Siena vs Lab

[Anonymous]

We are fortunate to have both of these schools as options for our DC for next September. We are torn. Cost is one consideration. We love that Lab has a vibrant community, a lot of research-based and cutting edge methods, and it also has the reputation of being “The” private school in the DC area for students with dyslexia. Lab accepted DC right away, and has been proactive about reaching out and answering questions, putting us in touch with other parents and resources.

We like Siena’s smaller size, more intimate setting, and less institutional approach to learning. They put a lot of effort into working with DC during the admissions process, with multiple day-long visits over multiple days, to make sure it was the “right fit.” Not sure if the quick acceptance vs slower more cautious acceptance is better? DC likes both schools; but they are quite different. DC is in mid-elementary and has a variety of learning disabilities (moderate to severe dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, working memory and auditory processing delays). Also some speech and OT needs. We are not sure if long-term SN school is the right approach for the next 8-9 years. But after the last two years in public, DC is not meeting IEP goals and needs some intense remediation. But then we would love to get him back into public school. Would appreciate any tips or advice.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, OP! Have you had a chance to speak to families at Siena too? What about the commute? It sounds like your child doesn't have a preference?

Happy Siena Silver Spring elementary parent here. The school is indeed cautious about fit because with small classes it's important to try to foster the right classroom dynamic from the beginning. We are also considering a transition to public for high school but we will see how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. OP here. We have not yet talked to families. Am going to ask about that today. The commute to both is about the same for us. We are considering Siena in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Siena in Silver Spring former parent. We chose Siena over Lab for its exclusive focus on language disorder (w/adhd support). Lots of the framing of instruction at Lab, was not a good fit for our DC w/ dysgraphia - the focus on production of art was very pencil or brush oriented. The focus on imaginary play/ skits for learning also would have been very frustrating for our child.

Siena also has an excellent music program which really drew our kid in.

[Anonymous]

How does your child feel about sports? Lab has a bigger sports program with more variety offered. Kids don't usually have to be on club teams to make teams at either school, so its a fun outlet for team-building.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Child participates in sports outside of school, so that isn’t a critical concern for us. We want the best academic fit to remediate the dyslexia/dysgraphia/dyscalculia and help DC get back on track academically. We are concerned that Lab is so costly, yet will require us to cover speech and OT on top of that and use their providers who are likely out of our insurance network.

[Anonymous]

Op again. But, extra costs aside, we liked the Lab vibe and so did DC. DC needs serious interventions at this point and as many reading and writing supports as possible. The last year has been a disaster.

[Anonymous]

We are at Lab - my child started in 4th grade.
We went Lab instead of Siena as he was on the borderline for what Siena accepts (no more than 2 years behind). We thought Lab was better suited for delivering the "serious interventions" that he needed.
Our sense from the open house at Siena and talking to school leadership was that their sweet spot was children who had more mild to moderate as opposed to moderate to severe.

I do not believe Siena would accept you if they did not think they could support your child. It was more a sense of where they really shine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Child participates in sports outside of school, so that isn’t a critical concern for us. We want the best academic fit to remediate the dyslexia/dysgraphia/dyscalculia and help DC get back on track academically. We are concerned that Lab is so costly, yet will require us to cover speech and OT on top of that and use their providers who are likely out of our insurance network.

FWIW, we had an SLP prior to Siena. She worked mostly on speech and social communication (implicit norms and expectations DC wasn’t picking up). We did not need the SLP to do any work on dyslexia and dysgraphia outside of Siena - they did all that was necessary. Our DC had an expressive language gap (receptive was very strong) and a lisp, so once at Siena, we continued to work with the SLP. What I appreciated most about Siena - and it was the only school, public or private, to do this - is that they listened to our SLP sharing about what DC needed and even incorporated some of her recommendations about certain kinds of instructional packages or accommodations into the classroom for all.

I can’t speak to dyscalculie, as DC was above grade for math , so they let him take math with the higher grade. I did notice that much of the math instruction was multi-sensory. If you have been admitted, I would encourage you to ask Siena about math instruction. IMO, many students have difficulty with the math to symbolic language translation and with memorization of math facts and multi-step math processes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Child participates in sports outside of school, so that isn’t a critical concern for us. We want the best academic fit to remediate the dyslexia/dysgraphia/dyscalculia and help DC get back on track academically. We are concerned that Lab is so costly, yet will require us to cover speech and OT on top of that and use their providers who are likely out of our insurance network.

FWIW, we had an SLP prior to Siena. She worked mostly on speech and social communication (implicit norms and expectations DC wasn’t picking up). We did not need the SLP to do any work on dyslexia and dysgraphia outside of Siena - they did all that was necessary. Our DC had an expressive language gap (receptive was very strong) and a lisp, so once at Siena, we continued to work with the SLP. What I appreciated most about Siena - and it was the only school, public or private, to do this - is that they listened to our SLP sharing about what DC needed and even incorporated some of her recommendations about certain kinds of instructional packages or accommodations into the classroom for all.

I can’t speak to dyscalculie, as DC was above grade for math , so they let him take math with the higher grade. I did notice that much of the math instruction was multi-sensory. If you have been admitted, I would encourage you to ask Siena about math instruction. IMO, many students have difficulty with the math to symbolic language translation and with memorization of math facts and multi-step math processes.

Thank you. This is helpful. DC currently has a SLP who is in our insurance network, who DC adores. So I’d hate to give that up. I will try to ask Siena about their math approach. But it’s good to know that OT is sort of built in.

[Anonymous]

Another question for actual Lab/Siena parents. Realistically, do the schools intend to keep kids through 12th (Lab) and 8th (Siena) and work to that end? Or is the goal to remediate back out to mainstream public/private? I honestly don’t think we can afford keeping our DC at Lab school for more than a couple years. So we need to focus on remediation and working skills to get back to mainstream by middle school if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another question for actual Lab/Siena parents. Realistically, do the schools intend to keep kids through 12th (Lab) and 8th (Siena) and work to that end? Or is the goal to remediate back out to mainstream public/private? I honestly don’t think we can afford keeping our DC at Lab school for more than a couple years. So we need to focus on remediation and working skills to get back to mainstream by middle school if possible.

We are a Lab School family. There is a mix of paths that students take. I know families that went to Lab through 8th grade and transitioned to other privates that were more a combination of neurotypical + accommodations for dyslexia . My public school 8th grade DD did shadow days for private catholic schools this year and ran into a current 8th grade Lab School Student twice. Some of the schools I know the students have gone to / explored include: Field, Burke, St, Johns (Benilde Program), Academy of the Holy Cross (St. Mary's Resource Program). We are a DC family and unfortunately, I could not imagine a path for my child in our neighborhood public school.

We are planning on staying through 8th grade and evaluating at that time what is the right path. For my child's mental health, Lab has really helped. Being with kids who all have a language based learning difference takes away some of the stress that they used to face on a daily basis. Constantly being pulled from their class for instruction / not being able to engage in classes the way their peers were / avoidance tactics that were mastered. All of these things stressed their systems. Start taking these away and they are ready to engage in other things each day.

Just a FYI - Siena is planning on going through 12th.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. My DC , rising 4th has same as OP- dyslexia/dyscalculia/dysgraphia/ADHD/working memory…and did not get accepted to Siena in SS. During the process we definitely questioned if it would be a good fit, despite us assuming it was the right choice. Thankfully we explored other options- and would have probably sent child to Lab over Siena bc it felt a more comfortable fit and vibe. It seemed like we’d be paying only to still feel like DC was not on level with peers. I think the discrepancy likely has to do with Siena being new to VA and it not being as well known- in SS, they seem to only want the cleanest cases. You can’t lose- both are incredible options. DC going to McLean (I know someone is reading this and wondering

[Anonymous]

DC at Lab and while reading has been pretty well remediated (still very slow reading but amazing to see how fluent from moderate to significant until 3/4 grade), they haven’t been great on the dysgraphia and output side and often teach “down” to the kids. Also DC really dislikes the social atmosphere and the over the top “we’re so special” special Ed-ness of the school. Significant number of kids with behavior issues. But each kid and their needs are very different so need to gauge trade offs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC at Lab and while reading has been pretty well remediated (still very slow reading but amazing to see how fluent from moderate to significant until 3/4 grade), they haven’t been great on the dysgraphia and output side and often teach “down” to the kids. Also DC really dislikes the social atmosphere and the over the top “we’re so special” special Ed-ness of the school. Significant number of kids with behavior issues. But each kid and their needs are very different so need to gauge trade offs.

Do you mind sharing approximately what grade and a bit more about the teaching down and social atmosphere?

Our DS is happy socially at his current public school and making do with outside tutoring. He's doing well enough in school with supports but finds it exhausting. Not sure if Lab would be the right fit for us. It would be for 6th grade.