Top 7 Best Special Needs Schools in Owings Mills, Maryland (2026)

The Owings Mills location is one campus of Children's Manor & Children's Magnet Montessori Schools (CMMS), a Maryland Montessori group that has operated since 1993. The school follows the Montessori method based on Dr. Maria Montessori's approach, with a curriculum built around the five Montessori learning areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language Arts, Mathematics, and Cultural Studies (geography, zoology, botany, history, and science). CMMS layers its own "Montessori Links" curriculum on top, organizing each month of the school year around a theme and a continent study that ties the five learning areas to Character Development, STEM, Continent Connections, and Author Study and Arts. Owings Mills serves children across the full CMMS age range. Programs run from Infant and Toddler care (children accepted from 6 weeks of age), Pre-Primary for ages 2 to 3.5, Primary for ages 3 to 6, Honors and Kindergarten, and an Elementary program that offers Grade 1 at this campus. The Elementary classes use a certified Montessori Elementary teacher with small groups (the site cites an average 14 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio) and a mix of individual, small-group, and independent work. The brand notes that lead teachers for ages 3.5 and up hold Bachelor's degrees along with Montessori certification, and many have advanced degrees. Progress is tracked individually, with parent-teacher conferences held at least three times a year. Daily learning is supplemented with integrated enrichment in Spanish, Technology, Music, Yoga, Art, Library Media, and Reading Readiness, plus extracurriculars such as soccer, tennis, piano, guitar, science, and dance depending on location, and two to four field trips per year (four to six at the Elementary level). The Montessori approach naturally accommodates a range of abilities and learning styles, which fits the listing's noted focus on language-based learning differences and twice-exceptional learners, and the school emphasizes active family partnership in each child's education. CMMS participates in the Maryland EXCELS quality-rating program through the Maryland State Department of Education. To help with affordability, the schools accept the Maryland Child Care Scholarship (CCS) and take part in programs for military families, including Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) and Child Care Aware of America (CCA). The Owings Mills campus can be reached at 410-654-4050, and tours and information requests can be made through the CMMS website.

• Montessori school (infant through lower elementary)
• Learning differences
• Twice-exceptional
• Financial aid

Garrison Forest School is a private, independent girls' school in Owings Mills, Maryland, set on a 110-acre campus in the rolling hills of Baltimore County, just outside Baltimore. Founded in 1910, it enrolls girls from Kindergarten through Grade 12 and runs a separate coed early childhood program for boys and girls from 6 weeks to 2 years old. Students in Grades 8 to 12 can also board, and the residential program draws families from across the country and around the world. The school structure spans a Lower School, a Middle School (the G. Peter O'Neill, Jr. Middle School), and an Upper School with college counseling. Academics run from early childhood through college preparation, with small class sizes and a Boyce Center for Learning and Thriving that provides academic support on campus. One of the school's signature offerings is the WISE program (Women in Science and Engineering), a partnership with nearby Johns Hopkins University that places upper-level students in research and academic work alongside university faculty. Beyond the classroom, Garrison Forest is known for its equestrian program, run out of the D. & J. Smith Equestrian Center with indoor and outdoor riding rings, plus a competitive polo program based at the Sheridan Polo Arena. Athletics, visual and performing arts, and a long-standing riding tradition are all part of campus life. Tuition is set by grade level for the 2025-26 year. The Preschool runs $21,185 without aftercare or $24,785 with aftercare, Kindergarten is $33,140, Grades 1 to 5 are $38,955, Grades 6 to 8 are $40,965, and Grades 9 to 12 are $43,205. Boarding is $70,475 for national students and $79,750 for international students in Grades 8 to 12. Additional costs include a $520 health center fee, books and supplies, uniforms, and technology fees that vary by division. Financial assistance is need-based and grant-funded (not loans), starting in Kindergarten for qualified families, and the school offers flexible payment plans. It also awards several merit- and need-based scholarships, including the Hyatt Hood Young '42 Scholarship (full day tuition for one student entering Grades 9 to 12), the Elizabeth Welsh Young '40 Scholarship (50 percent tuition for one student entering Grades 5 to 8), and a Legacy Scholarship Program for relatives of GFS alumnae. The school motto is Esse Quam Videri, "To Be Rather Than To Seem."

• Private independent all-girls K-12 school (with coed early childhood program and boarding)
• Financial aid
• Private school

The Harbour School is a special-education day school that has operated since 1982, founded by Dr. Linda Jacobs on the premise that all children can learn and that they learn most when taught the way they learn best. It serves students across lower school, middle school, and high school, and the Owings Mills address is its Baltimore-area campus, one of two locations alongside Annapolis. The academic program is built around an individualized, competency-based curriculum. Each student has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that is updated annually, along with quarterly academic and IEP progress reviews. The school describes a family feel where staff adjust to each student's way of learning rather than the reverse. Coursework is aligned with Maryland State Standards, but students demonstrate mastery through performance assessments and learning activities instead of traditional tests, earning grades of Honors, Pass, or Incomplete. A student completes a course when the competencies are met, so pacing is student-based rather than fixed to a semester. The only tests given are those required by the Maryland State Department of Education, and publicly funded students are prepared for required state assessments. Each level (lower, middle, high school) runs at a low pupil-to-staff ratio, with a social worker or psychologist assigned to the team. The high school focuses on the transition to employment or college, with a career center, vocational assistants, transition specialists, and job coaches, plus academies in performing arts, recreation education/health, and technology. Related services are delivered as recommended by each student's IEP and include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, and job coaching. Clinical staff also run small-group social skills instruction focused on building and maintaining relationships at school, at home, and in the workplace. Electives in recreational education, performing arts (dance, drama, music), and visual/studio art are a regular part of the program, and technology is heavily used, with a 2-to-1 student-to-computer ratio, an iPad for every student, and a SmartBoard in every classroom. The school is a Maryland Nonprofits member, has been named a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace for twelve consecutive years through 2025, and its Baltimore campus is a certified Maryland Green School.

• Special-education day school
• Learning differences
• Twice-exceptional
• Private school

Jemicy School is a coed, college-preparatory independent day school in Owings Mills, Maryland that teaches grades 1 to 12, all of whom are bright students with dyslexia or related language-based learning differences. It runs two campuses a few minutes apart: the Lower and Middle School at 11 Celadon Road and the Upper School at 11202 Garrison Forest Road, both in Owings Mills (21117). The school grew out of a 1972 summer camp founded by Joyce Bilgrave and David Malin for children struggling in traditional classrooms. The School at Jemicy Farm opened on September 12, 1973 with 51 students in grades 1 to 8, was renamed Jemicy in 1975 after moving to the Celadon Road site, and merged with Valley Academy in 2003 to extend through grade 12. It was one of the first day schools in the country built specifically for students with dyslexia. Enrollment sits around 440 to 470 students with a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio. The academic program is multisensory, experiential, and research-based, and every student gets daily targeted small-group skills instruction (tutoring) built into the school day, plus access to speech and language intervention. Explicit instruction in organization, planning, time management, and study skills is folded into classes, and the school uses a one-to-one Chromebook program. Jemicy also developed Paragraphology, its own writing-instruction method, which it now licenses to other educators through its outreach arm. The school reports that 95% of graduates go on to college. Tuition for 2025-2026 is $44,746 for Lower and Middle School and $46,670 for the Upper School Prep program and Upper School, with that price covering the built-in tutoring, technology and digital materials, textbooks, and most athletics, clubs, and field trips. Additional charges include tuition insurance (about $313 to $327) and a $125 Parent Association fee. Roughly 36% of families receive tuition assistance, with an average award of $18,800, processed through the Clarity application platform (a $65 application fee applies). Jemicy is a member of the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS) and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and partners with Notre Dame of Maryland University.

• Independent day school for students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences (grades 1-12, college-preparatory)
• Dyslexia
• Learning differences
• Financial aid

Jemicy's Upper School Campus at 11202 Garrison Forest Road in Owings Mills is the high school division of The Jemicy School, a coed, college-preparatory independent day school for students with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences. Jemicy was founded in 1973 by a small group of parents and teachers and was one of the first day schools in the country built specifically for students with dyslexia. The full school serves grades 1 to 12 across two nearby Owings Mills campuses (the Lower and Middle School at 11 Celadon Road and this separate Upper School at Garrison Forest Road), with total enrollment around 440 and a 4 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio. The Upper School itself enrolls about 230 students. The students Jemicy works with are typically bright and creative but struggle with the mechanics of language because of dyslexia or related learning differences that affect written expression, math, executive function, and processing speed. Instruction leans on multisensory, experiential, research-based methods, small class sizes, and Skills sessions built into each schedule based on a student's specific areas of need. Faculty are trained in Jemicy's own copyrighted writing program, Paragraphology, which the school also licenses and teaches to outside students and adults through its Outreach division. The Upper School runs roughly 90 course offerings, including 62 unique electives that range from industrial design and fashion design to college-level calculus and personal finance, plus 12 interscholastic sports teams and award-winning performing and visual arts. An Upper School Prep program gives rising 8th graders an extra middle-school year to build academic independence and self-advocacy before high school. A team of college counselors works with each family on placement, and the school reports that 95% of its graduates go on to college, at destinations spanning competitive private and state universities, art programs, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and trade schools. Jemicy is accredited and affiliated through the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS) and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and partners with Notre Dame of Maryland University. About 36% of the student body receives financial aid, supported in part by a roughly $30M endowment. Tuition assistance is awarded by need through an application process, though families cannot combine a Jemicy award with public-school funding for the same student. Specific tuition figures are not published on the site.

• College-preparatory independent day school for students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences (high school / Upper School campus, part of grades 1-12 school)
• Dyslexia
• Learning differences
• Financial aid

New Town High School, an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, is dedicated to fostering a rigorous and supportive learning environment for students aged 14 to 18. The school serves a diverse population, including those with language-based learning disabilities and twice-exceptional learners, focusing on nurturing their individual potential through high-quality education. With a mission centered on developing knowledgeable global citizens and future leaders, New Town emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, and resilience in its students. The academic framework includes the Diploma Programme (DP), Career-related Programme (CP), and Middle Years Programme (MYP), alongside Advanced Placement courses and specialized programs in fields such as biomedical science and computer science. Unique to New Town is its commitment to low student-teacher ratios that promote personalized attention, alongside strong family partnerships that enhance the educational experience. The school also prioritizes social-emotional learning through initiatives like the School Wide Positive Behavior Plan, ensuring a holistic approach to student development within a vibrant community.

• High school
• Learning differences
• Twice-exceptional

The Shafer Center provides comprehensive special education for children ages 3 through 12 on the autism spectrum. Six classroom programs from preschool through 5th grade integrate academics, speech and language goals, sensory support, and social development. A multidisciplinary team ensures each student receives individualized attention throughout the school year. Private tuition and IEP placements are accepted. The Shafer Center is located in Owings Mills, Baltimore County.

• Private special education school
• Autism
• Developmental delays
• Speech therapy