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Welcome Back !

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Dear Families,

 

We are so excited to have you as part of The Lang School community. We also recognize that starting at a new school can be difficult as you adjust to new routines and practices. This document is meant to serve as a primer to help you make sense of life and learning at Lang. While you’ll also receive more comprehensive information including our Student/Family Manual as part of your August enrollment packet, we hope that this overview answers most of the questions that you may have as you prepare for the start of the school year.

 

You’ll find key contacts listed below, but know that you can always reach out to me if you have any questions about our program. If I can’t answer your particular question, I’ll connect you with the member of our team who can best support you.

 

In partnership,

​

Mark Silberberg

Director of Admissions & Strategic Initiatives

 

Our Mission

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The Lang School educates twice-exceptional (2e) children — gifted students with learning differences. We offer these highly promising learners a rigorous, child-centered, empirically validated education with integrated supports that foster independence and self-advocacy. We model and teach students to own their impact, and empower them to speak up and stand up for equity and social justice. For most people, the school years are about fitting in, while adulthood is about standing out; for 2e children, standing out comes early. At Lang, through the nurturing of purpose, passion, and talent, exceptionality is not only recognized but celebrated.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

 

The Lang School celebrates diversity and understands that we all learn and grow best in an environment rich in differences. Lang embraces and prioritizes inclusive practices and an inclusive mindset, extending that mindset to all staff, students, and their families. We are committed to examining work through an equity lens: looking at the intersections of identities and the identities of the students and colleagues with whom we work, and reflecting on opportunities to learn and grow.

 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is part of our daily practice of teaching and learning. At Lang, we build and create a strong sense of community and equity through our mission, curriculum, and daily interactions. We model culturally competent practices and have mindful and meaningful conversations with the ongoing purpose of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

Community & Culture

 

In all of our work, we are guided by the core values of civility, self-reflections, growth mindset, and a commitment to community. At The Lang School, we work to help students (in partnership with parents and outside providers) to develop an understanding of their own learning and thinking strengths and differences and to respect and support these characteristics in their peers. Our aim is to encourage self-awareness, mutual respect, and self-advocacy among our students. This journey begins with an understanding of self and the opportunities and challenges one currently faces, and is focused on the ongoing cultivation of promise and potential in oneself and in others.

 

Who Should I Contact?

 

  • General questions about your transition to Lang: 

  • General questions about the school’s educational program: 

  • Questions about enrollment or the after school program: 

  • General questions about student supports, IEP meetings, or impartial hearings: 

  • Questions about school facilities, transportation, operations, and safety: 

  • Questions about student health and nutrition: 

    • School Nurse Chris Trivell (nurse@thelangschool.org | 212-977-7777) Note: Chris can hold extra controlled medicine ordered for at-home administration for which we don't have an order for in-school administration, for those rare occasions at-home administration is overlooked.  As a courtesy, Chris will administer over-the-counter medicine deemed useful by parent and nurse, such as for headache or when a topical can be applied to protect from infection, without needing a Medication Administration Form.
       

  • Questions about tuition payments: 

  • For questions related to a specific class, peer interaction, progress or support, please contact your child’s teacher or specialist directly. If you have information that will affect your child’s day, email your child’s Homeroom Teachers/Advisors and cc your child’s School Psychologist, so they can plan support as early as possible. Please refrain from sharing this information at drop-off.
     

  • For more general questions about your child’s overall program or experience, please contact their advisor or school psychologist directly. Note: the forthcoming Student/Family Manual contains important information about the roles of Homeroom Teachers/Advisors and your child’s School Psychologist.

 

The School Calendar

 

Is posted on the school website: https://www.thelangschool.org/2023-2024-school-calendar

 

The First Day of School

 

While the first official day of school is Wednesday, September 6, families are invited to come by the school on Tuesday, September 5 (9-11am and 1-3pm), for our "Students and Families Visitation" to informally check out their classrooms, meet their teachers, and make some connections with classmates. This is a great way to help ease into the first full day of school the following day. More details about the "Students and Families Visitation” will be forthcoming.

 

The School Day

 

If you know that your child is going to be late to school or absent, you can call the front desk to speak with Andel Khadroo at 212-977-7777. If you choose to send an email, make sure to include front.desk@thelangschool.org as a recipient in addition to any other teachers or staff.

 

Morning Arrival

 

For Lower School (K-5th grade) students, morning arrival takes place from 8:05 AM – 8:30 AM with drop off in front of the building. The school day begins for these students at 8:30 AM. If a lower school student is early, his/her/their parent/guardian must wait with them until 8:05 AM. If a lower school student is late, his/her/their parent or guardian must escort them to Suite 900 via the elevator. 

 

For Middle and Upper School (6th-12th grade) students, the school day begins at 8:45 AM. Students should plan to arrive by 8:20 AM so that they have time to get settled and prepare for their first period class.

 

Afternoon Dismissal

 

Lower School students are dismissed at 2:55 PM. Students who travel to and from the School via a DOE bus are escorted to the bus pickup area by Lang staff members at the end of each school day. Lower School homeroom teachers bring students downstairs to meet their authorized pick-up person outside of the Broadway exit. If last-minute changes are made to the authorized pick-up person, parents/guardians must provide permission.

 

Middle and Upper School students are dismissed at 2:45 PM. Sixth graders are brought down by their teachers while students in grades 7-12 self-dismiss.

 

Bus Issues (Tardy for AM pick-up or PM drop-off)

 

If you and your student do not see the bus at the designated pick-up time at your pick-up location, we ask that you give them at least 15 minutes before taking action, but when you do, it is important to first call the Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) to get answers as to what is happening and what the expected schedule will be with the delay.  Directing the call to OPT also helps to create the record necessary if the problem persists OPT might need to reorganize your student’s route.

 

Lunch & Recess

 

The Lang School does not provide food service or have a designated cafeteria. Students should bring a healthy lunch to school and any snacks that they might need during the school day. If your child has particular needs related to lunch/snack, please make sure that you speak with their teacher/advisor, school psychologist and the school nurse.

 

K-6th grade students generally eat in their classrooms and are taken outdoors daily for recess, weather permitting. If there is precipitation, or if the temperature is 32 degrees or below, the students and staff remain indoors for recess. Parents/guardians must ensure that their child(ren) are dressed appropriately to be outside. Staff supervise students at recess.

 

7th-12th grade students are supervised by staff members who are assigned lunch duty. Students with permission may leave the building for lunch. This policy is outlined in the Student/Family Manual.

 

After School

 

After-school activities are supervised either by employees of The Lang School or contracted individuals from other organizations. Programs begin at 3:15 PM and run 60-90 minutes. Most after-school activities require payment to attend. Invoices and payments are handled directly by Lang after the registration period. After-school activity providers are responsible for continuous supervision of the students until all students are picked up by an approved caregiver or parent, or students are permitted for independent dismissal (by parent/guardian). In the event that the after-school program will not meet on a given day, the provider will directly inform the parents/guardians of the students in the activity. The August enrollment packet will include descriptions of offerings and information about registration. Please direct any questions to Director for Enrollment & Data Systems Reid Kuioka
(reid.kuioka@thelangschool.org | 917-382-4952)

 

Student Dress Code

 

Students are expected to come to school dressed in a neat, clean, comfortable, and appropriate manner. School is a place for focused and purposeful work and one’s clothing should reflect this. A student’s clothing should not distract nor offend his/her/them and his/her/their learning at any time during the day. Students should feel comfortable enough in their clothing so it does not limit his/her/their movement throughout the day (especially on P.E. days).

 

All students should be able to dress comfortably for school without fear of or actual unnecessary discipline or body shaming.  All students and staff should understand that students are primarily responsible for managing their own personal "distractions" with teachers intervening as needed while seeking to respect students' clothing choices/self expression. Shoes must be worn at all times.

 

The primary responsibility for a student’s attire resides with the student and parents or guardians. The School is responsible for seeing that student attire does not interfere with the learning, health or safety of any student, and that student’s attire does not contribute to a hostile or intimidating atmosphere for any student.

 

Communication

 

Advisor/Homeroom Teacher - Every student at lang is supported by an advisor.  Your child’s advisor is your main point of contact at Lang.  They will support with organizing grades and advocating/organizing on your child’s behalf, especially in middle/upper school. In order for students to achieve success, the faculty at Lang plans to provide a framework of support, maintain relationships with parents/guardians and stay on top of each student’s academic development. In advisory, students learn important social and academic skills.  Advisory serves to create a space for students to learn and grow. 

 

Faculty members are expected to communicate with a child’s parents/guardians to support student growth. Parents/guardians should reach out directly to teachers/specialists with any concerns regarding their child’s academic, social, emotional, and/or behavioral needs. If parents/guardians feel that their concerns are not being addressed, they should contact the Senior Director for School Culture, Academics, and Innovation or the Head of School.

 

Faculty members are required to contact parents whenever there is an occurrence involving their child at school. Unless there is an alternate communication plan in place with a particular family, staff members will first attempt to contact parents/guardians by phone. If parents/guardians do not answer, staff members will send a short email message to inform parents/guardians of the occurrence and communicate any next steps.

 

Faculty members are expected to respond to emails within 48 business hours. Please note that faculty can only read and respond to emails during their daily prep period, during a lunch break, or before or after students arrive/leave for the day (staff hours are 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM). Please be mindful that in order to enable staff members to respond in a timely, efficient, and meaningful manner, it is important that you follow this criteria for your email communications with them:

 

  • Please include the relevant context for your inquiry or request.

  • Wait for a response before emailing further inquiries or requests.

  • Keep the email direct, short, and concise.

  • Consider whether email is the best means to communicate your message or the best next way to communicate. Complex responses, requests or updates are best communicated by scheduling a phone call or video-conference.   

 

Parents/guardians are expected to check their email regularly, and to read and reply to emails from Lang staff in a way that best helps facilitate collaboration and follow up.

 

Progress Reports, Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences & Meetings

 

In addition to informal as-needed reports on progress, formal progress reports are sent out at the midpoint and at the end of each semester. Parent/Guardian-teacher conferences are held twice yearly (fall and spring). Parent/Guardian-teacher conferences are an opportunity for faculty members and parents/guardians to communicate about student progress, goals for growth, and to share recent student work. You can also request meetings with any other faculty or therapists with whom your child works. Parents receive a digital sign-up sheet, along with Google Calendar invitations for their convenience.

 

In addition to twice-yearly Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences, faculty members and parents/guardians may meet throughout the school year to address progress and/or concerns raised by staff or parents/guardians. These meetings should be scheduled after students are dismissed whenever possible.

 

Collaboration with Outside Providers

 

Many students receive therapeutic or academic services through outside providers. Parents/Guardians must provide written permission authorizing communication with a student’s outside provider(s). Parents/Guardians are responsible for completing a Medical Update form if there are any changes to the child’s outside providers. Parents can contact the Director for Operations Timon Lorenzo (timon.lorenzo@thelangschool.org | 917-382-4913) for copies of all forms.

 

IEP MEETINGS & HEARINGS

 

The Lang School supports families seeking tuition reimbursement from the NYC Department of Education through provision of student information and participation in meetings and impartial hearings. 

 

IEP Meetings

 

Most Lang students have Individualized Education Plans through the New York City Department of Education Committee for Special Education (CSE). Staff members generally participate in IEP meetings by phone.

 

Hearings

 

Homeroom teachers/advisors participate in each of their student’s impartial hearings via affidavit and/or teleconference, including phone calls with the lawyer(s) representing the family to prepare prior to the day of the hearing. Therapeutic professionals involved with a student may also participate in impartial hearings.

 

The School provides student records to Lang families’ attorneys at their request. These include, but are not limited to, a copy of the enrollment agreement, attendance records and notarized financial affidavit for paid tuition. In addition, the School’s program description and class schedule is provided. If other records are subpoenaed, please let Director for Clinical Services Judy Nussbaum (judy.nussbam@thelangschool.org | phone) know in a timely fashion so that we can provide them. Please note that teachers are not permitted to provide records directly to any third party.

 

Our Educational Program

 

Our program recognizes that each learner has their own launch point and journey toward mastery in each subject. The framework’s implicit assumption is that even our youngest students have intellectual lives rich with complex concepts about how and why the world works as it does. Along with learning foundational skills, know-how (content area-specific practical skills), and know-what (content area-specific knowledge) in each course, all students explore how the unit's organizing questions intersect with that course’s content.  

 

Our assumption is that school is our students’ first workplace and, thus, should be an examined and values-driven experience. True to an interdisciplinary approach, core skills like encoding and decoding, evaluating resources, and configuring and imagining the state of the physical world around us are taught throughout the curriculum and across subjects.

 

Teachers at Lang design their units of study using a backwards design process that starts with articulating what students will know, understand, and be able to do by the end of the unit. Additionally, unit design is grounded in the principles of Universal Design for Learning which assert that all students learn best when offered multiple ways to access information, engage in learning activities, and demonstrate their understanding. 

 

Lessons within a unit of study are carefully designed with the goals of the unit and the needs of individual students in mind. Teachers differentiate instruction according to student profiles so that every student is both challenged and supported across the school day.

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Homework

 

Specific homework policies will be communicated by your child’s teachers. Homework may be differentiated for individual students at the discretion of the teacher. We encourage families to communicate with teachers if their student is having difficulty completing homework. 

 

If students are having difficulty completing their homework, staff members are expected to communicate with the family, the homeroom teacher(s)/advisor(s), and the student’s school psychologist to inform them and discuss plans to support the student’s improvement. Individualized homework plans are developed for students if the need arises. The student’s homeroom teacher(s)/advisor(s), parent(s), and school psychologist collaborate with the student to develop the homework plan.

 

Homework is not assigned over school breaks or summer vacation however, independent reading should be encouraged during school breaks. Staff members provide summer reading lists for students in a variety of subjects and reading levels. 

 

Communicating Student Progress

 

Teachers are responsible for communicating student progress to students, parents, and the school administration through the online grading system of VeraCross.

Each teacher’s VeraCross system must be updated weekly (by Monday at 8am) to ensure that students and parents have an accurate understanding of the students’ progress and performance in each subject area.

 

Services at The Lang School

 

We create a program of services tailored to each student's specific needs. The development of this program of services begins during our comprehensive admissions process, during which our internal team works with the student’s family, and, if needed, may speak with outside providers, and contacts at the student’s previous school in order to see what services were working well, and what additional services may be needed. If necessary, we conduct additional assessments with our Occupational Therapy Team, Speech and Language Pathologists, or Learning Specialists prior to or at the start of the school year to better understand the needs of the incoming student, and prepare an initial plan for services.

 

After a student is admitted to The Lang School, an initial plan for services will be determined and communicated to the family within the first few weeks of the school year. This plan is always flexible, as we are in an ongoing process of assessment and progress monitoring to ensure that our services are well-matched to the needs of our students. While there may be instances where 1:1 or small group support is appropriate, we first begin by building these supports into the classroom experience itself. The Therapy and Education Teams support our highly collaborative staff to provide direct, indirect, and consultative services to our students in groups of varying sizes.

 

NOTE: Once enrolled, families should plan to update their child neuropsychological evaluation every three years as the information and insights gleaned from this evaluation allow us to better adjust each child’s support programming, as needed.

 

Services provided to all Lang students:

  • Student Profile developed internally and used to drive instructional and curricular planning

  • Interdisciplinary Case Conference meetings to develop goals, monitor progress and share effective practices 

  • Occupational Therapist-created flexible seating plans and sensory diets 

  • Support from our Therapy and Education Team during snack, lunch, recess, morning meeting to ensure context for carryover of students' social-emotional skills and management of sensory concerns

  • Sensory break areas in every classroom and in the hallway close to every classroom

  • Access to assistive technology 

  • Use of Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) & Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) tools to support student behavior and learning

  • Additional indirect services include: Teacher Team meetings with Therapy Team; Weekly Psychology Team Meeting; Weekly Education Team Meeting; Weekly Therapy Team Meeting; Therapy Team consultation with outside providers

 

In the Lower School (K-5), we also provide:

  • Speech groups with Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)

  • Counseling groups with School Psychologist (SP)

  • Occupational Therapy (OT) groups in the sensory gym with the OT

  • Occupational Therapy class with the classroom teacher and OT for handwriting and keyboarding skills

  • Foundations (Social-Emotional Learning) class with the classroom teacher and School Counselor 

 

In our Upper School (6-12), we add on:

  • BASIS class for individualized course-specific support

  • Learning Skills class to develop transferable Executive Functioning skills 

  • College Counseling with our dedicated Guidance Counselor

  • Speech groups with Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), as needed

  • Counseling groups with School Psychologist (SP), as needed

  • Occupational Therapy (OT) groups in the sensory gym with the OT, as needed

 

Additional services may include:

  • Observation and consultation with a member of the Therapy Team regarding support for an individual student 

  • Observation and consultation with a Staff Developer to improve practices that enhance access to the curriculum

  • Behavior Plans

  • 1:1 Speech, Counseling and/or OT 

  • 1:1 and/or small group sessions with the Learning Specialists (e.g., focused reading/writing, math, or executive functioning coaching)

  • Conflict resolution support in the form of Restorative Justice Circles or Peer Mediation with School Psychologist support

  • Crisis Intervention support with trained Crisis Prevention Institute-trained staff members

  • In-class observation by Education or Therapy Team members to provide insight and support to staff and inform intervention plans
     

The Lang School provides a flexible, dynamic menu of services to meet the needs of our students and help them become increasingly independent in and out of the classroom.  As students progress throughout the grades, we expect their services to shift and change. The Therapy Team, Education Team, outside providers, and family work together to support a customized, dynamic plan for services and service delivery.

 

Medical Forms for School Nurse

 

Links to the following medication forms will be included in the forthcoming enrollment packet, but are available at https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/health-and-wellness/health-services 

  • General Medication Admistration Form (MAF) is used for behavioral medication as well as pain medicine as needed for migraine, cramping with menses, etc

  • Allergies/Anaphylaxis Medication Administration Form is used for Epinephrine for severe reaction and Antihistamines for mild reaction

  • Asthma Medication Administration Form is used for any inhalant therapy as needed

  • A Diabetes Medication Administration Form and a Seizure Medication Administration Form are to be submitted if necessary.

The Lang School is excited to offer a rich menu of different lunchtime and after school programs for our Lower and Upper School Students. Below you will find a snapshot of what we are currently offering this season.

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