ABOUT

Building Strong Relationships and Successful Students

NEARI’s Mission: We help each student find the best ways to learn, relate, communicate effectively, and make a difference in the world.

NEARI was founded in 1986 by Steven Bengis, Ed.D., LCSW, and Penny Cuninggim, Ed.D., MAT, MSW, along with eleven veteran professionals who had all worked together in another school program for six years. By integrating best practices in both education and treatment, NEARI School offers students from 7 to 22 an opportunity to succeed by promoting relationships, mastery, self-advocacy, and self-empowerment skills while nourishing individual strengths.

+ our history of success is based on 4 key elements

  • A highly trained, professional, and caring staff who understand the complex and unique needs of each learner and who play a major role in educational and treatment decisions
  • A behavior-support approach based on working with student strengths and the beliefs that a) all children can learn and succeed beyond their wildest dreams and b) if learning isn’t fun it isn’t learning
  • A warm and inviting environment where students love to come to school
  • Educational and treatment practices based on current research

+ The NEARI School Services

  • Tailored learning and treatment plans
  • A brain-based assessment process that results in a comprehensive set of strategies for teaching, communicating with, and counseling each student
  • Individualized learning readiness support to address underlying neuro-development weaknesses
  • Speech and language, occupational and physical therapies
  • Rich and data-driven academic curricula
  • Psychiatric, psychological, and nursing consultation
  • In-house counseling
  • Multi-modal instruction, experiential and project-based learning, and a variety of extracurricular activities and electives
  • A commitment to creating learning environments that promote relaxed and alert minds, whole-body immersion of the brain in content, and opportunities for peer-to-peer interactions

+ Geographic Areas Served

  • Hampden County
  • Hampshire County
  • Parts of Franklin, Worcester and Berkshire Counties

+ School Stats

  • Student to Staff ratio 3:1
  • Grades 3 – 12 (ages 7-22)
  • Current Enrollment: 50-55 students
  • School Calendar: 12-months (220 days)