CONCORD, Mass. — Responding to the impending closure of the Crotched Mountain School in Greenfield, N.H., The Guild for Human Services’ Guild School has launched an initiative to open three new residences that could serve up to 18 students being displaced from Crotched Mountain.

The Guild offers a continuum of services for youth and adults diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including behavioral, medical, and mental health challenges.

The Guild School’s students and staff are featured in the 2020 catalog of playground equipment manufacturer Burke.

To empower each of our students to find their writing "voice," The Guild School has implemented an innovative curriculum to help them express their thoughts on topics of their own choosing.

Gone are the sterile white walls, replaced by large, evocative murals that greet students, staff and visitors to the Ocean, Forest and Neighborhood. Break rooms now bear the names of favorite animals. Welcome to The Guild School 2020.

The newly created Student Council is already making an impact on the lives of Guild School students — both council members and the rest of the student body.

Since its establishment in November, the 18-member council has held an inaugural meeting, hosted a bake sale and organized an event: a festive holiday-themed pajama and pizza party that brought together students and staff on December 19.

The Guild for Human Services is launching a new family resource library and is encouraging parents and guardians to donate books, DVDs, magazines, brochures, pamphlets and other materials to give them a "second life" for use by other families.

Donated materials should be related to topics like parenting, autism, behavioral health, child mental health, child psychology, Down syndrome, special education and transitioning into adulthood.

In early 2020, Guild families will be able to borrow materials.

Eunice Demezier employs a unique method to calculate how long she has worked at The Guild for Human Services.

“When I started at The Guild, my daughter was six months old,” she explains with a laugh, “and now she’s a junior in college.”

Thanks to the MDS Foundation, The Guild School’s dental clinic will soon have a new comfortable and accessible examination chair.

Through its Targeted Grant program, the foundation recently made a $2,000 gift to The Guild to replace the aging chair now in use. The new Galaxy dental 3285 X-ray exam chair is due to arrive any day.

Channel 5 (WCVB-TV) in Boston featured The Guild for Human Services during its EyeOpener news program on Sept. 25.

The EyeOpener opened its early-morning broadcast with a Guild-submitted Wake Up Call video that promoted the 18th annual Field Day on Aug. 16.

The video included both Guild students and staff.

 

The Guild School offered a special curriculum this summer focused on land and water. Topics included the environment, wildlife, safety and habitats.

The curriculum featured classroom learning and projects, school-based activities, and community outings.

“The students really enjoyed our unique summer curriculum,” says Casey Russo, The Guild’s assistant director of curriculum and instruction. “I think they really appreciated the hands-on learning projects and the opportunity to further their learning during community-engagement outings.”