Related Services & Support
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 each week. 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 engage in continuing education to support further specialization tailored to student 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.
