Mission / History

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Harwood Center’s mission is to enable children with special developmental needs to reach their full potential.

Our goal is to assist students in achieving and demonstrating more positive development in cognitive, social, language, motor and self-help skills.

Founded in 1957, Harwood functioned as a United Cerebral Palsy Day Care center until 1970.  Harwood then entered into an agreement with the University of Tennessee’s Child Development Center, now UT’s Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (“UT”), allowing Harwood to occupy its present Downtown location in the Boling Center.  Harwood also became associated with UT’s special education department as a comprehensive educational program for children with developmental disabilities. In 1992, Harwood Center opened a satellite classroom within the Memphis Jewish Community Center.  In 1999, the Tennessee Department of Education (“TDOE”) designated Harwood an Early Intervention Resource Agency (“EIRA”) and provided partial funding for Harwood’s operations by contract. Harwood is the only agency in Shelby and surrounding counties funded by the TDOE to provide specialized programs for children under three with autism spectrum disorders.