By Laura Thornton
As Toni Scott greets the preschoolers—and their family members—attending the Early Learning Classrooms (ELC) at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Early Childhood Development and Education Center (EDEC), she can’t help but get excited about their future.
“Our friends,” as she refers to the children, “are learning and growing, day by day, and their parents see us as a partner and trusted resource,” says Scott, ELC’s director.
She recalls one friend who started at ELC with limited language and social interaction skills. “To see this child blossom after a couple of years with us, saying words, engaging with peers, greeting staff members in the hallway, and showing so much promise as they get ready for kindergarten—it’s a testament to our staff and what we’re doing here.”
Decades of Specialized Education
To see this child blossom after a couple of years with us … it’s a testament to our staff and what we’re doing here.” – Toni Scott
Kennedy Krieger has been educating students for decades. In addition to offering schooling to inpatients and day hospital patients, it runs five schools across Central and Southern Maryland for students with learning challenges that cannot be met by their local school systems. A sixth school—on Maryland’s Eastern Shore—is in the works, thanks to recent state funding.
“The state funding is a big vote of confidence—and a responsibility we take very seriously,” says Dr. Aaron Parsons, vice president of school programs.
Day-schooling started at Kennedy Krieger in the late 1970s, with a few classrooms at 707 North Broadway, Baltimore—then the Institute’s only building. In the 1990s, schooling expanded to three Baltimore locations: the Fairmount Campus elementary and middle school, Kennedy Krieger High School, and the LEAP Program. (“LEAP” stands for Lifeskills and Education for Students with Autism and Other Pervasive Behavioral Challenges). A Washington, D.C.-area school opened in 2007, and in 2023, a fifth campus opened, in Southern Maryland.
EDEC also dates to the late 1970s, when it was established as PACT, which affiliated with Kennedy Krieger in 1998. PACT rebranded itself as EDEC in 2023 and launched its first inclusive preschool classrooms the next year, bringing together neurodivergent children and their typically developing peers, who serve as role models for learning and social interaction. Therapeutic specialists (e.g., occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists) work closely with classroom teams, providing individualized support and services to ensure each child can thrive.
“Our goal is to improve kindergarten readiness for typically developing as well as neurodivergent children,” Scott says. “Our programs are reflective of our communities, so it’s a more global approach to learning.”
Sharing Our Knowledge
Over the years, Kennedy Krieger has amassed a great deal of data on the effectiveness of various teaching methods, and its soon-to-open Center for Specialized Education Innovation will codify best practices to share nationally, explains Dr. Linda Myers, vice president of school programs.
Part of the center’s mission will be to collaborate with the Institute’s and Kennedy Krieger School Programs’ training departments to disseminate this information. “In addition to teaching our students according to best practices,” Dr. Parsons says, “our vision is also to train others to do the same, so more students can benefit.”