The Summit School - Lower School

Since 1968, The Summit School has worked with children who have learning and emotional challenges, and our Lower School on Union Turnpike in Flushing serves grades 3 through 8. Our students have specific learning disabilities and/or emotional challenges; most are at or near grade level but uneven in their abilities. They come from all five boroughs and from Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, placed and sponsored by their local school districts.

We build each class with care, weighing age, IQ range, language skills, management needs, reading and math levels, friendships and personality. Instruction follows New York State standards, and alongside core subjects students take art, music, technology, a second language, health and physical education, with student activities and an after-school program.

Teachers work side by side with social workers, speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. Counseling draws on cognitive-behavioral techniques, social skills instruction and stress management; occupational therapy covers motor, sensory and handwriting needs and assistive technology; and weekly pragmatic language classes build social communication. Students continue to our Upper School in Jamaica Estates for high school.