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.

Since her undergraduate days at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), Chelsea Parrott has wanted to participate in a Global Autism Project overseas trip to help support the development of a center or school for children with autism.

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.

To help enhance the quality of care for the individuals we serve, The Guild for Human Services sent supervisors to train with instructors from the Ivy League.

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.”

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.”

From jumping in the bouncy house to a competitive tug-of-war game, students, their families and staff celebrated the impending end of summer at The Guild’s 18th annual Field Day.

The pirates-themed day lightheartedly celebrated the summer curriculum topics of land and water. Along with a bouncy house, Field Day featured a dunk tank; lawn games; basketball; face-painting; arts and crafts; music; and swinging, sliding and spinning on the playground.

The work is both enjoyable and meaningful. For Guild School student Korey Myers, that’s a “fruitful” combination.

Her title is chief education officer at The Guild School, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to Annie Willis as chief student supporter/cheerleader.

Annie, who joined The Guild on July 22, enthusiastically embraces the school’s foundational commitment to integrating students into the communities where they live and learn through a wide variety of enrichment and engagement activities. Throughout her career in special education, she has pushed to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not segregated.