Important Notice:
Villa Maria School and Community Resources
- Effective immediately: Villa Maria Community Resource clinics: telehealth when possible. Substance use disorder treatment continues unchanged.
- Effective March 16, 2020: Villa Maria School – receiving no children by bus
- Villa Maria School (includes pre-vocational, gym, art and diagnostic school) has suspended or limited volunteer activities until further notice.
Information About Villa Maria School Services
Villa Maria School provides educational and clinical services for children with significant emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges.
Whether you are a parent looking for services for your child, a prospective employee looking for a job, or an agency representative looking to learn about available resources, we are happy to tell you our story and about what we do.
The Villa Maria School is proud to be part of the Family Services of Catholic Charities and its almost 100-year history of working to improve the lives of Marylanders in need.
Our vibrant therapeutic and special education community is a place where children learn, grow and heal. Our dedicated teachers, paraprofessionals and clinicians offer a host of services in a team environment where we strive to meet each child’s unique needs.
Our highly trained staff works in full partnership with our parents, empowering them in the treatment process of their child. Along with the referring and funding agencies, we make every effort to assist each child in the return to their home school or to a less intensive program as soon as is possible. Together, we help our children become better learners, understand their feelings, and change their behaviors.
Programs
We offer multiple programs serving students from kindergarten through 8th grade in small classrooms (up to nine students) who are experiencing emotional, behavioral and learning challenges such that their local school system refers them to VMS for placement.
Those programs include:
- Villa Maria School at Dulaney Valley – grades Pre-K to K-8 in Timonium, MD. Contact Noel Alexander, 667-600-3103.
- Villa Maria School Type III Diagnostic Program – a short term diagnostic residential program in Timonium, MD. Contact Michael Dunphy, 667-600-3107.
Villa Maria School: Dulaney Valley Campus
Villa Maria School at Dulaney Valley provides educational and clinical services for children with significant emotional, behavioral and learning challenges.
We invite you to visit our campus so that you can experience what our program has to offer. Upon entering our doors, you will be greeted warmly by our staff, by the voices of our educators inspiring students during a classroom lesson, by the sight of a therapist or behavior specialist offering emotional or behavioral support to a student in need, or simply by the heartwarming smiles of our students as they eagerly participate in the schedule of their school day.
Click here for directions to Villa Maria School Dulaney Valley Campus.
Our highly qualified staff provides academic instruction in all of the core content areas, in alignment with the Common Core standards for elementary school and middle school students. Incorporated into the students’ daily schedule are related services that include speech, language and occupational therapies. Students also receive enrichment in art, music, media, technology instruction and physical education that includes intramural sports. Prevocational programs allow students to the opportunity to develop independent living skills through hands-on activities.
We also offer comprehensive clinical programs that address the individual needs of each student. Our students receive individual, group and family therapy. We have a team of behavioral specialists who provide a wide range of therapeutic interventions and support, aiding students who may need temporary time out of the classroom.
Villa Maria School at Dulaney Valley, also offers:
- Reading intervention programming
- Psychiatric services
- Psychological evaluation and consultation
- Individualized Education Plan (IEP) case management
- Parent workshops and support groups
- Incorporation of a behavioral incentive program, Positive Behavior Interventions and support (PBIS)
- Mentoring programs
- In-home counseling
- Respite care
- Year-round programming
The goals of Villa Maria School at Dulaney Valley are to:
• Prepare each student for return to a less restrictive learning environment
• Provide a curriculum with enables the student to measurably improve achievement levels in reading, mathematics and oral and written language
• Provide students with an array of therapeutic coping skills, such as progressive relaxation, anger management and mediation skills
• Empower parents as partners in the treatment process
Villa Maria School received extremely high marks in a survey completed by parents of former students. Of the families surveyed, 100% said they would refer a friend to our school for education and treatment. The staff at Villa Maria School couldn’t be more proud of this statistic as it reflects the heart of our mission.
Every child at Villa Maria School has “on demand” access to the school nurse. In addition to taking care of routine ailments, the school nurse routinely dispenses medication at the appropriate times to those children for whom it is prescribed. The school nurse works closely with the entire school team to ensure holistic care and management of your child’s emotional and physical health. The nurse reviews issues of concern and is regularly updated about any medication changes by the Treatment Team. If and when a crisis arises, a registered nurse is always available to render medical care if needed. The school nurse monitors your child’s vital signs and observes for any side effects of medication, per protocol. In addition, every student’s complete vital signs including height, weight and BMI are recorded every three months.
If a child becomes ill or has an injury during school, the school nurse assesses him or her in the health office and provides appropriate treatment. She notifies parents and guardians of any minor issues and treatment the child received by sending home a health office parent letter. If the injury or illness is more than just a minor boo-boo or tummy ache, she will call the parent. If the child is vomiting, has a fever or diarrhea, she will call the parent to pick the child up from school. The school nurse also notifies parents and guardians of any medication the child may have received at school when treated for an emergency, illness or injury. Similarly, the school nurse needs to be notified when a student is given any cold or pain medication in the morning before school.
If your child sustains a significant injury or develops a medical problem at school, the nurse will call you to ensure that your child receives the proper care. It is imperative that the school nurse has a current, functioning emergency contact telephone number on file. Please be aware that your child will not be placed on the bus to go home if the nurse believes that he or she is not medically stable or needs medical follow-up. The Villa Maria School nurse believes that parents and guardians are vital members of the treatment team and that we need to work together to keep your child healthy and safe. Please feel free to ask any questions at any time, in person, by telephone or by email. We look forward to having you on our team!
Sandy Horvath, RN
Kathy Reynolds, RN
Erin Narutowicz, RN
• Local School System (LSS) and State Department of Education approvals are necessary.
• Referrals may be initiated by social service departments, mental health agencies and parents in conjunction with their LSS.
In the creation and support of school climates that are safe places to learn, there is an evolving recognition that bullying is a very toxic form of abuse among peers. Research has shown that students who are bullied and those who bully others are at significant risk of experiencing a range of health, safety and educational risks. Bullying can be physical (hitting, pushing, shoving), verbal (being teased, threatened coerced, made fun of, called derogatory names) or relational (spreading rumors, being left out or ostracized).
It is the policy of Villa Maria School to prohibit bullying, harassment and intimidation of any person on school property or at school sponsored functions or by the use of electronic technology (telephone, cell phone, computer or pager.) It is also the policy of Villa Maria School to prohibit reprisal or retaliation against individuals who report acts of bullying, harassment or intimidation or who are victims, witnesses, bystanders or others with reliable information about an act of bullying, harassment or intimidation.
Villa Maria School recognizes that the prohibition of bullying in our schools and reprisal and retaliation against individuals who report acts of bullying and the implementation of consequences and remedial actions, cannot be effective as prevention and intervention methods unless they are included as a part of a whole-school prevention and intervention program. The whole school program includes prevention, intervention and remediation, and consequences. This includes, but is not limited to, professional training for school staff, anti-bullying educational activities and rewards for students; collaboration and education with families; peer mediation; and consequences, such as community service and suspensions.
If you believe that your child is being bullied, harassed or intimidated by another Villa Maria student, you have the right to complete a Bullying, Harassment or Intimidation form, available in your school office. Download the reporting form (PDF, 34 kb) or get one through your child’s therapist. An instruction page is available to help you. The school administrator or designee will complete a determination within two school days and will complete the Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation Investigation form. Your school administrator will then contact you to discuss the results of the investigation, as well as any decision regarding consequences or remedial actions.
Please feel free to contact your school administrator or your child’s therapist for further details or with any questions you may have about the anti-bullying policy.
Lead Testing at VMS
Pursuant to legislation signed by Governor Larry Hogan, all Maryland schools are required to sample all drinking water outlets for the presence of lead. The law does not require non-drinking outlets like bathroom sinks and utility sinks to be tested. At Villa Maria School (VMS), however, we recently tested all water outlets, regardless of whether the outlets are used for drinking water or not.
An environmental consultant collected samples from all water outlets at VMS in June and then conducted retesting over the summer. All of the samples but two were found to be below 20 ppb (parts per billion), the level above which follow-up action is indicated. The water fountain located in the Middle School hallway initially tested at 20.5 ppb (0.5 ppb above the designated level). After the water line was flushed, however, a follow-up sample from the fountain tested at only 3 ppb. A sink in the girl’s bathroom located in the Middle School hallway tested above 20 ppb. Out of an abundance of caution, both the water fountain and sink have been removed from service.
Click here to view or download the pdf of Villa Mara School Lead Testing Results.
For any questions, please contact Agatha Callahan, Associate Administrator/Director of Education, Villa Maria School, acallahan@cc-md.org, 667-600-3106.
For additional information about lead in drinking water, including ways to test and reduce exposure to lead in your home and water outlets, visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s website at https://www.epa.gov/lead
Villa Maria Diagnostic Prescriptive Program
The Diagnostic Prescriptive Program is a non-public, educational program that provides a transitional, instructional program not to exceed an average of 60 school days to students who are placed in the Diagnostic Unit at St. Vincent’s Villa, a residential program licensed by the Department of Human Resources.
The Diagnostic Prescriptive Program serves boys and girls ages 4 through 13 who are residing in the St. Vincent’s Villa Diagnostic Unit, primarily for the purpose of receiving a complete diagnostic evaluation (although some are placed for the purpose of providing a transition period before re-entering the local public school system). The educational program is vital to the program’s overall mission of providing a structured and supportive environment to address developmental, psychological, social or behavioral issues.
School-based Crisis Intervention and Diagnostic Service
We offer a short-term day program for children with emotional disabilities. The primary objectives of the program are to identify and address clinical needs and to develop an appropriate educational plan. Children 6-13 years old are eligible, subject to approval by their local school system.
Contact: Noel Alexander, School Placement Supervisor, 667-600-3103.
Accreditations
Our schools are approved by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). Our diagnostic school at St. Vincent’s Villa is licensed by the Department of Human Resources and approved as a Type III school by MSDE.
ST. VINCENT’S VILLA
Villa Maria School is a proud member of MANSEF – the Maryland Association of Non-Public Special Education Facilities.
