After surveying schools in the Washington DC region that serve students with language, learning, and social deficencies, Jillian Copeland, the Founder of The Diener School, determined that there were no programs available that offered a solid academic experience while providing students with meaningful and practical social and developmental growth. With a strong educational background, and a particular expertise in the special needs arena, Jillian researched the best practices of existing programs throughout the country.

Combining those findings and collaboration with renowned experts in a variety of educational and developmental fields, Jillian created the "Diener Pyramid of Learning for the Whole Child" and the Diener School was born.

Jillian feels that the overarching key to success for a Diener School student is to learn by "experiencing". With this in mind, much of the Diener School program is conducted outside of the classroom walls. The students benefit from weekly field trips that are chosen to integrate the thematic social and academic lessons taught in the classroom.

Furthermore, the Diener School students benefit from creating special relationships with students from nearby schools. This "Peer Buddies" program allows for the students to build and sustain relationships utilizing social skills and pragmatics encouraged in the classroom setting.

The Diener School also stresses character and values as an integral part of its program. This aspect of the curriculum includes three important elements: virtues, positive reinforcement, and community responsibility and outreach. Each student partakes in a school "contract": and positive incentives can be earned for hard work and appropriate behavior. The Diener School students conduct "hands-on" community projects to help them develop empathy and understand the gifts of giving and thinking responsibly.
A strong belief in mind-body connection allows the Diener students the opportunity for daily sensory exploration and body movement. Diener students will be provided with brain gym exercises, physical education opportunities with fitness experts, yoga, and an after school sports program.

Thematic units are connected through daily activities whether they are academic, therapeutic, or through the arts. This integrated approach allows the Diener students to see meaning and purpose in each and every activity. The students will feel stimulated and confident as their learning allows them to make connections, generalize information, and apply their skills in and outside of our classroom walls.

To Accomplish Our Mission, Our Staff Will:

• Work collaboratively with all specialists to fulfill our goal of teaching holistically
• Create learning profiles for each student which are reviewed bi-weekly to assess progress and determine modifications
• Always focus on student's abilities and gifts
• Provide small class sizes, ratio of 4:1, 3:1 or 2:1 during academics
• Provide multi-disciplinary and research based methods of teaching to reach all modalities of learners
• Be provided with a multitude of development and training to allow teachers to use the best and most current practices
• Build a strong partnership between home and school
• Use a neuro-developmental approach to enhance cognitive functioning
• Teach thematically so our children will derive meaning and make connections
• Facilitate situations to enable our children to become problem solvers and global, independent thinkers
• Use a sound field classroom system to help children listen and focus

To Accomplish Our Mission, Our Studends will be Provided With:

• A challenging academic curriculum with individual support in all disciplines
• A language and sensory rich environment
• Strong social, emotional and behaviorial support including:
  • Behaviorial contracts and positive reinforcement
  • Daily social skills training
  • Social Skills opportunities with typical peer buddies
  • Virtues Training
• Experiences outside our classroom walls for social and field trips for opportunities to learn experientially and generalize and apply knowledge and skills
• Visual schedules to help children stay organized and on task
• Behaviorial contracts and positive reinforcement
• Daily movement and sensory exercises
• Daily art, music, and creative opportunities
• A social curriculum which is implemented daily and opportunites to apply skills
• Listening programs to enhance auditory processing skills
• Weekly virtues training building strong character and community development

The Diener School Buddy Program

We have two 8 week buddy sessions for our older students. Our Diener students are matched up with a 7th or 8th grade buddy. They participate in a wide variety of experiences from playing board games, sports activities, cooking and art projects. This precious time allows our students to practice their social thinking and pragmatic skills.

Testimonials

"Everyday I leave the Diener School I have a smile on my face. A smile that says, 'I helped change a life in only 45 minutes every Wednesday'... My buddy is making me a better person and I am so grateful that I was paired with him..." - Malachi

"The program was a lot different this session because we were always doing an interesting activity and the kids never got bored... I always enjoy doing the Diener School and this session I had more fun than I've ever had with the Diener School Program" - Darcy

"I remember one time we went on a scavenger hunt in each classroom. Every classroom had a different theme and each theme affected what we had to find. The Diener kids had lots of fun with this activity. Everything we did, no matter what it was, they enjoyed it and had so much fun" - Shayon

"I cannot believe what an experience this has been for me. The Diener School was super duper awesome and I am just speechless.... I was so shy when I started, but I feel welcome at the Diener School and now I feel almost like a teacher... I just love the Diener School and how great it is" - Mark

"Before I went to the Diener School, I was thinking that I wasn't going to like it that much. Later I found out I was totally wrong. As soon as I found out who my buddy was, I was so excited to see him the next week. Whenever I walked in, he walked over, gave me a high-five, and immediately started talking to me. We are very good friends, or the appropriate term, buddies" - Quinn

"I hope that I have been a good role model for my buddy to look up to. In addition, she has been a role model to me, because she cares about her friends, and is a strong leader. She does what she can to help because she knows it's the right thing to do" - Danya

"From this experience, I learned how special it is to do something like this important and have so much fun at the same time" - Mathew

"Patrice and Aaron have really made this fun and enriching experience, worth while... They did a very good job of getting everyone involved and excited, but also calm and respectful... I am so thankful to be given this opportunity. Diener has changed my life and has really opened my eyes to new limitsI thought I would never reach" - Ilan

"Everytime I go to the Diener School, I learn something new about my buddy. I even learn about the other kids, too..." - Drew

Field Trips

The Diener School believes in learning in and outside of the classroom. We have bi-weekly field trips that are curriculum correlated. We have visited The Baltimore Science Museum, The National History Museum, The Capitol, the White House, the local library, Croydon Creek Park, The Montgomery County Recycling Center, Robeks and more! We also take several field trips as part of our character development program. Our students visit the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington twice yearly to sing to the residents. We visit the personal pony farm where we learn to care for farm animals. We visit the parks on earth day to help clean and preserve our Earth!

Movement

The Diener School believes strongly in the connection between movement and learning. Our kids are moving throughout the day experiencing a variety of multi-sensory opportunities. Our movement program consists of the following:

• Daily Brain Gym
• Gross motor with our Occupational Therapist
• Fitness for Health
• Yoga
• Dance/Hip hop
• After school basketball, Glee and dance clubs offered

Staff like no other!

On staff at the Diener School are the following professionals:

• 7 Classroom Teachers
• 10 Trained Classroom Assistants
• 1 Speech Therapist
• 1 Occupational Therapist
• 1 Learning Skills Specialist
• 1 Fitness For Health Fitness Instructor
• 1 Dance Teacher
• 1 Yoga Instructor
• 1 Developmental Music Therapist
• 1 Developmental Art Teacher
• 1 Behaviorial Psychologist
• 1 Drama Teacher
• 1 Science Teacher

The Diener School Board of Trustees

Jillian Copeland, Director of The Diener School
Michelle Herman, Co-Founder, Dynamic Development Pediatric Services, President of Board
Lois McCabe, Head of Admissions, The Diener School, Vice President of Board
Scott Copeland, RST Development, Treasurer of Board
Lisa Friedlander, Attorney at Law, Secretary of Board

Parent Training

The Diener School offers a Winter Parent Training Series for our parents and community. We choose various therapists and professionals (many of whom work with our students at The Diener School) to come educate and empower our parents with knowledge, information and resources!

2011-12 Parent Trainings will be posted in the next few months. All members of our community are welcome to join.