By Jessica Willis, Berkshire Eagle Staff

GREAT BARRINGTON — With its collection of low, unassuming buildings set far back off the road, Berkshire Meadows could be a new housing complex on a most desirable stretch of North Plain Road.

Every so often, says Liisa Kelly, Berkshire Meadows's program director, someone does come knocking, wanting to know if there are any units available.

"People really think we're a new housing development," she said with a shrug. "Up until a few years ago, we didn't even have a sign out front. Not that we wanted to be invisible."

Yes, Berkshire Meadows is a housing complex — but it's a special one.

As a 55-bed residential school, with two off-campus houses, the facility cares for people with severe to profound developmental disorders. Many of the residents cannot speak or walk, and progress, Kelly says, is measured over a span of weeks and months.

An eight-week project, she said, might be to get a resident to make eye contact with a teacher.

"Everything here takes a long, long time," she added. "Our progress is slow. For some, it might be that they move their arm two inches, as opposed to one."

Kelly was standing near the indoor pool, watching as three residents floated in the warm water, cradled in the arms of their staff guardians.

"There has been a trend toward trying to mainstream these kids," she said. "And, in the past, there has been criticism about grouping them together. If these students were in the general education population, people would give up hope on them."

The 15.9-acre complex, which has been at its present location since 1989, is composed of a "dayhab" program for adults over the age of 21, and a Department of Education-approved school program for residents under 21.

Of the 57 residents who currently live on- and off-campus, the oldest is 40, and the youngest is eight, Kelly said.

A majority of the residents are from Massachusetts, but there are also some from New Jersey and Connecticut, she said. For the school-aged residents, Berkshire Meadows' tuition — which is about $189,000 a year — is paid for by their school district. For adult residents, the state's Department of Mental Retardation picks up the annual cost, which is about $80,000.

The facility employs 140 staff members, and at any given time of day or night, almost a third of them are on duty.

"It's around-the-clock here," she said. "Staff immediately can tell if someone is having a bad day or if someone has a cold."

Kelly added that many parents of severely disabled children are worried that their child will be forgotten or neglected if they are enrolled in a residential facility.

"They're afraid no one will take care of them," she said. "But this is a place where their child can develop."

And watched every step of the way, often by teachers who have been working for Berkshire Meadows for two decades or more.

"It's rewarding and wonderful here," said Karen Byrne, a 27-year veteran at Berkshire Meadows.

She gently guided her student Leon's hand, as he held a crayon to paper, and added, "every day, you come here and are surrounded by love."

To reach Jessica Willis: jwillis@berkshireeagle.com, (413) 528-3660.