Education

The Morrison Center (MC), a non-profit organization that has been serving the greater Portland area for more than 60 years, was started by advocates of children with cerebral palsy in the 1960s and operated by volunteers for many years. By 2006 the program had grown to offer a wide variety of education and training programs and support services throughout southern Maine while their facilities underperformed their needs. The Morrison Center’s Scarborough Headquarters was conceived and planned over a three-year period with the objective to transform their underperforming facilities and accommodate substantially more community need. Located on a portion of what was once a historic Scarborough Golf Course, the expansion provided an ideal location for the organization to settle into for the next 50 years. The new Morrison Center provided an expanded program in new spaces that now includes a full K-12 educational school, early childhood advisory services, therapy services, case management and adult community support programs. The facility offers amenities common in traditional schools such as a full gymnasium and dining areas, but unique to the Morrison Center, a greenhouse program offers students hands-on learning opportunities. Since the completion of this facility, the Morrison Center has expanded into several satellite facilities in Wells and Portland with the support of CWS Architects.