The Auburn Model is a unique way of embedding social thinking and learning into our academic curriculum, our teaching and even our assessment. It is designed to help students learn about themselves and their relationships to others and to apply that beyond the classroom and into their everyday lives.

Through our partnerships with families, we help children construct bridges from their in-school learning to their worlds outside of school, and as such, we achieve our ultimate goal: for students to generalize and to apply what they learn to novel contexts, and to become independent learners equipped to navigate a complex social world.

The Auburn Model provides direct instruction, guidance, and support from trained professionals for our students' unique social, behavioral, sensory and communication needs throughout the day. Our students gain confidence with guided practice and application to various settings throughout the school day. We support our students as they take risks, make mistakes, and master new skills. Organizationally, and individually, we are optimistic, positive and supportive in our work.

“I think that my son has found not only friends, but soul-mates at Auburn. He feels like his teachers care about him so much that he has stated ‘it’s like being with family.’ The support and encouragement he is receiving is invaluable to us. He seems to really enjoy going to school at Auburn and this is having a wonderfully positive impact on our family life at home. We are so thankful to have found a school that will truly support his needs, celebrate his strengths, and help him to overcome his challenges in an atmosphere filled with understanding and love.”

Making it Our Mission

At The Auburn School, we are passionate about our mission of cultivating social growth. Our entire organization is designed and built around this important purpose, which makes us unique from other schools. From our classroom teachers to our office staff, every person in our organization is knowledgeable and excited about what we do. We take our mission into account in every aspect of school operations, including all of our hiring, curriculum development and program design.

Friendship & Happiness

We believe, and research has shown, that friendship and happiness are non-trivial aspects of a student’s success at school and in the community. Our students share many interests and talents in common. This leads to a strong sense of community and the creation of friendships that might not otherwise occur in traditional settings. At Auburn, our students’ unique differences become reasons for academic success and social inclusion. The overall environment is one of cultivating personal self-confidence, happiness and well-being.