Seven Hills, state save school serving disabled kids

By Ruth Ward
Commentary
I am sure that many in our part of the state have heard of Crotched Mountain School. For years, it was the best place for children with a physical or developmental disability.

What you may not know is that Crotched Mountain, unfortunately, closed its doors in the Fall of 2022. Parents had one month to arrange a different placement for their child. These kids have very special needs and, for many, going back to their public school was simply not an option. What to do became a huge concern for parents and education advocates alike.

State Education Commissionner Frank Edelblut learned about the situation and understood that the services that Crotched Mountain School provided were crucial to the welfare of these vulnerable students. He contacted the school’s owner and David Jordan, the president and CEO of Seven Hills and worked with them and negotiated an agreement, in record time, by which Seven Hills took over Crotched Mountain.

This past week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Seven Hills School and Villages, the new school for students with functional and intellectual disabilities. Seven Hills is new to New Hampshire but not to New England. It started in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1953 as the Worcester Area Association of Retarded Children (WAARC). Its services and who it serves changed over the years and, in 1995, the name was changed to Seven Hills Foundation and Affiliates.

This year, Seven Hills celebrated 70 years of service. Its brochure states: “ Thanks to investments in physical resources, staff development and education, technology and ongoing improvements to clinical care, Seven Hills has maintained the highest standards of excellence and has become the standard-bearer of a successful integrated health and human services network.”

Seven Hills President David Jordan gave an overview of what has done in the past year to get the program up to speed. Staff apartments have been updated. At least one group-home has been renovated and those who will live in the group-home will be able to have their own additional personal items in their rooms. A small house will be used as the “nurses’ station.”

The Seven Hills School is located in a rural area, thus the staff apartments. Not many rental units in the area.

The thing that impressed me most was how passionate the staff I met were about the care and education of the students. The opportunities for students to grow was a big focus.

Much like the previous school, Seven Hills invites the community to make use of some of its facilities. There was a nice playground and walking trails. One of the trails was pretty level and WC accessible. There is a big swimming pool in the sports complex. I was told that this was the pool where life guards would be certified. Now that the pool is open, we may hopefully have more life-guards next summer. A therapeutic pool was also available.

Presently there are about 70 day students and 250 families are waiting for more of the school to open, especially for residential students. The building crew is working hard to renovate rooms and buildings to allow acceptance of the students who are waiting. Seven Hills recognizes that some students need continuing support after they “age out.” That’s where the “Villages” come in. It’s a place for older students to live and continue to learn and acquire life skills.

I am grateful that New Hampshire will continue to have care and education available for those with developmental, physical and intellectual challenges. Thank you to David Jordan, the previous ownership of Crotched Mountain School and Commissioner Edelblut for working quickly to assure the transition.

— Sen. Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard) represents District 8 in the New Hampshire Senate.