A History of the Bradley Schools

Bradley Hospital has been providing educational services to children since its founding in 1931. For years, education was a component of a residential type of program at the hospital. In the late 1960s, an increased focus was placed on ensuring that students kept pace with their grade level peers.

The current Bradley School model began to evolve in the early 1990s. The focus shifted from one where treatment was often the primary concern to one where interventions served the purpose of supporting education. This led to a growth in the Bradley School and its community programs.

In 1994, a Bradley school opened in Middletown, RI, and later moved to Portsmouth. This addressed the issue of students traveling far from their communities to attend specialized programming. From this program, community-based classrooms were first implemented, as the first partnership classrooms opened in Middletown.

These embedded classrooms allowed students to receive special education services in a more inclusive environment, with access to the mainstream programs in the schools.