MAAPS shares in award from leading school for the deaf

The Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools (MAAPS), the statewide association of schools serving students with special needs, is grateful to announce that MAAPS has been honored by the Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), together with Attorney Janine Brown-Smith of Brown-Smith Attorneys at Law, for their collective work advocating for and supporting MAAPS member schools throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

MAAPS, which is based in Stoneham, received CCCBSD’s Joanie Vaughan Ingraham Spirit Award, which comes with a $10,000 sponsorship to MAAPS, generously donated by many sponsors, along with Attorney Brown-Smith in recognition of the months of work both invested in helping MAAPS member schools’ students, faculty, staff, and families persevere through the pandemic. Among many other services, MAAPS and Brown-Smith Attorneys at Law helped schools secure personal protective equipment, vaccines, and access to state and federal emergency funding.

Dr. Mark Carlson, CCCBSD president and executive director, said, “MAAPS Executive Director Elizabeth Becker and her staff and Janine and her firm have acted as our conduit to state and local agencies, helped us create best COVID practices and policies, and they are now helping our schools look to the future. It has been said that leadership is not a position or title, but an action or an example, and Elizabeth, Janine, and their teams have provided critically important leadership in guiding approved special education schools during these times of uncertainty.”

Ms. Becker said: “On behalf of all my colleagues at MAAPS, I want to express how deeply honored and grateful we are to join the list of recipients of CCCBSD’s prestigious Joanie Vaughan Ingraham Spirit Award. For more than 145 years, CCCBSD has done extraordinary work in educating and meeting the therapeutic needs of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have unique developmental and communication challenges, epitomizing the commitment of all MAAPS members to be exceptional schools for exceptional children.”

“We also want to thank and congratulate Janine for her partnership and leadership during this crisis,’’ Ms. Becker added. “For many years, Janine has been a trusted, wise counselor for MAAPS as an association and for our member schools in navigating all the complexities of special-education law and compliance with state, local, and federal laws and regulations.’’

MAAPS will contribute its $10,000 sponsorship directly back to services for the schools, staff, and students who make up the extraordinary community of the Approved Special Education Schools.

About MAAPS

The Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools (MAAPS) was founded in 1978 as a statewide association of schools dedicated to providing educational programs and services to students with special needs, particularly students from Massachusetts public school districts who require specialized education programs and services as guaranteed by the Massachusetts Constitution and the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). MAAPS represents about 80 member schools serving approximately 8,000 children with special needs from Massachusetts and other states and countries. MAAPS’ mission is to represent special education schools in their goal of providing the highest quality education to students with special needs.