ASPiRE! Academy

Celebrating the Potential in Us All

The Seven Hills ASPiRE! Academy is a full-time, out-of-district placement option for high school students, aged 16-22, with special needs that cannot be met in the local public school system.

ASPiRE! Academy offers students a dynamic alternative environment that integrates academic fulfillment with activities of adult transition. All of the students’ academic needs are met in adherence with the MA Curriculum Frameworks. The Academy’s adult transition program includes volunteer opportunities; employment training; job trials; and life, social, safety, and activities of daily living functional skills training—all with the goal toward becoming independent adults.  

The ASPiRE! Academy Advantage:

• Approved by the Department of Early and Secondary Education to provide special education services.
• Located at ASPiRE!’s state-of-the-art Innovative Lifelong Learning center at 150 Goddard Memorial Drive in Worcester.  
• A multidisciplinary learning environment that adheres to the MA Curriculum Frameworks while meeting the unique learning needs of students with special needs.
• Innovative academic-adult transition programming with a focus on volunteer, employment, and functional life skills that lead to independent adulthood.
• Full-time, year-round, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
• Leverages existing Massachusetts agency funding sources to provide a significant cost-effective, out-of-district placement alternative for public school districts.

Eligibility:

Students eligible for ASPiRE! Academy must be enrolled in their public school’s special education program with an Individualized Education Plan. Referrals may be made through a parent, guardian, the school, and/or the Department of Developmental Disabilities after a determination is made that the student’s education needs are not being met in a traditional public school setting.

Give a student with special needs the ASPiRE! Academy Advantage and the leading edge to independent adulthood. To learn more, contact the program manager, Jen Keaney, at jkeaney@sevenhills.org or 508.796.1502.

Seven Hills and its President reaffirm Seven Hills’ commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.