Ben Shifrin, the longtime head of Jemicy School, has some advice for parents of children with learning differences.
“Never lower your expectations for your child,” he says. “Don’t lower the bar for them. Offer an alternative route to get to the bar.”
That philosophy guides the educational approach at Jemicy, the Owings Mills school founded in 1972 for students in grades one through 12 with language-based learning differences.
The school provides small class sizes of eight to 12 students, and a multisensory approach that incorporates activity and arts. For example, young students might learn letter shapes by tracing them in shaving cream. Or students might throw a ball from one student to the next to designate the next speaker.
Shifrin, head of school at Jemicy since 2002, knows from experience that these techniques work. He was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in fifth grade and is now an expert on learning differences and education.
Federal law requires that all public and most private schools provide reasonable accommodations that allow students to access educational opportunities. For students with learning differences, that might include equipment like audio readers, help organizing study notes, or additional time for test-taking.
Several Baltimore-area independent schools, including Jemicy, Baltimore Lab School, The Highlands School and The Odyssey School were created specifically for students with learning differences. They favor interactive and individualized approaches over a sit-and-listen-to-a-lecture style of instruction, and teach students organization skills and self-advocacy.
Leaders of all these schools stress the importance of getting to know each student’s learning style in order to tailor their education plans accordingly. That starts with a comprehensive professional evaluation of their cognitive, academic and socio-emotional functioning, known as a psychological educational evaluation.
“I have a school of 455 dyslexic kids and no two are alike,” Shifrin says. “When a parent calls me and says, ‘My son just got a diagnosis of dyslexia,’ I always want to see the testing.”
Claudia Nachtigal, head of school at The Highlands School, agrees. “We tailor their education based on that report,” she says.
The school, based in Bel Air, accepts students in kindergarten through grade eight with language-based learning differences, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, executive functioning issues, depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
With just 70 students, the school has small class sizes and a full-time counselor, so “each student gets a lot of attention,” Nachtigal says.
The school uses the Wilson Reading System, which provides multisensory, structured reading lessons for people with dyslexia; and Orton-Gillingham principles of making instruction as direct, multisensory and interactive as possible.
To help students learn social skills, the mornings start with 45 minutes of an activity that requires communication and collaboration. For example, explains Nachtigal, it could start with a shoe in the classroom circle, and students challenged to find out whose shoe it is and greet that person. Then everyone would get a turn to say their favorite shoe and why. The activity could conclude with students silently lining up from smallest to largest shoe size, and then talking about what it means to walk in somebody else’s shoes.
Students also go to executive functioning skills classes that teach how to take notes, keep a schedule and study. Details like binders coded by subject help them stay organized. “Everything we do, from start to finish, has been done to help your kid grow as a confident and independent learner,” says Nachtigal.
The Odyssey School was founded in 1994 by parents who could not find the right learning environment for their smart yet academically struggling children. It started in Baltimore with 20 students and now welcomes about 165 K-8 students diagnosed with language learning differences to its 42-acre Lutherville campus.
It boasts a student-to-teacher ratio of three-to-one and provides specialized instruction that builds on student strengths, teaches how to compensate for weaknesses and instills a love of learning and the ability to self-advocate.
Baltimore Lab School, founded in 2000 as a division of the Lab School of Washington, became independent from it in 2014 while retaining its first-in-the-nation program for bright, motivated students in grades one through 12 with learning differences.
The focus is on small class sizes, with four to six students per teacher; and an arts-integrated program that incorporates music, drama, dance and visual art. For example, audio and graphic novels are embraced.
The program is notable in that it breaks lessons and assignments into manageable chunks, says Education Director Jennifer Kelleher. For example, she says, students might be asked to read a single paragraph and answer one question about it. The school staff includes counselors, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists. The day includes frequent breaks for activities like throwing a weighted ball or jumping on a trampoline, and students can ask for a break from the classroom whenever they want.
“While we instruct using state standards and local school system curriculum, we teach those skills through a lot of hands on and experiential learning, while incorporating student strengths and allowing them to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways, other than just through paper/pencil tasks,” Kelleher says.
Support for Students Who Need It
Many independent schools that were not created specifically for students with learning differences have robust programs for students who need them.
The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, for example, offers an Educational Support Services (ESS) Program that provides individualized learning plans and teaches strategies for studying, time management, active reading and self-advocacy.
ESS is designed to support students who are diagnosed with language[1]based learning differences and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), though it is available to all students, including some who tap the learning assistance for a single class or assignment.
“We do not modify our curriculum,” says Stephanie McLoughlin, director of Marketing & Communications. “Rather, our program is designed to supplement grade-level instruction, ensuring that every student is prepared for the rigors of our curriculum, college, and life beyond school.”
Concordia Prep, in Towson, has Giguere, a program for students in grades six through 12 with diagnosed learning differences including dyslexia, dysgraphia, severe anxiety, ADHD and being on the autism spectrum.
The program, named for Irene Giguere, who started the program at Concordia Prep in 1975, promotes “inclusive excellence.” About 10 percent of Concordia Prep’s 430 students are in the program, although there is no cap, says Welbourn.
Many of the students applying for the program have an IEP, 504 or psych-ed evaluation from the last two years and are already receiving accommodations in their current school, says program director Emily Welbourn.
“If they don’t have those and parents are seeing challenges, then we help them get that information through private testing options or guide them through the process of getting tested through their local school system,” she says. “We use those results as our roadmap to best help students.”
Giguere students take classes with their peers, and also elective periods to teach functioning and study skills, and help students understand and use their accommodations. Welbourne also provides one-on-one homework and study help, and offers additional support as needed during office hours mid-day and before and after school.
“The main goal of the classes we offer with the Giguere program is to let students know that their learning difference does not define them,” says Welbourn. “It’s the first time for a lot of them that they’ve had someone believe in them and tell them they are capable.”
This article is part of the 2024-2025 Guide to Baltimore Independent Schools.
