Special Needs Programs in Houston, TX

New School in the Heights, Houston:
Located in the Houston Heights area just north of Downtown Houston TX, The New School in the Heights is a private, special needs school for K-8th Grade children with ADHD, OCD, Asperger's, learning disabilities, Dyslexia, Sensory Integration, selective mutism, reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and other diagnoses where children struggle with social-emotional issues. Although we are not exclusively a school for gifted children, many of our students are gifted and talented as G/T children tend to struggle with emotions they have not yet learned to manage. Our goal is for all of our students to return to mainstream education.

Special Needs Curriculum for K-8th Grade Students:
The curriculum of NSH is designed to help students in grades K-8 develop and utilize their full potential in all areas of life: intellectual, social, emotional and physical. This goal is accomplished by offering an individualized academic program that allows each child to achieve at his or her best.

Diagnoses of our students include:
- Asperger's Syndrome
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Dyslexia
- Learning Disabilities
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) 
- Sensory Integration
- Selective Mutism
- Social-emotional issues

Our Curricular Objectives:

Cognitive Development
- To develop critical-thinking skills
- To develop problem-solving skills
- To provide opportunities to strengthen each level of multiple intelligence
- To master academic skills in all basic subject areas appropriate to promoting the utilization of their full potential

Emotional Development
- To provide a safe, stable, nurturing and intellectually stimulating environment
- To build self-esteem by giving students opportunities to experience success
- To help students understand their own feelings and the feelings of others
- To promote and acknowledge students’ positive accomplishments
- To encourage students to express their feelings through words
- To help students learn and use self-management skills
- To help students cope with difficult situations and frustration
- To help students develop self-regulation skills
- To help students become more self-sufficient and competent by having them take care of their own needs as much as possible

Social Development
- To help students develop friendships
- To provide students with appropriate role models
- To help students enjoy their own company and the company of others
- To help students learn to get along with others, respect the rights of others, wait patiently, and empathize
- To promote positive social interactions with other children, family members and other adults
- To provide opportunities to learn about fair play, good manners, kindness, and cooperation
- To help students develop a theory of mind so they can understand the viewpoint of others
- To help students take care of themselves and the environment around them

Physical Development
- To master age-appropriate large and small motor skills
- To help students respect the physical safety and well-being of others
- To appreciate the benefits of physical exercise for strength, growth, and coordination

Language Arts and Literacy
- To encourage students to use words properly
- To help students share ideas using words within a group
- To develop literacy skills that will promote lifetime enjoyment of reading at home, school and the workplace
- To expand students’ expressive and receptive vocabularies in print and in speech within each of the academic subject areas
- To help students employ the full array of the language arts to express thoughts and feelings
- To help students respond to open-ended questions

Mathematics
To follow standards of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics to promote mathematical thinking including…

- Reasoning
- Problem solving
- Mathematical connections
- Mathematics as communication

Science
To follow the standards of national science commissions such as the National Center for Improving Science Education including…

- To develop students' innate curiosity about the world
- To broaden students’ procedural and thinking skills for investigating the world, solving problems and making decisions
- To increase students’ knowledge of the natural world
- To incorporate the nine basic concepts for K-6 identified by the National Center for Improving Science Education: systems, models, constancy and change, scale, organization, cause and effect, structure and function, variations, and diversity

Social Studies
To promote an understanding of ourselves and the world around us including…

- An age-appropriate appreciation for human systems, physical systems, places and regions, the environment and society
- A willingness to participate in improving the quality of life in the community, the nation, and the world
- The ability to take the perspectives of, cooperate with, work with and respect others
- Respect for historical lessons as a guide and direction for the future