Student Profile

All LPS students have language challenges as their primary disability. Their language deficits have limited their ability to learn, and as a result, many have previous histories of school failure. Students arrive at LPS working at least two grade levels below what their age would dictate. For the most part, these students are dependent learners i.e., they do not learn from their environment or pick up skills from watching others. When they enter LPS, students cannot use reading as a functional tool to learn. In addition to their language problems, LPS students often have visual, perceptual or motor deficits, significant social and self-esteem issues, and often have attention deficit disorder, or other secondary disabilities which interfere with their ability to learn.

LPS provides services to 120 students between the ages of 7 and 13 in the Elementary and Middle School Programs and 180 students between the ages of 14 and 22 in the 8th Grade and High School Programs. Students come from over 110 communities throughout New England. Many come from inner cities. Minorities make up 17 percent of the LPS student body, including students of African-American, Hispanic, and Asian descent.