History of The Lab School
In September 1967, Sally L. Smith founded and designed The Lab School under the aegis of The Kingsbury Center, a diagnostic and tutoring center for children with learning problems. For its first fifteen years, this day school, for children of average to superior intelligence with learning disabilities, was located on Phelps Place, NW in Washington, D.C. By August 1, 1982, The Lab School of Washington was incorporated as an independent non-profit educational institution with its own Board of Trustees headed by Ann Bradford Mathias. The school, still directed by its founder, retained the same administrators and staff, the same program and the same student body. It remained on a lease basis for one year in the three small Phelps Place Kingsbury buildings and in the nearby Quaker Center on R Street. Mitchell Park served as the children’s playground for 16 years.
With 90 children crowded into small rooms and the school confronting a long waiting list, a move was necessary. In July 1982, The Lab School became a separate entity from The Kingsbury Center, known as The Lab School of Washington. On May 17, 1983, the Trustees of The Lab School of Washington bought the former Florence Crittendon Home and property of 3.6 acres at 4759 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 2000. In 1992, The Trustees bought a house on the adjoining property to become the International Training Center and home for the Development Office.
In September 1983, its eighteenth year, The Lab School opened with 123 children, ages 5 to 16. Now we have 323 students, ranging in age from 5 to 19. A Primary Program for five and six year olds was inaugurated, along with a Diagnostic Clinic, and a small Tutoring Service. Special services such as Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy were vastly expanded. A Night School for adults with Learning Disabilities began as a result of an April Trust Grant in January 1984, and now it is a thriving institution. An After-School horseback riding program and a series of school trips led to the development of a formal After-School Program, which began during the 1984-1985 school year. The annual Summer School has grown from a few children to 275-280 youngsters with outdoor activities and swimming included. In 1988, The Dole Foundation gave The Lab School a grant to start a Career Counseling Program for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. A College Counseling Service, specifically for this population, began in the Fall of 1989 and is flourishing. An Adult Services Department now exists so that adults can attend the Night School and be tested, tutored, given various therapies, and advised on college and career choices.
Since 1976, Sally L. Smith has also headed the Master’s Degree Program in Learning Disabilities at American University. The Lab School is the primary training site for most of the graduate students (many of whom have taught for years). Each year fifteen to twenty American University graduate students serve their practicum under master teachers at The Lab School four hours a day. Often, Howard University and George Washington University also send students for highly supervised training. Nine films, a slide-tape show and two videotapes were made to document the teaching methodology of the school. Now we are engaged in producing a new set of teaching videos. In addition, The Lab School served as a model site for the National Committee on Arts for the Handicapped. The 1983 International Conference of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities was held in Washington, and attended by 6,000 professionals. “A Visit to The Lab School” was featured to introduce administrators, regional supervisors, and school board members to a “Model School.”
The pioneering and innovative teaching techniques used at The Lab School have earned it an international reputation as a leader in the field. In 1994 the school was identified by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Diffusion Network (NDN) Model Education Program. The NDN validation means that public school systems are encouraged to use The Lab School as a resource and to replicate some or all of our practices. Ours is the most comprehensive learning disabilities program ever to be validated, and it is the only learning disabilities private school ever to receive this distinction. In 1996 The Lab School was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon Secondary Program – an exemplary school!
In 1997 the elementary school of The Lab School was chosen as one of the two outstanding special education schools in the country at that time to receive a blue Ribbon from the U.S. Department of Education’s School Recognition and Improvement Programs.
The Director was elevated to, has been for a number of years, and is currently an elected member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. She has also been for many years a Member of the Professional Advisory Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. The Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1985 Medical and Health Annual published ten pages of text on learning disabilities written by Professor Smith. In 1985, The Lab School and its Director also received an award for Excellence in Education from the District of Columbia’s City Council. The Lab School of Washington is known around the nation and abroad for its high quality education, its outstanding remedial instruction, and for teaching academic skills through the arts. The CBS Magazine Show, “West 57th,” featured the Lab School in April 1988, and a flood of letters and 700 telephone calls came in from every state within the Union, asking for Lab Schools in their communities. On September 17, 1995, the CBS Sunday Morning Show produced an eight and one-half minute piece on The Lab School called “Another Way.” In the fall of 1996, The Lab School was featured in a 29-minute documentary on dyslexia as part of a series called The Doctor Is In, produced by the Department of Visual Media of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The local NBC station provided a six-minute film of The Lab School in spring 1999, featuring a high school student who is a professional dancer. In May 2001, the national Public Broadcasting system filmed Lab School teacher training and teaching approaches in The Lab School. 84 hours of shooting produced four 60-minute films to share the uniqueness of The Lab School approaches with teachers and parents everywhere. The four films, entitled Teach Me Different with Sally Smith are being sold by National Public Broadcasting and might also be shown on national television.
In 1991 the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools granted institutional accreditation to The Lab School including all grades and levels for ten years. In March, 2001, The Lab School underwent institutional accreditation again. Also, The Lab School received one of four Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for state of the art use of technology in education.
At the 1993 Learning Disability Conference, Sally L. Smith received the LDA award from the Learning Disability Association of America – the highest honor given in learning disabilities in recognition of outstanding leadership in the field. In March 1995, the Director received the New York Orton Society’s Margot Marek Book Award for Succeeding Against the Odds. In May, 1995 Professor Smith was honored by American University where she received the award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research, and Other Professional Contributions. In 1997, she also received, form the Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia, the Celebrating Abilities Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Learning Disabilities. In May 1999, she received the 1999 Woman of Distinction Award sponsored by Birmingham-Southern college in Birmingham, Alabama. In November 1999, The Washington Post awarded her the honor of Principal of Excellence. Brookes Publishing Company published Professor Smith’s newest book, “The Power of the Arts,” in February 2001. Her latest book, “Live It, Learn It: The Academic Club Method” was published by Brooks in July 2005.
On September 13, 2000, The Lab School of Washington, Baltimore Campus opened with 18 students, ages 6-11. We are proud that this school has succeeded and is very much like the DC Lab School. In September 2001 it had 32 students; in September 2002 the School called Baltimore Lab: A Division of The Lab School of Washington expanded to 56 students, ages 6-13, grades I to VII, followed by an enrollment of 104 students, Grades I to IX, while in 2005-2006 we were up to 123. This year we will have about 135 students and an 11th Grade. Our first graduating class will take place in ’08.
Sally and the Board of Trustees have the goal to continue to replicate The Lab School so a third school using the Sally Smith and Lab School Methodologies will open in Philadelphia in September, 2006. “The Academy in Manayunk, in conjunction with The Lab School of Washington” plans to have approximately 30 students in grades 1-7. Sally and other members of The Lab School of Washington staff have worked closely with the leadership and staff of the group in Philadelphia to assure that our standards are met. Sally has helped hire staff, train staff, model for and back up the Administrators. Club leaders, headed by Noel Bicknell, have educated the Philadelphia Staff on Academic Club Methodology and physically helped set up Gods Club, Knights and Ladies Club, and Renaissance Club rooms. Two former members of Lab School Staff are employed in the Philadelphia School.
The Academic Club Teaching Service (ACTS) has also been involved this summer with staff from a school in Oklahoma City helping them to establish Academic Clubs there. A learning Center in Idaho, a group in Wilmington, Delaware and in San Diego, California are asking Lab School to do Academic Club and replicate the school in their environs. The Board of Trustees is encouraging us to become more of a National Demonstration Center and to do long distance learning.
In May 2006 Sally Smith was on The Today Show for seven minutes which evoked 420 e-mails, countless letters and phone calls. In September 2006 articles about Sally and the Lab School (and Baltimore Lab) will appear in Child Magazine, and in the AU Alumni Magazine on the spread of Sally’s ideas all over the country and on to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India; the Washington Times Magazine will feature us in their September issue.
The year 2006 was The Lab School of Washington’s 40th year. The children celebrated by creating a 9-foot giraffe to reside near our entrance with the motto of “Stand Tall.”
With 90 children crowded into small rooms and the school confronting a long waiting list, a move was necessary. In July 1982, The Lab School became a separate entity from The Kingsbury Center, known as The Lab School of Washington. On May 17, 1983, the Trustees of The Lab School of Washington bought the former Florence Crittendon Home and property of 3.6 acres at 4759 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 2000. In 1992, The Trustees bought a house on the adjoining property to become the International Training Center and home for the Development Office.
In September 1983, its eighteenth year, The Lab School opened with 123 children, ages 5 to 16. Now we have 323 students, ranging in age from 5 to 19. A Primary Program for five and six year olds was inaugurated, along with a Diagnostic Clinic, and a small Tutoring Service. Special services such as Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy were vastly expanded. A Night School for adults with Learning Disabilities began as a result of an April Trust Grant in January 1984, and now it is a thriving institution. An After-School horseback riding program and a series of school trips led to the development of a formal After-School Program, which began during the 1984-1985 school year. The annual Summer School has grown from a few children to 275-280 youngsters with outdoor activities and swimming included. In 1988, The Dole Foundation gave The Lab School a grant to start a Career Counseling Program for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. A College Counseling Service, specifically for this population, began in the Fall of 1989 and is flourishing. An Adult Services Department now exists so that adults can attend the Night School and be tested, tutored, given various therapies, and advised on college and career choices.
Since 1976, Sally L. Smith has also headed the Master’s Degree Program in Learning Disabilities at American University. The Lab School is the primary training site for most of the graduate students (many of whom have taught for years). Each year fifteen to twenty American University graduate students serve their practicum under master teachers at The Lab School four hours a day. Often, Howard University and George Washington University also send students for highly supervised training. Nine films, a slide-tape show and two videotapes were made to document the teaching methodology of the school. Now we are engaged in producing a new set of teaching videos. In addition, The Lab School served as a model site for the National Committee on Arts for the Handicapped. The 1983 International Conference of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities was held in Washington, and attended by 6,000 professionals. “A Visit to The Lab School” was featured to introduce administrators, regional supervisors, and school board members to a “Model School.”
The pioneering and innovative teaching techniques used at The Lab School have earned it an international reputation as a leader in the field. In 1994 the school was identified by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Diffusion Network (NDN) Model Education Program. The NDN validation means that public school systems are encouraged to use The Lab School as a resource and to replicate some or all of our practices. Ours is the most comprehensive learning disabilities program ever to be validated, and it is the only learning disabilities private school ever to receive this distinction. In 1996 The Lab School was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon Secondary Program – an exemplary school!
In 1997 the elementary school of The Lab School was chosen as one of the two outstanding special education schools in the country at that time to receive a blue Ribbon from the U.S. Department of Education’s School Recognition and Improvement Programs.
The Director was elevated to, has been for a number of years, and is currently an elected member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. She has also been for many years a Member of the Professional Advisory Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. The Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1985 Medical and Health Annual published ten pages of text on learning disabilities written by Professor Smith. In 1985, The Lab School and its Director also received an award for Excellence in Education from the District of Columbia’s City Council. The Lab School of Washington is known around the nation and abroad for its high quality education, its outstanding remedial instruction, and for teaching academic skills through the arts. The CBS Magazine Show, “West 57th,” featured the Lab School in April 1988, and a flood of letters and 700 telephone calls came in from every state within the Union, asking for Lab Schools in their communities. On September 17, 1995, the CBS Sunday Morning Show produced an eight and one-half minute piece on The Lab School called “Another Way.” In the fall of 1996, The Lab School was featured in a 29-minute documentary on dyslexia as part of a series called The Doctor Is In, produced by the Department of Visual Media of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The local NBC station provided a six-minute film of The Lab School in spring 1999, featuring a high school student who is a professional dancer. In May 2001, the national Public Broadcasting system filmed Lab School teacher training and teaching approaches in The Lab School. 84 hours of shooting produced four 60-minute films to share the uniqueness of The Lab School approaches with teachers and parents everywhere. The four films, entitled Teach Me Different with Sally Smith are being sold by National Public Broadcasting and might also be shown on national television.
In 1991 the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools granted institutional accreditation to The Lab School including all grades and levels for ten years. In March, 2001, The Lab School underwent institutional accreditation again. Also, The Lab School received one of four Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for state of the art use of technology in education.
At the 1993 Learning Disability Conference, Sally L. Smith received the LDA award from the Learning Disability Association of America – the highest honor given in learning disabilities in recognition of outstanding leadership in the field. In March 1995, the Director received the New York Orton Society’s Margot Marek Book Award for Succeeding Against the Odds. In May, 1995 Professor Smith was honored by American University where she received the award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research, and Other Professional Contributions. In 1997, she also received, form the Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia, the Celebrating Abilities Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Learning Disabilities. In May 1999, she received the 1999 Woman of Distinction Award sponsored by Birmingham-Southern college in Birmingham, Alabama. In November 1999, The Washington Post awarded her the honor of Principal of Excellence. Brookes Publishing Company published Professor Smith’s newest book, “The Power of the Arts,” in February 2001. Her latest book, “Live It, Learn It: The Academic Club Method” was published by Brooks in July 2005.
On September 13, 2000, The Lab School of Washington, Baltimore Campus opened with 18 students, ages 6-11. We are proud that this school has succeeded and is very much like the DC Lab School. In September 2001 it had 32 students; in September 2002 the School called Baltimore Lab: A Division of The Lab School of Washington expanded to 56 students, ages 6-13, grades I to VII, followed by an enrollment of 104 students, Grades I to IX, while in 2005-2006 we were up to 123. This year we will have about 135 students and an 11th Grade. Our first graduating class will take place in ’08.
Sally and the Board of Trustees have the goal to continue to replicate The Lab School so a third school using the Sally Smith and Lab School Methodologies will open in Philadelphia in September, 2006. “The Academy in Manayunk, in conjunction with The Lab School of Washington” plans to have approximately 30 students in grades 1-7. Sally and other members of The Lab School of Washington staff have worked closely with the leadership and staff of the group in Philadelphia to assure that our standards are met. Sally has helped hire staff, train staff, model for and back up the Administrators. Club leaders, headed by Noel Bicknell, have educated the Philadelphia Staff on Academic Club Methodology and physically helped set up Gods Club, Knights and Ladies Club, and Renaissance Club rooms. Two former members of Lab School Staff are employed in the Philadelphia School.
The Academic Club Teaching Service (ACTS) has also been involved this summer with staff from a school in Oklahoma City helping them to establish Academic Clubs there. A learning Center in Idaho, a group in Wilmington, Delaware and in San Diego, California are asking Lab School to do Academic Club and replicate the school in their environs. The Board of Trustees is encouraging us to become more of a National Demonstration Center and to do long distance learning.
In May 2006 Sally Smith was on The Today Show for seven minutes which evoked 420 e-mails, countless letters and phone calls. In September 2006 articles about Sally and the Lab School (and Baltimore Lab) will appear in Child Magazine, and in the AU Alumni Magazine on the spread of Sally’s ideas all over the country and on to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India; the Washington Times Magazine will feature us in their September issue.
The year 2006 was The Lab School of Washington’s 40th year. The children celebrated by creating a 9-foot giraffe to reside near our entrance with the motto of “Stand Tall.”