Related Services & Support
Four Questions with Alicia Smith
IDEAL's new Director of Learning Support
What is one thing – outside of education – that you’re truly passionate about or could talk for hours about?
I have a number of passions outside of education that I can talk about for hours. I love gardening and baking. This year, I planted strawberries in the hopes of combining these interests and possibly trying my hand at making fruit preserves. I really love sharing recipes, including traditional family recipes and baked goods. I am also very passionate about environmental preservation and exploring natural places. In this, I am an avid beachgoer, and I need to reconnect with saltwater as often as possible throughout the summer. This love of the beach connects to one of my earliest lifelong passions: studying whales and dolphins. When I was eight years old, my mother gifted me a set of wildlife cards and a carrying case. It was looking through those cards that I first discovered these amazing creatures, and I was drawn to learning everything that I could about them. I was even lucky enough to study mother-calf interactions among beluga whales at the New York Aquarium for my senior thesis as an undergraduate. To this day, I am still curious as to how whales and dolphins communicate, live in family groups, and survive in a world that is completely alien to us, yet right there before us.
What was your first impression of our school’s vibe or culture when you walked through the doors for the first time?
When I first arrived at IDEAL, I was struck by how every student walked through the front door smiling and was greeted by someone equally glad to see them. As I moved through the building during my tour and visited classes, it was so clear how much every student loved being at school. The connections between friends, the dedication of the teachers, the clubs and activities like team sports, all combined to make IDEAL a school where students felt seen, heard, and valued. Every student and staff member I spoke with talked about a sense of belonging, and in turn, everyone welcomed me with genuine warmth and hospitality. I, too, felt like I belonged.
As you navigate your first 90 days, what is one thing we can do as a community to make your transition smoother?
I am really looking forward to my transition to IDEAL. While I am a fast learner, I am going to ask everyone to be patient with me as I am going to ask loads of questions to get myself oriented to the rhythms and systems that make IDEAL such a warm and welcoming place. I thrive in community and connection. Please do not hesitate to reach out to point me in the right direction, offer feedback, and/or share a funny anecdote or a laugh.
Looking back at your career so far, what is a specific moment or achievement that reminded you why you chose leadership?
I genuinely like to help others, and I view school leadership as service. As such, my pathway into school leadership was very much service-driven; there was a need for someone to step into a role to provide support and guidance, to collaborate and problem-solve, to organize and arrange, and I always felt a natural gravitation toward these roles. Over time, these roles came with titles, but the service was still the same. I recommit myself to service as a leader every day, every time I look into the eyes of my students, every time I visit a classroom or meet with a teacher to discuss a challenging problem that does not yet have a solution, and in every little win that happens every day. I have had major accomplishments as a leader, such as designing the format of and reviewing the content within grade reports, which is a very important achievement toward building consistency, clarity, and depth in grade reporting, but, in the end, each grade report is about a child and that child’s personal learning journey of academic discovery and social-emotional development. As a leader, my fulfillment and commitment come from being an integral part of each child’s journey.
As a leader who values the magic found in ordinary days, I am looking forward to all of the little moments of joy, discovery, and accomplishment that I am going to have at IDEAL. If in the process of all of these little wins, an opportunity presents itself for a major accomplishment, I am ready to tackle that challenge and more than happy to serve.
Related Services
At The IDEAL School of Manhattan, we believe that learning looks different for every child. Our related services team helps ensure that all students can access their education and reach their full potential, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Our team of dedicated professionals provides a full range of support services tailored to each student’s unique needs, including speech-language, occupational, and physical therapy, as well as counseling. Our mission is to empower students with the tools and strategies they need to succeed, building independence and autonomy, resilience, and confidence while gaining greater self-awareness and self-advocacy skills.
Students receive related services or additional support in the Learning Center in a non-academic block built into their regular schedule, supporting IDEAL’s belief that all children should have access to whole-group instruction in the general education classroom and no student should be pulled out of whole-class instruction for related services. Therapists will also integrate or “push into” classrooms and provide student-centered plans that foster growth and promote skill generalization.
Having a robust team enables therapists to manage smaller caseloads, ensuring greater individualization and tailored instruction. Our speech-language pathologists focus on supporting students’ communication development and work to help students grow in language comprehension and expression, social communication, phonological awareness, articulation, fluency, and voice. Goals and sessions are designed to improve communication skills and strategies, allowing students access to all parts of their day, in and out of school.
IDEAL’s occupational therapists focus on helping students to be active participants in their daily lives. They address a wide range of skills and areas, including fine and gross motor skills, sensory processing and regulation, handwriting and typing, self-care, and executive functioning.
Physical therapists help students access and participate in their education by promoting their physical well-being and focusing on student growth in mobility, balance, coordination, strength, and stamina.
Our counselors provide comprehensive support to students with an emphasis on social-emotional learning, developing coping mechanisms, building self-esteem, and navigating conflicts and social challenges they may face. Counselors teach students how to build positive relationships, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively.
Together, our related services team partners closely with families and teachers to ensure continuity, transparency, and a truly collaborative approach. We are committed to celebrating each child’s strengths while supporting their areas of growth, and we take pride in creating an environment where every student feels seen, understood, and empowered. At IDEAL, we know that when students receive the right supports at the right time, they are better equipped to thrive both in and out of the classroom.
The Zenith and Dylan Programs
Students in the Zenith Program receive up to 180 minutes of related services each week, and students in the Dylan Program receive up to 270 minutes. Determinations made regarding which services a student will receive involve family intake conversations, a thorough review of IEPs and neuro-psychological evaluations, and informal assessments conducted by the clinical team. All of our therapists regularly consult and collaborate with families, teachers, and other team members to ensure services are individualized, culturally responsive, and address the student’s holistic needs. They all hold master's degrees and regularly pursue continuing education to further specialize in areas tailored to students' needs.
End-of-quarter progress reports document each student’s benchmarks – the skills, knowledge, and understandings they are developing in line with national and state standards and best practices in education – across all disciplines and goals related to any services. For students in the Zenith and Dylan Program, reports also include specific modifications and accommodations regularly used to scaffold or enhance the student’s development in a particular area.
