High Road School of Anne Arundel County
High Road School of Anne Arundel County is a nonpublic education program designed specifically to meet the individualized academic, behavioral, and therapeutic needs of students requiring special education services. Our highly structured program serves students with emotional/behavioral disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities, as well as other disabilities under IDEA. Students are referred to our program by local school systems (Anne Arundel County Public Schools and those in surrounding counties).
Contact Us
Download Brochure

- (P) 410.846.5282
- (F) 443.688.6354
- 1131 Benfield Boulevard
Millersville, MD 21108
Meet the Team
Clare Young – Program Director; Director of Education
Clare has worked for High Road Schools since 2004, when she started as an Assistant Teacher in a high school classroom. She has worked in various roles during her 15 years with the company, including Assistant Teacher, Teacher, Head Teacher, Associate Director, Program Director, and Director of Education. She opened High Road School of Anne Arundel County as a sister school to High Road School of Baltimore County on November 3, 2010. Clare earned a BA in English from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and after a year in Special Education went back to pursue a degree in Education, earning her M.Ed. in Special Education from Loyola College. She is a certified Special Educator in the state of Maryland and believes in equal educational opportunities for all students.
Tara Chander – Associate Director; Lead Autism Support
Tara is a certified Special Educator currently pursuing a Masters in Special Education with a concentration of Teacher as a Leader in Autism Spectrum Disorders at Towson University. She graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Certificate in Early Childhood Education. Tara joined the High Road School of Anne Arundel County as a Teacher in 2011, where she then became the Head Teacher. She has been the Associate Director at the same location since 2017. Tara is passionate about learning new strategies and interventions related to Autism Spectrum Disorders and helping implement them in our school to help our students grow. She believes that every child has the ability to be successful and is dedicated to helping students achieve their goals to reach their full potential
Kevin Savage – Associate Director
Kevin has been working in education since 2008 after earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education in Citizenship Education from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Kevin joined the High Road School team in 2012 when he began as a social studies teacher in Baltimore City. Kevin moved to High Road School of Anne Arundel country as a teacher, moving to Head Teacher, and now embracing his new role as Associate Director. Kevin believes in helping the individual student access their education through enriched and purposeful curriculum, humility and accountability.
Our Students
Students are referred by their school district to attend High Road School, and are generally in grades K–12 (aged 5 to 21). They face disabilities in a variety of areas, including Autism, Emotional Disability, Other Health Impairments, and more.
Our Staff
We are proud to employ certified special education teachers, staff trained in crisis intervention, full time social workers, a school psychiatrist, a speech-language pathologist, and occupational therapy services.
Students attending the High Road School of Anne Arundel County work toward transitioning back to a less restrictive environment and/or pursuing a Maryland high school diploma or Certificate of Completion.
Utilizing four specific instructional rotations, students are assessed academically, gain self-regulation skills, learn with district-aligned academic curriculums, and utilize integrated technology.
Each student enrolled in the model has individualized behavior programming which is driven by Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBA). We aim to identify the behaviors that continue to disrupt our student’s ability to access their environment and learning. We then use the data collected from the FBA and classroom data to device strategies that get to the root function of the students disrupted behaviors.
Transition Program
All of the programming that is designed to transition the student from school to work emphasizes preparation for productive employment after graduation. To make this employment as successful and fulfilling as possible, we help the student explore his or her interests and then build upon natural talents in choosing possible career paths. As students mature, we encourage them to gradually become more self-reliant. Our Transition Services staff aids in this process by giving the students just the right amount of independence and interaction with the wider community, while still providing the supports necessary for the students to feel secure and confident.
School-to-Work Program
Our School-to-Work Program offers students the opportunity to participate in true-to-life jobs within the school setting. The end goal of the program is to develop the students’ employment skills and social skills in order to maximize their potential for success in the real world. As such, students seek to obtain jobs by first filling out an application and interviewing for the position they are interested in, as they would in real life. Once the student obtains a suitable position at school, they are held accountable for their attendance and performance, so we work with them on such aspects of employment as punctuality, responsibility, and working independently. Many of the jobs the students procure involve our student-run, on-the-premises retail business. Students participating in the School-to-Work Program are trained to operate many of the state-of the-art machines that make customized products for sale through this retail business.
Student Spotlight
Resources
Allyson Buchanan
High Road School of Anne Arundel County
2022-2023 Campus Winner