Junior High School

Welcome to the 2008-09 school year! Students, staff, and parents working together holds promise for a productive and exciting year in the Junior High. The staff is committed to maintaining high academic standards while adjusting curriculum and teaching approaches to the specific needs of our students with learning disabilities. Small classes of four to six for Reading, English, and Math, and eight to ten for Science and Social Studies allow teachers to focus on specific needs of individual students. Hands-on activities and the use of manipulative materials and graphic organizers are standard instructional approaches in all subjects. Students have a separate reading class and a writing class each day, along with daily practical computer instruction and physical education. We emphasize process over product, helping our students understand and master the steps to an essay, assignment, or final project.

Building concern for others is an important part of educating our youngsters, so in addition to the academic classes, we provide opportunities for students to be involved in community service projects, such as participating in the March for the Homeless in the fall, serving lunch once a month at “So Others Might Eat” (S.O.M.E.), and cleaning up our neighborhood parks and trails in the spring.

Building appropriate social skills within a group is also vital for our students. We offer Lunch Clubs on Fridays, team-building and problem solving activities, a dance party in the spring, along with a ski trip, rafting trip, and academic field trips throughout the year. Athletic teams support opportunities for our students to build team spirit, learn cooperation skills, build competitive character in a non-threatening environment, and have fun. We offer soccer, basketball, and swim team for both girls and boys.

We send a special “thank you” to parents and to PALS members who donate their time and energy to enrich the Junior High program and The Lab School as a whole.

For more information, contact:

Ilene Weinbrenner, Junior High Coordinator 202.944.3070

OR

Nancy Rowland, Associate Coordinator 202.944.2223q

lene.weinbrenner@labschool.org nancy.rowland@labschool.org