Students with Special Needs to Host ‘Invite Your Legislator to School Day’

03/12/15

 

Media Alert!

Students with special needs to host ‘Invite Your Legislator to School Day’
The May Center School in Brockton
Friday, March 20; 9:30 to 11 a.m.
 
WHAT:   Students and staff at the May Center School for Brain Injury and Related Disorders in Brockton will be welcoming state legislators to their school on Friday, March 20 to share with them highlights of the school’s programming and successes and to create awareness for lawmakers about the challenging budget realities for Chapter 766 (C766) schools that serve students with special needs.
 
The May Center School is a member of the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (maaps). The Association just launched its ‘Our Schools Count’ Campaign to fight for fair funding for special education in the Fiscal Year 2016 state budget.
 
WHO:   Andrea Potoczny-Gray, M.Ed., the school’s executive director, is looking forward to welcoming legislators, families and guests to the school to showcase the school’s work in educating students with acquired brain injury or neurological disease.
 
Declan Finn, a 20-year-old Braintree resident who has attended the May Center School for nine years, will discuss his successes. He is the former head of public relations for the student council; helps coordinate the school's Box Tops for Education, a national initiative that enables schools to raise funds; and he works at a local soup kitchen serving food to the homeless, made possible through the school's vocational education program. In his spare time, Finn loves playing basketball and reading.
 
Elizabeth Hopkinson, of Concord, the mother of a student who graduated from the school in January, will discuss her daughter’s success.
 
Students and staff will lead legislators on a tour of the school, engage in a question and answer session with them, and pose for photos.
 
Jim Major, maaps executive director, will speak about the success of C766 schools in providing high-quality, cost-effective education to students with special needs and ask legislators for their support of the schools in Fiscal Year 2016 state budget.
 
Legislators who are attending will be confirmed closer to the event.
 
WHEN:   The private event will take place on Friday, March 20 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
 
WHERE:   The May Center School for Brain Injury and Related Disorders, 596 Summer Street, Brockton MA
                 
 
About maaps
The Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (maaps) is a non-profit association whose 85 member schools provide high quality and cost effective educational programs and services to students with special needs throughout Massachusetts.  The schools operate over 150 day and residential programs, providing education and treatment to approximately 5,500 Massachusetts students with disabilities. They also bring in over $144 million into the Commonwealth’s economy in tuition payments from about 1,500 out-of-state students, and employ over 9,000 teachers, clinicians, residential care and other staff.  For many of the students, maaps schools represent their first real opportunity for hope, achievement and to become productive members of society.
 
The May Center School
The May Center School for Brain Injury and Related Disorders is a nationally recognized school that provides exceptional services to children, adolescents, and young adults, ages 5-22, with acquired brain injury or neurological disease. Established in 1992, the school is one of only a handful of pediatric programs in the United States focusing on both education and rehabilitation. The innovative model includes a day school and community or on-site residential options with 24-hour care. The May Center School provides full-day, year-round educational, behavioral, medical, and rehabilitative services.
 
MEDIA CONTACT:
Andrea D’Iorio
617-269-7171
andrea@teakmedia.com