Christopher Donovan Day School to close after nearly 20 years in business

The Christopher Donovan Day School and Donovan Day Center for Child Development located in Onset is closing its doors after nearly 20 years of serving kids and families all across South Eastern Massachusetts.

The school and center is a private school that offers specialized instruction and support to high needs students and their families. The alternative school setting offers a modified curriculum for students unable to attend a traditional school setting for various reasons including autism, social and emotional challenges and more.

The school was founded by its current administrator Helen Bradbury as a tribute to her son, the school’s namesake, who passed away in 2005 at 22-years-old. After one year in Carver, she relocated the school to Recovery Road, then to its current location in the former Hammond School where it has been for over 10 years.

Bradbury, who has several certifications for teaching special education, said the school is closing because she is retiring and did not want to see the school she started as a tribute to her son stray from its original purpose under a new owner.

“I really didn’t want to sell it because we do very individualized and personalized programs and I didn’t want it to get caught up in the corporate world and be against the small nurturing environment that we had,” she said. 

Bradbury added the school did not just teach kids, but families too.

“We worked with the families so that they learned the skills to carry into the home and we’d go out into the home too,” she said.

Over the years, Bradbury said many students have succeeded at the school, improving their skills and even surpassing their peers.

“Just a few years ago we had one student that went back to her home district and was actually able to skip a grade because she was ahead of everyone,” Bradbury said. “She’s actually graduating this year and she’s just going to turn 17.”

And one of the most rewarding parts of the job for Bradbury was being a part of the kids’ and families’ lives.

“We had a preschooler with a very complex medical situation and to see his growth was just amazing,” she said. “You almost become part of the family.”

Over the past year, Bradbury has been working with families to place their children in similar, high quality schools before its Dec. 30 closure. Currently there are three students still at the school who will move elsewhere at the end of the month.

The school is located in a portion of the former Hammond School in Onset which is owned by the town. Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said there are no immediate plans for the space.

At Spring Town Meeting earlier this year, voters approved allocating $60,000 from the community preservation fund to assess the building's exterior.

The building is currently used by the Wareham Tigers Athletics Association and its competitive cheerleading off-shoot, Wareham Tigers Cheer Athletics for practices.

Previously the Hammond School housed a chapter of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Bedford until the organization abruptly closed the Wareham chapter in 2021.