Best Special Needs Schools in Newburyport, Massachusetts (2026)

Immaculate Conception School opened on September 4, 1882, with 520 pupils taught by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and we have been part of Newburyport ever since. Today we are a coeducational Catholic school of about 260 students in Pre-K through grade 8, accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, with families coming from more than 20 towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Our Pelicans Nest Pre-K program serves 3- and 4-year-olds, and each grade from kindergarten through grade 5 has its own classroom teacher. In the junior high, subject teachers lead math, language arts, science, social studies, religion, and Spanish. Every student takes art, music, and physical education, and we have an athletics director for our sports program. Our brick school building, opened in 1955, holds classrooms, an auditorium and gymnasium, and a cafeteria that serves hot lunches. Students learn with SMART boards and iPads and use our computer and science labs. ICS welcomes students of every race, nationality, and religion, and our graduates go on to Catholic, independent, and public high schools across the region.

• Catholic school (PreK-8)
• Catholic education
• Pre-K through grade 8
• Accredited

Knoll-Edge Preschool sits on the Route 1 traffic circle in Newburyport, close enough to the train station that our playground centerpiece is a fifteen-foot train for climbing and pretend play. Privately owned for more than 35 years, we take infants from 8 weeks and keep children until age 6. Infants (8 weeks to 14 months) attend full time, with music, stories, sensory and movement activities, and twice-daily walks on the Rail Trail. Toddlers (15 months to 2 years 8 months) sing, dance, climb and paint. Preschoolers from 2 years 9 months to 6 can enroll in full-time year-round care or a 9-to-3 school-year program, and our Pre-K adds STEM with individual science, math and language journals. Our approach draws on Constructivist theory and is often compared with Reggio Emilia. Teachers work with each child one at a time during the day, and the class plays together as a whole. We built an outdoor classroom that mirrors our indoor rooms, and children stage four shows a year: a fall sing-along, the First Thanksgiving, The Nutcracker, and an end-of-year show. We won the JFK Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curriculum Development.

• Private preschool and child care center (infant to Pre-K)
• Reggio Emilia-inspired
• Constructivist approach
• STEM

Mrs. Murray's Nursery School has been teaching young children in Newburyport since the 1960s, and many of our families are second-generation alumni. We are a small private preschool for children ages 2.9 to 5, drawing families from Newburyport, Amesbury, Newbury, West Newbury, Salisbury, Byfield, Merrimac, Boxford and southern New Hampshire. Children are grouped into three age-based classes, each led by a two-teacher team. Classes for our younger children have no more than ten students, and our four and five year old class has no more than twelve. All teachers are certified by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, and several have been with us for decades. Our curriculum follows the state Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences, covering early literacy, math, science and history through hands-on play. We run half-day programs from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., two, three or five days a week depending on age, from September through June. Mornings include circle time, projects, snack, gym time and, weather permitting, nature walks and scavenger hunts. Children do not need to be toilet trained to start, and siblings receive a 5% tuition discount.

• Private preschool
• Small class sizes
• Two teachers per classroom
• Private school