Mary Cariola Center

School mission

Mary Cariola Center is a member of the The NYS Coalition of 853 Schools which is dedicated to advocating, assisting and representing schools which support and educate special education students.

Our teachers, aides and clinicians support more than 400 children and young adults from age 3 to 22 years old. These students come from ten counties and 50 school districts as far away as Hornell and Seneca Falls. Some families have even relocated from across the country, because there’s no other place quite like Mary Cariola.

All of the individuals we serve typically have intellectual disabilities and other challenges, including:

• A degenerative condition
• Emotional problems
• Behavioral issues
• Autism
• Cerebral palsy
• Epilepsy

Our School Age Program provides full-day educational programming for students 5 to 22 years of age. This educational programming is individualized and specialized to meet the complex needs of our students based on the significance of their disabilities. Through evidenced-based decision-making, interdisciplinary professional teams utilize innovative educational and therapeutic programming to insure the students make noted progress on their goals.

In addition to services received as part of a student’s mandated Individualized Educational Program,(Speech, Occupational, Physical and Vision Therapies), students also receive Adapted Physical Education, Music Therapy, Social Work/Counseling support, Behavioral Programming and when at the appropriate age, Transition Programming, as part of their school day.

How to apply

Preschool Program: comes from the student’s home school district.
School Age:

1. Referrals are made by the Committee on Special Education at your home school district.
2. Students must go through an Intake Process
3. Initial referrals should be made directly to the School Program Director, who works directly with an Intake Committee