History
Special needs education is in grades 1-12 began in 1976 at Pine Hill School, to provide a multi-disciplinary, academic and therapeutic program to learning developmentally disabled and emotionally troubled special needs children. Classes for adults were added in July 1988. Growing in the early 90's, Second Start began to branch out and provide services to at-risk children with special needs education through our Community Development Department. Starting in 2002, Second Start founded Advent Academy a charter school dedicated to providing Education to Autsistic and Asperger's syndrome High School Students who are in a residential recovery program. In 2003 Second Start launched the Newton Learning Center an educational program specifically tailored for the educational advancement of students with Asperger syndrome symptoms and students on the upper end of the Autism spectrum, also refered to as high-functioning Autism.
Specialties
Second Start is a nonprofit organization that provides specialized academic, transitional, and/or therapeutic services to disadvantaged, at risk children and young adults who are challenged by learning and social or emotional differences. Second Start is committed to helping children become successful. At Newton Learning Center, many of our students have been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum or similar disorders and find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time in large mainstream school classrooms. Our school has a low student to classroom staff ratio of 8:1. Our program is intensive and produces results.