to ensure that the instruction is individualized to meet the needs of the student, sufficient practice opportunities are presented, and student engagement is increased by incorporating their interests. Wherever appropriate and possible, technology is integrated into programming.
Areas of Instruction
- Pre-Academics
- Full Range of Academic Subjects in Accordance with CT State Standards
- Social Skills Training
- Problem Solving
- Leisure
- Daily Living
- Language/Communication
- Health and Fitness
- Self-Advocacy
- Pre-Vocational Training
- Community Involvement
- Replacement of Challenging Behavior
- Skills Related to Transitioning to Adulthood
SUPPORTED INCLUSION
Supported inclusion enables our students to be involved in the community through participation in volunteer vocational opportunities which are determined based upon the the individual student’s skill level. This may range from a school within the student’s home district, a private school, or in community-based programs and activities such as summer camps and clubs. Milestones staff provide individualized support to ensure that experiences are positive and successful for the students by monitoring reinforcement systems, providing pre-/post-teaching, creating necessary material modifications, and collecting data to ensure that the inclusion opportunity is meeting the needs of the student. The number of inclusion hours varies based upon the student’s needs and the schedule of the inclusion location, and may be gradually and systematically increased in accordance with progress.
PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
In order to achieve our goal of generating socially significant outcomes for our students and their families, it is vital that the family play a role in identifying areas of need. For example, a student might experience difficulty going to the grocery store, the movies, restaurants, etc. This may limit the family’s ability to participate in and enjoy those events. It is critical that families help us identify these areas of need so that we can target the necessary skills to participate in these activities.
PARENT TRAINING / HOME PROGRAMMING
Milestones provides school-based, community-based, and home-based parent training sessions that are individualized based on the student and family’s needs. Milestones staff will model program implementation, explain the programming to parents, and have the parent or caregiver put the programming into action with staff support. Training time varies depending on the specifics of the program, but home-based training is available once per month.
We welcome parents, caregivers, and other service providers to visit our school and observe student programming. Once enrolled, a full program review involves meeting with the special education teacher and/or Behavior Analyst to review student progress on current programs, associated materials, and data. This allows for the team and the family to touch base and have an in-depth look at programming.
Our main campus located on Wolf Harbor Road in Milford, CT serves students ages 3-22 who demonstrate a wide range of academic, social, communication, and daily living skills. We aim to create appropriate peer and social groups for each student by placing those who exhibit similar levels of social functioning and communication in classrooms together.
Our campuses offer an overall classroom staff to student ratio of better than 1:1. This allows our team to best manage the various rates at which students acquire new skills and move at a pace that is appropriate for that student to ensure they are achieving desired gains. It also allows for increased ability to provide individualized instruction across environments, including at school, home, and in the community. Our staff will collaborate with any outside consultants working with our students to make sure they have seamless, consistent experiences both in and out of school. For more details on the classroom staffing, please visit our Staffing Page.
In addition to the School Program, this location is next-door to our Residential Facility.
Our second campus located on Boston Post Road in Orange, CT serves students ages 3-22 who demonstrate moderate to high functioning skills on the autism spectrum and related disabilities. We work to create appropriate peer and social groups for all of our students taking chronological age, intellectual ability, social skills, and level of communication into account, but find that students who are at the higher end of the spectrum with regard to conversational and social skills are the best fit for this campus.
Our campuses offer an overall classroom staff to student ratio of better than 1:1. This allows our team to best manage the various rates at which students acquire new skills and move at a pace that is appropriate for that student to ensure they are achieving desired gains. It also allows for increased ability to provide individualized instruction across environments, including at school, home, and in the community. For more details on the classroom staffing, please visit our Staffing Page.
In addition to the school program, this campus houses our administrative, finance, and development offices, and serves as a home for our Advanced Intervention Program and Consultative Services.
Milestones offers ABA instruction and public school consultation in Spanish through our School and Advanced Intervention programs. To meet the requirements of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and capitalize on instruction, bilingual staff will work with students to implement their daily programming.
To learn more, please email [email protected] or call 203-882-8810 ext. 322.
Milestones is now accepting applications for students ages 18-22 with special needs to participate in our program with a focus on individualized experiences and instruction in community, work and/or college environments.
To learn more, please click here.
You may also email [email protected] or call 203-882-8810 ext. 312.
Located at our Boston Post Road Campus, our Advanced Intervention Program provides a full day Intensive Treatment Classroom to individuals ages 5-22 that demonstrate significant problem behavior (e.g., self-injurious behavior, physical aggression, etc.) that interferes with or prohibits the student from functioning in a lesser restrictive environment, and who may be at risk for requiring residential placement or hospitalization.
The classroom is staffed with 2-3 clinicians per student with supervision by a BCBA-D/Licensed Psychologist. This service focuses on the development, evaluation, and generalization of an individualized behavioral treatment plan through direct observation and analysis of the variables contributing to the problem areas.
Milestones is the only special needs school in the state to provide this level of support in a full day five day a week program.
The schedule for this classroom mirrors the MBS school calendar. For further information about the Intensive Treatment Classroom, please contact Elena Almodovar at 203-799-4125 or [email protected].
Milestones School Calendars
Inclement Weather Information
In the event of possible weather delays/cancellations, Milestones School Programs will have their delays and cancellations announced on WTNH, WFSB, and CTnow.com. You may also opt to subscribe to Remind.com and a text message or email will be sent to you as well. Messages are sent based on location. To sign up, text @wolfhar (Wolf Harbor Road campus) or @bostonpos (Boston Post Road campus) to 81010.
Some general information that you should know:
- For most school districts, transportation is not provided to out-of-district placements if the school district itself has closed its schools. It is also probable that your transportation services will be delayed if the schools in your district have a late opening. Therefore, it’s important that you also check your local stations for your district status. In addition, please call your transportation services to let them know if Milestones has a change in schedule that is different than in your town.
- If the Milford or Orange Public Schools are closed, this does not mean that Milestones will automatically be closed. They may have internal bus issues or specific school difficulties when Milestones may be safe to open or to delay its opening. It is also possible that Milestones may close if the Milford or Orange Public Schools are open because our students need to travel to Milestones from different towns across the state and these circumstances need be considered.
- Staff members are not permitted to have children enter the building before the official start of school. Milestones uses a 2-hour delay to account for the distances traveled by staff and students. Early Dismissal is set at 12:30pm.
Please click the link below to access the current handbook for parents of Milestones students.