About Our School

The Children’s Guild: Transformation Academy is a nonpublic special education school serving students in grades K-12 with a primary diagnosis of autism and may have coexisting diagnoses of intellectual and multiple disabilities. We take pride in meeting each student’s individualized needs and matching our instruction with each student’s learning style in a caring and nurturing environment. 

The program provides special education and related services to ages 5*-21, with a graded program K-8, and a functional program for students working towards a Maryland High School Certificate of Program Completion ages 5*-21.   The enrollment capacity for the school is 100 students. 

The Children’s Guild: Transformation Academy is an affiliate of The Children’s Guild, founded in 1953, is accredited by the National Commission for the Accreditation of Special Education Services, is approved by the Maryland State Department of Education as a nonpublic school serving children with emotional disabilities, intellectual limitation, and multiple disabilities, and is licensed by the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene as an out-patient mental health clinic.  The Guild is an affiliated agency of the United Way of Central Maryland, the Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) and The District of Columbia Association for Special Education (DCASE). All programs follow the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards, in addition to the Baltimore County Curriculum, Baltimore City Curriculum, Anne Arundel County Curriculum, Harford County Curriculum, District of Columbia Learning Outcomes, and the “EFLS” Essentials for Living Vocational Curriculum as needed. 

The Children’s Guild: Transformation Academy admits students ages 5*-21 in grades K-12.

The curriculum offerings include the core subjects – English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. At Transformation Academy, we enhance this curriculum by focusing on independent living skills, activities of daily living, and job readiness skills. These are interwoven throughout the program for all students, beginning with independent living skills and activities of daily living for pre-transitional age students. When students enter transitional age, these skills continue with an added layer of job readiness training, provided onsite and through community-based partnerships.

All student instruction is directed by an individualized education program (IEP).  All professional staff are certified and/or licensed.  The school calendar and schedule are provided to the parent/guardian and the local school system(s) (LSS) at intake and at the beginning of the school year.  Any revisions to the calendar and schedules are distributed to the parent/guardian and the LSS as necessary during the school year. 

*Kindergarten students must be 5 years old by Sept. 1, 2021