Hi and welcome to the Lower School Support Services Page!

As the psychologist in the Lower School I support students, parents, and faculty in a variety of ways. At the beginning of each year, I spend a significant amount of time in the classrooms getting to know all of the children. I introduce myself in the lower grades as the "feelings doctor" and to the older children as someone who they can speak to about their thoughts and feelings in a confidential and private manner.

Throughout the year, I visit the classrooms to observe student progress and to do full classroom activities to support the Lower School Character Education program and other events happening in the school. In addition, I offer teachers strategies for providing additional assistance to children experiencing social-emotional and behavioral difficulties in the school setting. I also support students indirectly by providing consultation to parents and outside professionals.

On occasion, I work with individual students outside of the classroom. These children are typically seen on a short-term basis, usually in response to an immediate concern or behavior issue. Some of the concerns warranting direct work with students have included social skills, friendships, anxiety, classroom behavior, tolerance for frustration, and family problems. The school staff will work in conjunction with the family to also determine if longer-term intervention outside of the school is warranted.

I have also served as chair of the Character Education Committee for the past five years and I will continue to fill this role for the 2008-9 school year. I plan the monthly school-wide assemblies and communication to parents regarding the monthly virtue. I continually look to revise and add to the program each year.

In the past few years I have worked with the lower school teachers to implement aspects of the Responsive Classroom in the classes. The Responsive Classroom is an approach to teaching that combines social and academic curriculum throughout the school day. This approach, developed by teachers, consists of practical strategies for fostering a caring, respectful, and fun classroom of learners. The students and teachers have found the activities associated with the program to be quite rewarding and refreshing and we look forward to continuing and expanding its implementation next year.

The Lower School children brighten each and every day and it is my pleasure to work with the wonderful students at Hackley. Please feel free to contact me via phone or e-mail at any time. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Eve Kleeger, Psy.D.
(914) 366-2667
ekleeger@hackleyschool.org

Lower School Support Services

Our Lower School learning specialist, Mary Sekhri, works with classroom teachers through team teaching and demonstration lessons to help incorporate various strategies for students to use in their approach to class work. She observes students in the classroom, monitors progress and consults frequently with teachers to provide indirect learning support.

In addition, she meets individually or in small groups with students as recommended by the Lower School referral team. Students receive support in acquiring specific academic skills or in the development of general skills such as study skills, time-management, and organizational strategies. This direct intervention for specific academic skills can include reading comprehension, decoding, spelling, written expression and mathematics.

The Lower School referral team includes the Lower School director, psychologist, learning specialist and the student's classroom teachers. In addition to these members, the team might include other people who work with the student or who could provide important input, such as special area teachers, the director of support services, or school nurse.

The referral team makes recommendations for support services in or out of school. For example, if a student has weak academic skills or is deficient in an academic area, then the team may decide the student should work with the learning specialist. Other recommendations by the referral team may include counseling by the school psychologist, private tutoring or counseling, private academic remediation, or various evaluations to be performed out of school such as psychoeducational testing, occupational therapy or speech/language evaluations.

Lower School parents interested in finding out more about learning support for their child should speak with their child's classroom teacher.