Longview School

 Longview History

Program Description

Longview School, Germantown, Md. is a model of services for children and adolescents with severe and profound disabilities. Longview School is on the campus of Spark Matsunaga ES. With an enrollment of almost 1,000 students, Matsunaga ES is one of the largest elementary schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools, a system educating over 135,000 students. This MCPS program facilitates student inclusion in the general education program along with the transition initiatives that benefit each child. Matsunaga/Longview opened in 2001. Although Longview is designated as a “separate day school,” it is integrated into the activities of the Matsunaga ES general education program. Matsunaga/Longview was constructed from the ground up to provide this inclusive arrangement.

Longview has a yearly enrollment of about 50 children and adolescents. There are 11 classrooms, each staffed with a teacher and paraeducators. Longview students range from 5 to 21 years of age. Along with primary, intermediate, and senior grade level classes, there are classes in aquatics, art, music, and physical education. Using adaptive technology, students have access to the Internet and specialized computer programs in each classroom. A large selection of books and audio/visual materials are available in the Longview Media Center, the location a fully equipped computer lab. Paraeducators provide individualized instruction and support in the classroom and “coaching” when the students spend time in the community. Overall, Longview has a staff of just fewer than 70 folks. Classroom teachers and administrative staff are bolstered by a media specialist, a vision specialist, a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students, a social worker, a psychologist, and occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, assistive technology specialists, and registered nurses (from the county department of health).