FAQ

FAQ

1. Can anyone attend The Gengras Center?

The Gengras Center is a school for children with cognitive disabilities. Students are referred from their local school district when the town cannot meet their educational needs. Please view our enrollment page for more details about our referral process.

2. Can I tour your school?

A referral packet must first be received from your Local Education Agency (LEA). We limit tours to individuals involved with an actively referred student in order to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of our students. Please see our enrollment page for our complete procedure.

3. What are the ages of the students you serve?

We serve students between the ages of 5 and 22.

4. Do you have students with autism?

Yes. We have 140 students at The Gengras Center and approximately 50 of our students have a primary diagnosis of autism.

5. What are the functioning levels of the students at The Gengras Center?

Our students have a variety of strengths and deficits which creates a wide variation between levels of functioning. The Gengras Center staff create programs that are individualized to meet the unique needs of each student.

6. What is your student to teacher ratio?

The ratio varies from classroom to classroom and is based on the needs of the students. Each classroom has 9-12 students, one special education teacher and from 2 to 10 teaching assistants. Throughout the building, there are over 150 staff members that serve 140 students.

7. Do you have a summer program and can my child attend even though he/she is not a Gengras student?

We do have a 5 week long extended school year program that runs through the month of July. This program is only open to currently enrolled Gengras Center students and is based on the student’s IEP.

8. What are the hours of your program?

Our 10 month school year, which is 180 days, starts each day at 8:45 and ends at 2:50 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Each Wednesday the students are dismissed at 1:00.

Our ESY summer program is Monday-Friday 9:00 to 2:00.

9. Do you accept children with behavioral challenges?

We are primarily an educational facility that focuses on teaching life skills and functional academics. However, we do have students in attendance that do exhibit behavioral challenges. When needed, data is collected on target behaviors. The team analyzes the information and develops a behavioral intervention plan.

10. Are you an ABA program?

Yes, we use applied behavior analysis as one of the techniques used to teach students throughout our program. By using the principles of behavior analysis we can incorporate strategies that will bring meaningful change and greater independence for each student.

11. How is transportation arranged for my child?

Transportation is arranged through the LEA. For questions or concerns, please contact your local school district. Each morning, the students may disembark from their vehicles at 8:30 or after. The vehicles return at the end of the day and start loading the student at 2:50 each day and 1:00 on Wednesday.

12. Do you accept students who live outside of Connecticut?

We accept students that reside within approximately a one hour radius of the Gengras Center, which includes a few towns in Massachusetts.

13. In addition to Special Education teachers and teaching assistants, what additional staff do you have on site at Gengras?

We have speech language pathologists, social workers, a school psychologist, an occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistants, a physical therapist, an RN, five LPNs, a registered dietitian, and BCBAs on staff. We offer art, music, physical education, and vocational programming in addition to functional academics. Please see our services and therapies page for more detailed information.

14. What support services do you offer?

We offer speech and language therapy, social skills training, social work services, occupational therapy and physical therapy. The services received are determined on an individual basis during the PPT process and as indicated in the student’s IEP.

15. Do you offer any after school programming?

Unfortunately, we do not provide after school programming for students.