Located in Rochester NH, the Rochester Learning Academy (RLA) is a NH Department of Education approved special education program serving students with disabilities in grades 6-12. RLA ensures that its written policies comply with the provisions of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the State of NH RSA Chapter 186-C Special Education. RLA is approved to serve male and female students with identified disabilities in the areas of Specific Language Impairment (SLI), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Other Health Impairment (OHI), Emotional Disturbance (ED), Autism and Specific Learning Disorder (SLD). RLA is approved to take a maximum of 28 full time students. Depending on individual circumstances, students have access to extra curriculum and other school events through their sending school district.

RLA is a school designed to meet the unique needs of special education students through small class sizes of approximately 10 students per class. RLA offers core curriculum, electives, unified arts, and Extended Learning Opportunities. Along with academic areas, students access social emotional learning curriculum through RLA clubs, counseling, and individualized plans. RLA offers a focus on transition through Future Pathways. Its objective is to identify ways to align transition goals to core curriculum and activities that support life beyond high school.

Rochester Learning Academy believes every student can achieve success. This is accomplished by focusing on supporting desired behaviors, developing positive and constructive relationships with families, and maintaining a high standard for student engagement throughout their learning experience. Our school’s academic philosophy focuses on interdisciplinary relevance and application based learning through a Project Based Learning model (PBL). Our students learn best by seeing the context of what they are learning within a framework they understand. As a competency-based school, students are expected to demonstrate mastery of competencies before receiving credit. Courses are aligned to the NH State Standards.