The Lang School

26 Broadway, Suite 900

New York, NY 10004

47 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 17, 2023

I am so grateful for the Lang School. During elementary school, my child went from being an enthusiastic reader who practiced math for fun to thinking they were not smart enough to learn and refusing to go to school. Then during lockdown, they fell years behind academically. My child is now in their 2nd year at Lang (7th grade). After a year of adjustment, they are excelling at and above grade level. They happily go to school every day and love Lang so much- they said that they wished school could continue over the summer. The staff and teachers at the school is wonderful. Changes in leadership have been very positive.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2022

Lang is a life saver. They recognize our child's strengths and build on those. They recognize his weaknesses and help him work on those. They have created a place to which he loves showing up every single day. It has changed all of our lives.
Submitted by parent on July 02, 2021

Our daughter started at Lang as a 7th grader. Prior to Lang, our daughter had lost her motivation to complete homework and the love of learning she once had. This ultimately negatively affected her self esteem. Within months of joining Lang, she was holistically encouraged and empowered by teachers and her school psychologist. Lang helped her find her passion. With that in place, our daughter returned to her happy, engaged and confident self. We could not be more grateful to Lang for giving us our daughter back. She’s thriving, an A student and is strongly positioned for high school at Lang!
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2020

My son has truly blossomed from their talent development program. The school and his team (teachers, advisors, therapists, administration) have holistically embraced and adapted to my son's passions in ways I could not imagine. They have done an amazing job with remote learning.
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2019

Lang saved my kid. Before Lang, it was a battle on many days getting him to school. He had difficulty making friends and keeping engaged in school. Sometimes when he was having a particularly difficult morning, I would call ahead and his school psychologist would meet us outside of the school. Flash forward almost two years and my son is social, has a great group of friends, and looks forward to going to school in the morning. (Well, maybe every Monday morning, but who likes Monday mornings? Even on a “bad” Monday morning now, it’s much easier than a “good” morning two years ago.
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2019

Don’t kick kids out. That’s rotten. How can you not retain best teachers. They didn’t enrich my son but he was happier there. The math isn’t so hot. Other subjects are much better. Overall I’d love it with a different leader. You cannot talk to michaela. Period.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2019

Excellent. The administration, faculty and community work hard to offer a quality, compassionate education. The school is in partners with parents to support the children. No school is perfect. By and large placing a child with a learning difference as well as substantial gifts is excruciatingly difficult. This is a sunny, colorful school with attention to detail. The children are valued and accepted for who they are. As is. Not in spite of. The teachers are invested in the children. Schools for LD are new to our family. I have seen alternatives up close and personal. I would just advise any parent to keep channels of communication open and help to make it a success for your child. Stability and safety sometimes takes time for families to feel. For my family it was time well spent.
Submitted by parent on February 17, 2018

This is the most amazing school I've ever encountered -- I wish it existed when I was a kid. Everyone is incredibly responsive to my son's needs in every way -- I've never even imagined anything like this. His prior public schools, one of which is top-rated, were nightmarish. Lang is like emerging into the light. Almost every day something happens that makes me shake my head in wonderment at the kindness they display, as well as the academic rigor -- my middle school child is comfortably doing college-level work that is standard to their curriculum.
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2017

After a successful year at Lang we were excited to return. However our second year did not go well. We were very good about communicating with the school when we entered a difficult period in life dealing with a death, significant injury, and a major home space disruption. Despite all of these circumstances the director of the school decided to start to pull back on our son's support through his para-professional. The pull back did not go well. We were offered and accepted a contract for the following year however. We were excited to try again with Lang. However, several weeks later, we were dis-invited for the following year. We have since found out that this was not decision reached by consensus between teachers, support staff, and the director but instead a decision made against the suggestions of several staff members by the director only. We feel that the teaching staff at Lang has a ton of potential but we worry about the stability of the direction. In our two years we saw large numbers of teacher and staff turn over, and witnessed conversations that we felt uncomfortable seeing as the director seemed to demean to staff. Most importantly, our son has suffered. He knew we had signed a contract and he was thrilled to go back. Trying to explain to him why he couldn't...was...difficult. He felt lied to. So- if you are considering Lang, do your research, explore your options, follow you gut. We can no longer recommend it.
Submitted by parent on October 24, 2017

Lang is an ideal match for our child and has been a lifesaver for our family. She gets the supports she needs and is challenged academically. She has met kids who are like her, and we have found a community.If you're considering Lang for your child, you may be familiar with the battle zone known as homework. Yesterday, our kid did her homework. By herself. Without reminding, drama, or help. It was neat, thorough, and well-thought out. And it was NO BIG DEAL. This minor miracle is thanks to the village that is Lang. We are so grateful.
Submitted by other on November 16, 2016

I would encourage parents who are interested in this school for their children to ignore the reviews, both positive and negative, and go see for themselves through attending an open house and spending some time at this school. The head of school and her husband who is director of curriculum have no previous education experience or training. Have a conversation with them and find out for yourself if you can entrust these people with the education and well being of your child.
Submitted by other on November 07, 2016

My son has attended Lang since Kindergarten and he is now in the 3rd Grade. I credit the school for his extraordinary emotional and academic growth, for his budding maturity and understanding of the world around him, and for the curiosity and genuine desire to learn that he has developed. The level of personal attention and support, combined with a rigorous and challenging curriculum, have allowed my son to achieve a level of self-confidence I never expected. He has gone from being that child who hates school to being a child who relishes learning and who can appreciate and enjoy the social interactions that a great school engenders. The teachers and staff at Lang are committed and energetic and entirely focused on helping children be the best they can be, both socially and academically.
Submitted by parent on November 06, 2016

Since my son (now in high school) started at Lang, everyone from the school leadership to his teachers, and the school psychologists has worked together to create a safe, challenging school experience for him in which to grow and make mistakes. He was bullied a bit (maybe for two weeks) his first year, and the admin and staff turned things around quickly through anti-bullying workshops for both parents and students. Bullying happens in every school; we all know that. What makes Lang special is that it educates its community about bullying and establishes limits beyond which kids can't tread. A handful of parents haven't like these limits, saying kids will be kids, boys will be boys, the traditional lines that don't teach our kids values what they need to learn about compassion or about becoming bully-proof. The academics aren't always right on the money, but the homework feedback forms are taken seriously and the result is my son is happily challenged but not more than he can handle
Submitted by other on August 25, 2016

We don't typically post reviews online, but after reading a previous post which mentioned para professionals it seems that our viewpoint is worth sharing.We're entering our third year at Lang and our second year at Lang with a para. Our first year at this school was filled with highs and lows. My child made first friends, and the experience of finding peers who just 'get' each other has been transformative for us.That said, our choice to hire a para was simple. Our kid loves school yet underlying issues were coming to a head. The behaviors were affecting the entire class and we needed to fortify our bridge between home/after school therapy/in school support.Fast forward to now. The gains in my child's ability/willingness to write are astounding. For the first time the act of putting pencil to paper is no longer a struggle. Additionally, mathematical reasoning and comprehension have jumped well beyond grade level, and reading ability is also evolving from a "no-way, never" task to a true hunger for more to read. We are watching our child participate and engage in all classes as never before. By the end of last school year, my child was stable enough to attend school without para support - which meant our para took sick days and vacation days without effecting our child's attendance.Yes, we are entering this school year with the support of a para - and yes, we anticipate it will be our last year with such support. We work closely with the school to ensure that the joint plan to build our child's independence is a success. So far that plan is working, and we'll see it through. Bravo to Lang for allowing our child a safe place to learn and grow.
Submitted by parent on June 12, 2016

Over use of paraprofessionals. There appears to be almost as many paraprofessionals in the classroom as there are students. As a parent, it seems odd that with such a low student teacher ratio less than 10 kids and 2 teachers why so many paras. I heard from other parents that children who didn’t require a para previously, suddenly need one at Lang. I hope my child won’t need a para down the road, but there is always a concern and here is why. The paras that are contracted at Lang are for the entire class day. Whatever happened to the Idea act and least restrictive environment? Also, in addition to the tuition, the cost of the para is $3500 a month. Furthermore, the school policy is if the child’s para professional is not school (sick or vacation days) then the child is not allowed to attend school. My main concern is that many of the kids are leaving from my child’s class because of issues like this. Hope it’s smooth sailing for future years here.
Submitted by teacher on May 09, 2016

As a teacher at The Lang School, I have enjoyed tremendous support, which has allowed me to develop as an individual and as a teacher. Staff are engaged and inspired, willing to share ideas and practices, and always ready to lend a hand. The Lang School is a special environment where relationships between students and staff are sophisticated and nurturing, where students can bring a complex self-image into coherent focus within a supportive community. I have enjoyed helping students learn to trust themselves, to learn to aspire and work towards their goals, and thrilled to see them gain the enduring support of their peers.
Submitted by parent on April 15, 2016

This is our second year at The Lang School and it has been transformative for our 12 year old. Our son was previously enrolled at St. Ann's School in Brooklyn where he started struggling socially and emotionally in the 4th Grade. The teachers and administration at St. Ann's were unbelievably supportive, helpful and endlessly patient but my wife and I knew we had to find a better fit and The Lang School provided just such an environment. The small class size, high teacher to student ratio and intellectually challenging but loving atmosphere have allowed our son to find himself. While he still has his struggles, the teachers and psychologists have helped him recover quickly and they have always been reassuringly attentive to his emotional needs. Most importantly perhaps, his self-esteem, which at times seemed irreparably damaged in the past, has started to rebuild in a very foundational way and I attribute much of this to The Lang School. It is without a doubt a quirky place just like the children it serves and requires an open mind and some faith (it is relatively new) but I have found it to be an oasis for our family.
Submitted by other on April 13, 2016

It's been a year since we enrolled our little girl at The Lang School and we are grateful every day to have found such an extraordinary home for her to learn and grow. It is such a dichotomy to have a child with exceptional talent, yet very real challenges. Finding somewhere that embraces her strengths, highlights them, brings them out ...while at the same time gives her the tools to understand better, cope with and face her challenges ... this is priceless to us. Our result, in this incredible year has been a child with bright eyes, hungry for learning, confident, assured, strong and accepting and embracing of all the differences that we as humans have. Best of all ... she is happy!! The curriculum is amazing and we are so excited that she is exposed to not only rich subject matter, but a unique and forward thinking perspective on learning. She is supported by the most amazing team of teachers (who she adores), and her visits with her psychologist on staff at the school are considered fondly by her to be "the very special moments". As people who have experienced first-hand what it is like to go through an educational system that did not have a place for bright minds coupled with significant challenges ... we couldn't feel anymore fortunate to have found The Lang School...
Submitted by parent on April 12, 2016

After months of applying and checking out special educational schools I heard about The Lang School approximately one month before the school year began. I met with Micaela and the team there, had my son come in for an interview and a session with a current student and teacher there. The Lang School extended us an acceptance and gave him a chance where no other special ed school that we applied to would.It has been almost 2 full years that my son has attended The Lang School. He looks forward to and enjoys going to school everyday where in the past he never did. He has grown both academically and emotionally to such levels I never knew would be possible in 2 years. He has developed amazing relationships with the staff, teachers and therapists who have worked with him over the years. They have provided him with the level of support he needed to become successful. We have had only great experiences at the school and I am pleased to say that they have prepared him to be able to attend a mainstream school next year. We will never forget our years at Lang and we are thankful for the opportunity to be a part of their family.
Submitted by teacher on April 12, 2016

I have been a part of the Lang School teaching community for over 3 years. It is a rich and wonderful environment, both for staff and students. I have worked in other school settings, none of which afforded similar opportunities for learning, creativity, collaboration and growth. I feel supported at the school both by the administrative team and my talented and hard working colleagues. The kids are an inspiration- bright, inquisitive and great fun to be around.