Friendship School
Overview
Friendship School helps students with different learning abilities
build social and academic skills. Established in Eldersburg, Maryland,
Friendship School has educated children with alternative learning needs
for over a decade. Striving to create new pathways of learning,
Friendship School relies heavily on the Orton-Gillingham and Saxon Math
methodologies to provide a multi-sensory, linear, and cumulative
learning approach to language and mathematics. Children with language
and literacy-based learning differences focus on the structure of
language, sound and symbol relationships, and phonological awareness.
The school also emphasizes the fundamentals of writing, including
sentence structure principles, paragraph development, vocabulary, and
spelling rules. Friendship School’s mathematics program follows a
similar approach and incorporates hands-on, interactive, and sequential
pedagogical techniques to build a solid foundation. Furthermore, the
science and social studies curriculums follow the voluntary guidelines
of the Maryland State Department of Education and assist students as
they develop a variety of study skills, including note-taking,
test-taking, and time management.
With a focus on providing a comprehensive education, Friendship
School also offers specialized instruction in art, drama, and music.
Accordingly, Friendship School strives to provide an engaging and
creative atmosphere that encourages children to discover their unique
talents through a variety of activities. To help each student reach his
or her full potential, Friendship School also emphasizes social skills,
self-awareness, self-confidence, and qualities such as empathy,
kindness, and fairness.
At the core of Friendship School’s system lies a dedicated faculty
and staff that hold degrees in psychology, speech pathology, fine arts,
and special and elementary education. To meet the individual needs of
every child, all students receive daily one-on-one tutoring, small group
instruction, and individualized treatment plans (IEP). In addition to
residents of Eldersburg, Friendship School also accepts students from
throughout the greater Baltimore area.