Best Special Needs Schools in Chicopee, Massachusetts (2026)

Springdale Education Center opened in Chicopee in 1997 and is a Massachusetts-approved private special education day school for students ages 5 to 22. We serve young people with serious mental health needs and aggressive behaviors that have been hard to support in other settings. Students are referred by their home school district, and a signed IEP is required. Programs are separated by age, and by gender from middle school up. Kindergarten through grade 5 learn apart from older students, middle and high school run separate girls' and boys' programs, and high schoolers get MCAS support. Our Young Adult Transition Program teaches daily living, job and vocational skills. Every student has a case manager who coordinates with family and outside providers. Licensed clinicians provide individual, group and family therapy, with psychoeducation groups four days a week, daily check-ins and a clinician and nurse on site at all times. Our structured behavioral program uses cognitive-behavioral and relapse prevention principles and a de-escalation program to reduce restraint. As IEPs direct, we provide speech-language, occupational, physical and recreational therapy, guidance counseling and psychiatric consultation.

• Approved private special education day school
• Emotional/behavioral support
• Serious mental health conditions
• Therapeutic program