By LISA BROOKS | FOR THE JHV

For children who have learning differ-ences, school can be a difficult expe-rience. The Joy School in Houston provides something different: It puts

the joy back in the learning experience.The Joy School was founded in 1997 by

educators and parents who recognized an underserved need in Houston: children with learning differences and disabilities who fre-quently fell through the cracks, because of a lack of understanding in the public sector.

Today, TJS serves around 150 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. A nonsectarian, independent, nonprofit day school, it focuses on meeting the unique needs of students who, although intellectu-ally capable, have difficulty finding success in a traditional school environment. TJS prepares students who have learning differ-ences to return to traditional classrooms by enabling them to reach their academic and social potential in a safe, supportive environ-ment.

Preparing students to mainstream to traditional school environments is a key part of The Joy School’s mission. Students mainstream from the school at different ages and grade levels, based on readiness factors, often after three or four years at TJS. Students should be confident and self-reliant, able to advocate for their educational needs.

Ricki Komiss, head of school at The Shlenker School, believes in early iden-tification and early intervention when a child shows signs of a learning difference. Shlenker is accepting and inclusive. The school has some ability to help children who are struggling; for example, with reading fluency, teachers often can identify early when a child might need a little extra help.

When a child is struggling, Komiss

explained, “We do a lot of counseling with parents, talking with parents, giving them ideas of how they can work with their child when it becomes a little more evident that they are struggling. At that point, the teach-ers are in touch with the parents very fre-quently, letting them know how the children are doing. We may suggest to the parent that they take their child for academic testing.”

Shlenker has a certified dyslexia special-ist on campus that works with students. “Typically, when the kids are pulled out for work with the dyslexia specialist, they are pulled out from Hebrew,” Komiss said. “Hebrew can be additionally challenging for the children who might be struggling a little with reading. They still get some Hebrew, just in a different way.”

“Sherry Dubin, is trained and certified by the Neuhaus Institute,” Komiss noted. “She works with spelling, reading, writing and all

of the components that make up language arts that can be difficult for the children. Many of our students who work with her are able to stay at Shlenker, and then go on to middle school and be totally successful with little other intervention.”

“However, occasionally there are stu-dents who, at some point, it becomes obvi-ous that the curriculum and mainstream program may be too challenging,” Komiss explained. “I know when it becomes time for me to reach out and call The Joy School. We have a very collaborative relationship. TJS has come to our school to visit and see our program, and we have gone to their school. When we make a decision to send a child there, we know where we are sending them. It is a very special relationship. When The Joy School tells me that a child is ready to mainstream into our program, then I have a level of comfort that it is going to work!

Putting the Joy Back into Learning

KATY MANNING

Joy School kindergarten teacher, Jan Flowers, engages her students in a math exercise.

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“If they were the easy ones to teach, they wouldn’t be here.

Every single kid has to be figured out. I need teachers who

are excited about fig-uring out what will work for each kid.

The drive, to work on it until we figure it out, and not be tied to a particular cur-riculum, that is the

fun part! We love a good problem!”

– Shara Bumgarner

“Our belief is that if you give a child with a learning difference interventions early, it doesn’t become a hardship for the student,” continued Komiss. “We know when it is time to refer. There are very few schools like The Joy School around. I have parents ask me all the time, can’t you just set up a class here to do the same thing. Well, it’s not just a matter of setting up a class; it’s a really big deal to come up with a program like The Joy School has. We are very lucky to have that opportu-nity in Houston.”

Beth Yeshurun Day School also has an intervention specialist who works with children identified as needing extra help. Specialized tutors, such as speech patholo-gists and reading specialists, also can come to campus to work with a specific child. There is a full-time counselor and, in July 2015, there will be a director of student services to coordinate all of these efforts. Cindy Kirsch, Elementary School principal, explained, “Even with all of these services, as a small private school, we don’t necessar-ily have the resources that are necessary to serve every child.

“I know the excellent reputation The Joy School has,” Kirsch continued. “We have certainly referred families there when I feel like it would be a better fit for them to get more helpful intervention for that student. I’m a real proponent of helping the child be successful, and that we give them every opportunity for success.

“I’m still learning about all the wonder-ful resources we have in Houston. The Joy School is definitely top notch. As a parent, being open to exactly what the child needs is so important. I don’t hesitate to refer. Every time The Joy School comes up, it comes up with a stellar reputation.”

Shara Bumgarner, head of school at The Joy School, reminisced, “When we came up with the name, The Joy School, no one had any idea how much the word would come to define who we are. It is really serendipi-tous. Truly, for most kids who come to us, school was stressful. School was a miserable place for them. Even after-school time wasn’t relaxing, because after school was when you had to work on all the stuff you weren’t good at during school. Our original thought was that we would give kids back the joy in learning.”

What makes this school so special? Bumgarner explained: “The most important qualities that I look for in teachers are com-passion and analytical ability. You have to be nice and you have to be smart. You don’t get that on a resume. That has nothing to do with training or degrees. The reason it

makes a big impact is that this is not just about the kid. This is about the parents. The struggle and the anxiety that the parents go through in coming to terms with the fact that their child is not doing well elsewhere and then having to look at their somewhat limited options, and then make a choice with so little guidance – that is a humongous bur-den for parents!

“Once here, at first everything is going great, and they can’t believe how wonder-ful it is,” said Bumgarner. “The very first roadblock a kiddo comes across, whether it’s social or academic, all that anxiety comes rushing back. The parents are terrified and think, ‘Here’s where it falls apart. It is going to be just like it was where we were.’ We really need teachers to recognize that watching your child suffer is so much harder than what the kids go through. The kids are going to be fine; they really are resilient.

“The analytical piece that teachers must have is that all of our kids are puzzles,” con-tinued Bumgarner. “If they were the easy ones to teach, they wouldn’t be here. Every single kid has to be figured out. I need teach-ers who are excited about figuring out what will work for each kid. The drive, to work on it until we figure it out, and not be tied to a particular curriculum, that is the fun part! We love a good problem! We like the brainstorming and the challenges. We enjoy this on the level of each child, but also at the institutional level. Getting the most-diverse set of opinions possible helps us come to the right conclusion.

“Everyone is focused on problem solv-ing, not problem identifying. Naming the

problem is not a solution. What you teach them to work around the problem is what is important.”

Class sizes, also are small: six to eight children, allowing individual attention and solutions. “One of the big benefits of having so few kids in a class, and having a small physical building is we have time for the fun stuff!” Bumgarner explained. “It takes 30 seconds to go from one class to another.

KATY MANNING

Nicholas Whittington, music technology teacher, assists one of the middle school students.

We don’t lose a lot of instructional time with standardized testing. We don’t spend time waiting in line for a bathroom.” They work hard, and have time and flexibility to play hard, too. Students are getting such inten-sive support on a daily basis, that if they take an hour to go watch a play down the street, there is no pressure for having lost that time.

The fun helps with any stigma that might come with having to go to a special school. It can be hard to leave friends but, when the children realize, “at my school we get to chew gum, at my school we get to have free dress, at my school we go on multiple field trips, or at my school, my teacher might take me to the coffee shop for hot chocolate, while we discuss our project” that helps make up for what can otherwise be a dif-ficult time in a child’s life.

Most curricular decisions are up to the teacher. Projects, such as a unit on finan-cial literacy for middle school, or a proj-ect on organizing your room, study space and backpack, tend to come about organi-cally. “When we identify issues that may be unique from year to year, but are real needs, we decide to address them in the classroom.

What do the kids need most? It can be excit-ing and fun, but it is a challenge. There is only so much time in the year,” Bumgarner emphasized. “We really try to teach for mastery, rather than just getting through the curriculum and, sometimes, we have no way to predict how long teaching a concept might take. What might take three days in public school might take us three weeks. We are faced with decisions then about what not to teach. What are not the biggest fish to fry for a particular group of kids? This year’s kids are not the same as next year’s kids. Each year is different; each class is different. But, that has to be balanced, for example, with ‘what are all seventh-graders expected to know?’

“My mantra is, ‘There is no one size fits all,’ or ‘It depends on the needs of the kids!’” Bumgarner exclaimed. “Truly, I feel like the most important question is ‘Why?’ for every single thing that comes up, and the most appropriate answer almost always is ‘it depends on the needs of the kids.’ If you can recognize that those two things are what drive us, then it is easier to explain deci-sions. Sometimes, we just need more infor-mation. We are not being flakey, but it can

be really difficult to explain that to people. All that anxiety can come back. We can’t have a ‘uniform’ policy on anything. What if a kid is going through a medication change? What if a kid’s mom is dying? What if a kid is brand new to the school and is scared? As soon as we are reminded, ‘it depends on the needs of the kid,’ we know that there is no way to have a one-size-fits-all policy on anything! We need to reinforce that with parents, with teachers and with kids!”

Teachers at The Joy School all have one more quality. Bumgarner refers to this as “The Awesome Gene.” The teachers have to be confident and trust their instinct. Their instincts are good, because they are com-passionate and analytical, nice and smart. “Sometimes, they have to sell what they believe will work and convey that to other people,” explained Bumgarner. “It’s not a job for the faint of heart!” But, with the joy that these children experience, often for the first time in their educational career, their own confidence increases, and they learn all the special things that make them who they are. Students leave The Joy School confident and happy – and ready to take on the next chal-lenge. c

KATY MANNING

Middle school students tend to an on-site garden.