Lab School of Washington
Encyclopedia
The Lab School of Washington is a school for students with learning difficulties, founded by Sally Lieberman Smith
, an American educator who taught at American University
, where she directed the Graduate Program in Learning Disabilities since 1976 to 2007 after her death(in early December in 2007). Katherine Schantz, then directed the school from 2007–present. Most of the graduate program's students receive their training at the Lab School and then move on to other schools around the nation.
was faced with her son Gary's difficulties with learning in school. She started home schooling Gary and eventually began teaching other children faced with similar learning difficulties as Gary. Mrs. Smith would have her students dress in attire from different time periods
or initiate other artistic activities in order to teach history, math, reading, and other subjects. Eventually, she was receiving more students and had to find a larger space for teaching. She was at the Kingsbury School, and she moved to a small school on Phelps Place. There after she moved to a school on MacArthur Blvd.
Today, the school teaches students in grades K-12, who have moderate to high-leveled learning difficulties, but who have average or above average I.Q. levels. These students have trouble with reading, writing, spelling, and math, as well as social development issues. All of the academics are taught through an arts-based curriculum, whether through the performing arts
, dramatic arts, or visual arts
. In addition, all classes are small-sized, according to the subject; this enables the teacher(s) to prepare personalized lesson plans in order to meet the students’ academic learning styles and needs. Teachers at The Lab School of Washington are dedicated at teaching and helping students find strategies to work with and around their learning difficulties.
The Lab School has four divisions. The Elementary program serves students from ages six through ten. The Intermediate program serves students from ages ten through thirteen.
These divisions programs are organized in to groups, instead of grades, as these students are not graded. These two divisions teach history through the arts by forming academic clubs. In the Cave Club, students make believe
they are humans in the Cave Man era. In the Gods Club, the students make believe they are living in the era of the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Other academic clubs include the Knights and Ladies Club, the Renaissance Club, the Museum Club, and the Industrialists Club.
In the Junior High division, social studies classes include Humanities
for the seventh grade and Democracy for the eighth grade. In Humanities class, three countries are studied. After each country is studied, students invite their families to a luncheon
, where they are served food from the studied country. In the Democracy class, students learn about the history of the United States Government and how our government functions. One amazing part of the Junior High program is the ski trip. Every year during the winter season there is a trip to a ski lodge. Later in the end of the year there is a rafting trip.
The High School division teaches through a college-bound curriculum that is experiential and arts-based. All high school students may campaign, during the first few weeks of the school year, for certain positions for the student council, thus giving the student some political experience.
The Junior class includes an internship program to prepare students for the business world. Juniors are placed in an internship job that suits both their interests and skills. Most students work off-campus for businesses in the surrounding area, while a few work on-campus. Juniors are receive assistance and guidance in applying for colleges and choosing a college that is compatible with their interests, academic needs, and career aspirations; 90% go on to college. Some have taken a gap year or a postgraduate (13th year) at a boarding school.
The Lab School also has a night school program for adults with learning difficulties. This program helps them with their academic-related aspects of their workday.
Also available are on-campus clinical services. These services consist of psychological services, occupational therapy
, speech and language pathology, and tutor
ing and testing services, as well as care from clinical psychologists with a Ph.D. Some students who do not attend the Lab School can also receive these services.
Each year, the school invites well-known people who have learning difficulties to the school. She gives them an award for working through their difficulties and any academic-related challenges they face in their careers. Some of the awardees include Cher
, Tom Cruise
, Henry Winkler
, Tracey Gold
, Magic Johnson
, Daniel Stern
, Susan Butcher, Fannie Flagg
, Vince Vaughn
, Don Coryell
, Billy Bob Thornton
, Danny Glover
, Charles Schwab
, and other notable individuals. Students get to have a rare opportunity to meet these celebrities and ask them questions on how they deal with their learning difficulties during a Q&A panel session.
With the inundating number of applicants, Ms. Smith opened a Lab School
in Baltimore
, Maryland
, and a school in Philadelphia is adopting her teaching methods.
recognized the school as a PEP(Program Effectiveness Panel)-approved program eligible for dissemination through the National Diffusion Network
. In May 2006, the National Broadcasting Corporation’s Today Show crowned Sally L. Smith as Queen of the Day, honoring outstanding mothers. The School has issued many publications including PBS video "Teach Me Different," and several books available at Barnes & Noble
Booksellers.
Many schools throughout the country are adopting The Lab School’s teaching methods.
Sally Smith
Sally Liberman Smith was an American educator. Smith founded the Lab School for children with learning difficulties in 1967. Inspired by her background in education and dance as well as her own youngest son's experience with learning difficulties, Smith built up the Lab School and a curriculum...
, an American educator who taught at American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, where she directed the Graduate Program in Learning Disabilities since 1976 to 2007 after her death(in early December in 2007). Katherine Schantz, then directed the school from 2007–present. Most of the graduate program's students receive their training at the Lab School and then move on to other schools around the nation.
Founding
In 1967, Sally Lieberman SmithSally Smith
Sally Liberman Smith was an American educator. Smith founded the Lab School for children with learning difficulties in 1967. Inspired by her background in education and dance as well as her own youngest son's experience with learning difficulties, Smith built up the Lab School and a curriculum...
was faced with her son Gary's difficulties with learning in school. She started home schooling Gary and eventually began teaching other children faced with similar learning difficulties as Gary. Mrs. Smith would have her students dress in attire from different time periods
History of Western fashion
The history of Western fashion is the story of the changing fashions in clothing for men and women in Western Europe and other countries under its influence from the 12th century to the present.-History of fashion by period:...
or initiate other artistic activities in order to teach history, math, reading, and other subjects. Eventually, she was receiving more students and had to find a larger space for teaching. She was at the Kingsbury School, and she moved to a small school on Phelps Place. There after she moved to a school on MacArthur Blvd.
Today
Some of the Lab School graduates take Mrs. Smith’s teacher education program at American University and return to the school as teachers. The current head is Katherine Schantz. There are two campuses of the Lab School, the main campus is onReservoir Road, while the elementary school campus is on Foxhall Road.Today, the school teaches students in grades K-12, who have moderate to high-leveled learning difficulties, but who have average or above average I.Q. levels. These students have trouble with reading, writing, spelling, and math, as well as social development issues. All of the academics are taught through an arts-based curriculum, whether through the performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
, dramatic arts, or visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
. In addition, all classes are small-sized, according to the subject; this enables the teacher(s) to prepare personalized lesson plans in order to meet the students’ academic learning styles and needs. Teachers at The Lab School of Washington are dedicated at teaching and helping students find strategies to work with and around their learning difficulties.
The Lab School has four divisions. The Elementary program serves students from ages six through ten. The Intermediate program serves students from ages ten through thirteen.
These divisions programs are organized in to groups, instead of grades, as these students are not graded. These two divisions teach history through the arts by forming academic clubs. In the Cave Club, students make believe
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
they are humans in the Cave Man era. In the Gods Club, the students make believe they are living in the era of the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Other academic clubs include the Knights and Ladies Club, the Renaissance Club, the Museum Club, and the Industrialists Club.
In the Junior High division, social studies classes include Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
for the seventh grade and Democracy for the eighth grade. In Humanities class, three countries are studied. After each country is studied, students invite their families to a luncheon
Luncheon
Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a mid-day meal, and is smaller than dinner.In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century, lunch was originally called "dinner"— a word still used regularly to mean a noontime meal in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and some parts of England,...
, where they are served food from the studied country. In the Democracy class, students learn about the history of the United States Government and how our government functions. One amazing part of the Junior High program is the ski trip. Every year during the winter season there is a trip to a ski lodge. Later in the end of the year there is a rafting trip.
The High School division teaches through a college-bound curriculum that is experiential and arts-based. All high school students may campaign, during the first few weeks of the school year, for certain positions for the student council, thus giving the student some political experience.
The Junior class includes an internship program to prepare students for the business world. Juniors are placed in an internship job that suits both their interests and skills. Most students work off-campus for businesses in the surrounding area, while a few work on-campus. Juniors are receive assistance and guidance in applying for colleges and choosing a college that is compatible with their interests, academic needs, and career aspirations; 90% go on to college. Some have taken a gap year or a postgraduate (13th year) at a boarding school.
The Lab School also has a night school program for adults with learning difficulties. This program helps them with their academic-related aspects of their workday.
Also available are on-campus clinical services. These services consist of psychological services, occupational therapy
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is a discipline that aims to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, and/or emotionally disabling condition by utilizing treatments...
, speech and language pathology, and tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
ing and testing services, as well as care from clinical psychologists with a Ph.D. Some students who do not attend the Lab School can also receive these services.
Each year, the school invites well-known people who have learning difficulties to the school. She gives them an award for working through their difficulties and any academic-related challenges they face in their careers. Some of the awardees include Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
, Tracey Gold
Tracey Gold
Tracey Gold is an American actress and former child star best known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains. In early 2009, she co-hosted with Fred Roggin on the live show GSN Live.-Early life:...
, Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
, Daniel Stern
Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Hollywood films C.H.U.D., Diner, City Slickers and the first two Home Alone films, and as the narrator for the television series The Wonder Years.-Early life:Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a...
, Susan Butcher, Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg
Patricia Neal , known professionally as Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedienne and author. She is perhaps best-known for the 1988 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes; Flagg was nominated for an Academy Award for...
, Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...
, Don Coryell
Don Coryell
Donald David Coryell was an American football coach, who coached in the NFL first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973–1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He was well known for his innovations to football's passing offense. Coryell's offense was commonly known as "Air Coryell"...
, Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
, Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, Charles Schwab
Charles R. Schwab
Charles R. "Chuck" Schwab is the founder and chairman of the Charles Schwab Corporation.-Early life:Schwab was born in Sacramento, California. Despite having the same name, he is not related to Charles M. Schwab, the American steel magnate of the first half of the Twentieth Century...
, and other notable individuals. Students get to have a rare opportunity to meet these celebrities and ask them questions on how they deal with their learning difficulties during a Q&A panel session.
With the inundating number of applicants, Ms. Smith opened a Lab School
Lab School of Baltimore
Lab School of Baltimore is a private separate day school for children in grades 1-12. Baltimore Lab School provides for students with moderate-to-severe learning disabilities. Baltimore Lab School is located in Baltimore, Maryland in Goucher Hall built by renowned architect Stanford White...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, and a school in Philadelphia is adopting her teaching methods.
Sports
The Lab School of Washington has many sports. The Lab school has a Varsity soccer team, golf, volleyball basketball, swimming, and track. The middle school has a soccer team and a basketball team and sometimes compete on the high school teams. For LSW the lower school has a soccer team.Awards
The Lab School of Washington has earned a tremendous amount of recognition. It has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the US Dept. of Education. In 1994, the United States Department of EducationUnited States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
recognized the school as a PEP(Program Effectiveness Panel)-approved program eligible for dissemination through the National Diffusion Network
National Diffusion Network
The National Diffusion Network was the first federally sponsored effort to identify and spread to the nation's schools innovative education programs...
. In May 2006, the National Broadcasting Corporation’s Today Show crowned Sally L. Smith as Queen of the Day, honoring outstanding mothers. The School has issued many publications including PBS video "Teach Me Different," and several books available at Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
Booksellers.
Many schools throughout the country are adopting The Lab School’s teaching methods.