Two elementary students outside

About Marie Philip School

Where deaf and hard of hearing students thrive.

Marie Philip School (MPS), our Pre-K - 12+ day* school, enrolls nearly 200 deaf and hard of hearing students on our Framingham campus.  We are proud of our history as the first school in the United States to have adopted the ASL/English bilingual, bicultural model in a K-12 educational setting.

*We also offer residential options. 

Inside Marie Philip School

Early Childhood Center

The Early Childhood Center at MPS enrolls deaf and hard-of-hearing children aged 0-6.  Our ECE program is distinctive in our expertise in developing age-appropriate cognitive, communication, language and social skills for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Learn more about Early Childhood Education

Elementary School

The MPS Elementary School offers a robust and accredited educational program that benefits deaf and hard of hearing students throughout Massachusetts.  Students in grades 1 - 5 study a typical elementary school curriculum, with the addition of ASL and Deaf Studies. As is the case with all of our programs, the Elementary Program encourages the use of both American Sign Language (ASL) and English in instruction in order to build literacy in both languages.

Learn More about MPS Elementary

Secondary School

The MPS Secondary School enrolls deaf and hard of hearing students throughout Massachusetts and beyond. Students in the MPS Secondary Program (middle + high school) enroll in a blend of rigorous academic and life skills courses that ultimately prepare them for college or a rewarding career in a variety of fields.  

Learn more about MPS Secondary

Residential Program

Two students doing artwork.

MPS offers students the opportunity to reside on campus during the school week available for qualifying students in the middle and high school programs. Our residential programs teaches vital transition skills needed for post-graduate life. Our residential program offers a “home-like” atmosphere, with varying levels of staff support, engaging students in developing independent living skills in a supportive community environment.

Learn more about MPS Residential Program

Support Services

teacher signing to a student.

We provide a continuum of services that ensure every student at The Learning Center including Marie Philip School and Walden School have the support they need to succeed. This includes a comprehensive school counseling program, a skilled nursing division, communication access services, school library and more. 

Learn more about Support Services

MPS Galloping Ghosts

Early Childhood Center

The Early Childhood Center at MPS enrolls deaf and hard-of-hearing children aged 0-6.  Our ECE program is distinctive in our expertise in developing age-appropriate cognitive, communication, language and social skills for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Learn more about Early Childhood Education

Elementary School

The MPS Elementary School offers a robust and accredited educational program that benefits deaf and hard of hearing students throughout Massachusetts.  Students in grades 1 - 5 study a typical elementary school curriculum, with the addition of ASL and Deaf Studies. As is the case with all of our programs, the Elementary Program encourages the use of both American Sign Language (ASL) and English in instruction in order to build literacy in both languages.

Learn More about MPS Elementary

Secondary School

The MPS Secondary School enrolls deaf and hard of hearing students throughout Massachusetts and beyond. Students in the MPS Secondary Program (middle + high school) enroll in a blend of rigorous academic and life skills courses that ultimately prepare them for college or a rewarding career in a variety of fields.  

Learn more about MPS Secondary

Residential Program

Two students doing artwork.

MPS offers students the opportunity to reside on campus during the school week available for qualifying students in the middle and high school programs. Our residential programs teaches vital transition skills needed for post-graduate life. Our residential program offers a “home-like” atmosphere, with varying levels of staff support, engaging students in developing independent living skills in a supportive community environment.

Learn more about MPS Residential Program

Support Services

teacher signing to a student.

We provide a continuum of services that ensure every student at The Learning Center including Marie Philip School and Walden School have the support they need to succeed. This includes a comprehensive school counseling program, a skilled nursing division, communication access services, school library and more. 

Learn more about Support Services

MPS Galloping Ghosts

Student Learning & Assessments

MPS offers a full range of academics, including Honors and Advanced Placement courses, along with vocational training courses as well as intensive classes for students who have learning disabilities or developmental disabilities.  

MPS administers standardized and state-mandated assessments to the students.  MPS uses the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) which is a computerized and adaptive assessment that helps determine a student’s instructional level and academic growth in grades 2-12.  The MAP assessment focuses on yearly progress in areas of Reading, Math, Language Usage and Science.  

As a private school that receives public funding, MPS has students take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), a state-mandated assessment that is tied into students’ graduation requirements. 

Additionally, as there are many assessments for English, MPS offers a unique and specialized ASL assessment to also track the individual student’s development in this language between ages 4-18.  The American Sign Language Assessment Instrument (ASLAI) consists of 11 receptive tasks: five related to vocabulary, three pertaining to syntax, and two reasoning and comprehension tasks.

This information is used by teachers to best utilize instructional strategies to anchor students’ growth. 

From our first day,  I had an overwhelming sense of destiny that this is where we belonged.  He has thrived in his years at TLC and to see him surrounded by children and adults who know ASL and communicate with him freely is incredible.  The barriers to language and full inclusion that sometimes exist in the wider world, don't exist at TLC and William can be himself 100% of the time. He is becoming a proud, confident Deaf boy through his time at The Learning Center.  

I am eternally grateful to The Learning Center for the Deaf for providing my whole family a community and language. 

Jen F.
Parent of MPS Student

Frequently Asked Questions

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