Best Special Needs Schools in Catonsville, Maryland (2026)

Catonsville Center for Alternative Studies is a Baltimore County Public Schools alternative program on South Rolling Road. Students are placed here by a BCPS School Conduct Hearing Officer, in either our in-person program or our virtual program. Each in-person student starts with an enrollment conference where we set the student's schedule, check credits, build a multi-year educational plan, and tour the building. Staff call home each time a student is late or absent. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports guide our expectations. Four days a week, a Flex period holds character education with homeroom groups and clubs in life skills, chess and checkers, mindful movement, coloring, STEAM, and crafting, where students hand sew small stuffed animals. We also share college and career resources and community school family resources.

• Public alternative school
• Alternative education
• PBIS
• Public school

Our Catonsville program combines learning at school with individualized instruction in community settings. Students take part in small academic groups and individual or group therapy at the school site. Community Support Staff transport students to learning experiences in libraries, community centers and places of employment. County curriculum guides credit courses delivered individually and in small groups. Students can work toward a Maryland High School Diploma or Certificate of Program Completion. Career exploration, outdoor education, arts, service learning and family activities complement academics.

• Private special education school
• emotional disabilities
• behavioral challenges
• multiple disabilities