The Pathways School - Edgewood

The Pathways School - Edgewood is a nonpublic special education day program at 4600 Powder Mill Rd, Suite 100 in Beltsville, MD. It is one of three therapeutic education programs run by The Pathways Schools across Maryland's Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Prince George's counties, all approved by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the District of Columbia's Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to operate nonpublic full-day programs. The Edgewood program moved into the Beltsville building and consolidated with the Horizons program at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Each Pathways school is kept small, with no more than 40 students, and Edgewood specifically serves up to 36 middle and high school students, ages 13 to 21, in grades 6 through 12.

Students are admitted with an emotional disability as the primary disability, and the school also considers secondary diagnoses including specific learning disabilities, mild intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, and autism spectrum disorders (including Asperger's). Placement runs through the student's Local School System (LSS): referral packets go to the Pathways Admissions Coordinator, the program principal reviews records and interviews the student and family, and an IEP meeting is scheduled once a student is accepted. Edgewood offers both a school-based track, with small structured classrooms using individualized behavior management and no restraints or seclusion, and a community-based track, in which Community Support Staff transport students to receive instruction in a range of off-site settings.

Academics follow county curriculum through individual and small-group instruction, and students can earn a Maryland or District of Columbia high school diploma or a Certificate of Program Completion. The program also prepares some students for the GED, a return to a less restrictive school placement, or post-secondary education and career training. Therapeutic and related services include individual and group therapy, social skills counseling, specialized support groups, family support, mindfulness education, Right Response restraint-free crisis management, and speech and occupational therapy in a trauma-sensitive setting. Transition and vocational support is a central part of the program, with vocational assessment, career exploration, job development and coaching, internships, work crew experiences, Pre-ETS, a Young Entrepreneurship Program, and links to colleges, vocational programs, employers, and adult service agencies. The Beltsville campus is also an approved SAT and ASVAB testing site.