Student Support

An Enriching Environment

At Peck, we foster an environment where students develop foundational skills, take appropriate risks, and gain confidence to reach their fullest potential.

Our commitment to holistic support includes caring teachers, small class sizes, and a collaborative Student Support Department, which ensures each student's individual needs are met for academic growth and character development.

At Peck, we pride ourselves on knowing each of our students and the environment that best supports their individual learning needs.

Peck's Student Support Team

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A learning specialist helps fifth grade students around a classroom table.

Learning Specialists

In both the Lower and Upper Schools, our Learning Specialists assist teachers and students in accessing Peck’s rigorous curriculum to meet their learning goals. This includes tactics ranging from whole-group lessons to helping individual students work on executive functioning (such as time management and organization) and test-taking strategies.

Our Learning Specialists also provide one-to-one support to reinforce skills delivered in the classroom that might be more difficult for a particular student or might require extra time or practice. Our Learning Specialists also work on an ongoing basis with those students who have identified learning support needs, and have a student support plan in place.

Reading and Literacy

Our Lower School approach to reading and literacy relies on the Orton-Gillingham methodology. While K-4 teachers are trained in this approach, our Lower School Reading Specialist is certified and can employ a number of strategies and tactics to meet different learning needs and styles—including meeting with the full kindergarten, supporting grade-level transitions, providing intervention and targeted support for struggling readers, and continually assessing every student's reading and literacy progress.

In Upper School, our Library & Literacy Specialist takes approaches to reading and literacy to the next level, working with small groups on writing skills and reading comprehension, facilitating the Writing Lab, and continuing to assess progress as students progress through the middle school years.

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Four young students sit around a table at The Peck School with a teacher to learn phonics.

School Psychologists

With School Psychologists in both the Lower and Upper Schools, we provide comprehensive support for social-emotional growth. Our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum addresses a range of age-appropriate topics, from friendships to self-care. Psychologists offer one-on-one support for students facing challenges and ongoing assistance for those with social-emotional plans in place. They also serve as a vital resource for the community during broader societal issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, complex events covered by the media, and social-media related phenomena.

Peck’s Student Support Team believes the following:

Every learner has unique strengths and opportunities for growth,
Clear and consistent communication is essential for the home-school partnership,
Ongoing progress monitoring is critical for growth, and
Interventions should be guided by best practices.

Our Supportive Approach

Building Belonging Curriculum

Our commitment to cultivating character and belonging throughout the community is a key part of what makes us Peck. Beginning in 2021, The Peck School set goals to roll out age-appropriate programming that provides time and space to teach concepts such as belonging, inclusion, and other character- and DEIB-related topics.

This work occurs on multiple fronts: not only through this intentional programming, but also by informing Peck's approach to cross-grade activities and family-style dining, as well as athletics, assemblies, concerts, and traditions.

Lunch Bunches

On a regular basis, small groups of students in Grades 3-5 meet with various administrators and teachers, including the School Psychologists and division heads, for lunch and conversation in a quiet, private setting to discuss a range of social-emotional topics.

The groups discuss topics that children often encounter at this age—such as friendships that grow and change, the importance of self-advocacy, and what it means to be a productive community member.

Responsive Classroom

Responsive Classroom is a student-centered approach to social-emotional learning and classroom management that builds a joyful, safe, and engaging community where students can bring their full selves to school, every day. Two major components of this approach are Morning Meeting and Closing Circle, which bookend the academic day with intention-setting, connection, and a feeling of belonging.

This approach helps students discover their internal resources to connect and express themselves in a group—which leads not only to stronger academic performance and participation but also to a stronger sense of agency and ability to self-advocate.

Upper School Academic Support Block

Grades 5-8 have a 30-minute period during the academic day to focus on their homework, and get additional support from their teachers.

Students learn organization, time management, study skills and planning for long-term projects. The time is also used to practice self-advocacy in a safe environment, as students determine how to best use their time—for example, seeking out a math teacher to review concepts, working on a collaborative, long-term project with their peers, or beginning the day's homework.

Upper School Advisory

Our small-group Advisory program provides each student with a "home base" for the school year. A primary point of contact for parents, Advisors monitor their advisees' progress and growth with both an academic and social-emotional perspective.

Advisory is a place where Upper School students can develop a closer relationship with a small group of their peers, as well as a trusted adult who can ensure they have a positive Peck experience.

Upper School Reading Zone

Reading Zone is dedicated time during the school day for students to curl up with a book they've personally chosen and get into a 'zone' of mind proven to breed skill, passion, and a lifelong habit for critical reading. The program also includes prompts for students to self-reflect by asking them to comment on their Reading Zone experience directly on their own progress reports, leading to the opportunity to think through and discuss the skills they build during this time of day.

Meet the Student Support Department

Melissa Sorge

Titles: Library and Literacy Specialist

Karen Wasserman

Titles: Lower School Psychologist

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