The REAL (Relevant, Experiential, Authentic, Learning) School is a public, therapeutic, day school of the Brunswick School Department. We serve students in grades 5-12. Primarily we serve Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Oxford Counties. We are able serve some districts in York, Franklin, Lincoln, and Knox Counties.
The REAL School provides multiple pathways to academic, emotional, social, and behavioral progress, with the school community built upon strong relationships. Before students are referred to REAL, they will not have responded positively to the supports available in their sending schools or districts.
- Students with academic disruption caused by homelessness, foster care, addiction, incarceration, hospitalization, and other family and personal challenges.
- Students disaffected or chronically disengaged from the classroom.
- Students who are truant or not attending school.
- Students facing expulsion (those who have been “dis-invited”) for maladaptive behaviors.
The innovative service, adventure, and aspirations approaches and the careful cultivation of an engaging school culture help students to develop stronger self-concepts and assets and to make academic gains. We focus on meeting the needs of our widely diverse student demographic and encourage “unavoidable success.”
Our graduation rate is close to 100%, even though most students faced multiple academic failures leading up to their attendance at the REAL School. Our graduation rate, since 2004, has remained consistently between 95-98%. (Because of rolling admissions with students entering our school program during all months of the year, and because of the high mobility of our student population, we base our graduation count on two criteria: students who are with us during their senior year of school, and students who have been with us for 6 months or more).
The REAL School’s Special Education Program offers the following supports and accommodations:
- Small group specialized instruction provided by certified special educators and licensed clinical social workers, with 1:1 support as needed.
- Flexible, personalized, academic assignments, exemplars, and schedule.
- Access to supervised breaks in a designated space, as needed.
- Specialized instruction throughout the day, featuring hands-on, authentic applications of academic skills and concepts through multidisciplinary, project-based, service learning.
- A therapeutic milieu, including: treatment plans for all students, individual and group counseling, classroom structures to maximize positive peer culture, ongoing access to social work services, school-wide and individual positive behavior supports, frequent and debriefing.
- Silent Mentoring.
- Restorative learning process, in lieu of traditional disciplinary practices.
- Weekly social work groups and teambuilding sessions.
- Adventure-based context for personal growth and academic learning (challenge-by-choice).
- Ongoing access to activities that promote social/emotional development.
- Intensive advisory program, providing close, caring relationships with school staff members to increase connectedness and school engagement.
- Cross-systemic services and family programming.
If you have questions or comments, please contact Barbara Gunn or Chris McCarthy
Barbara Gunn via email at: bgunn@brunswick.k12.me.us or call (207) 319-1900
Chris McCarthy via email at: cmccarthy@brunswick.k12.me.us or call (207) 449-0068
