Full day, multi-graded special education classes, with a low student to teacher ratio

• Half-day preschool utilizing a developmental model

Multi-disciplinary teams integrated into every classroom

• Certified/licensed speech-language pathologist
• Licensed occupational therapist
• Licensed physical therapist
• Licensed social worker

Certified special education teachers

• Teacher Assistants
• Full range of courses mandated by the State of Maryland or other funding jurisdictions
• Art, music, and drama cross-curricular integration classes for all students
• Physical education program adapted to meet individual needs
• Internet access in every classroom and computer lab
• Smartboards, Kurzweil, word processors
• FM systems in classrooms
• Observation rooms

• Improving the student’s ability to communicate and use language effectively to interact socially with adults and peers
• Improving the student’s abilities in academic achievement, auditory and visual perceptual, and fine and gross motor skills
• Developing the student’s positive self-image
• Providing an integrated family/school approach to setting and attaining appropriate goals
• Facilitating the student’s transition into a less restrictive environment at the appropriate time
• Providing families with information and support about issues of student development and behavior management

Our integrated, multi-disciplinary classroom team is comprised of a special educator, teacher assistant, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, social worker and administrator. Working together, they provide programs with a unique blend of educational and therapeutic services.

The team provides for both individual and in class support for students. Individual strengths are developed, areas of need are remediated and social skills/pragmatic language is improved.

The average classroom has no more than ten students. The professional staff to student ratio averages 1:5, which can be as low as 1:2 with the integrated team approach.

Cathleen M. Burgess, Lower/Middle School Director
Christina Bernabe, M.A., Lower and Middle School Education Director
Patricia Ritter, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Executive Director & Preschool Education Director

Sylvia Valdivia, Program Coordinator

Our staff is skilled in identifying different learning styles and creating varied approaches to each lesson. Auditory, visual tactile and kinesthetic movement-oriented learning occurs every day at The Katherine Thomas School.

Students are placed in multi-grade, multi-age groups, based on skill levels, where they can enjoy a variety of social relationships and learn comfortably at their own pace.

Computers and multi-media equipment bring excitement to learning, help students compensate for motor and processing difficulties and prepare them for the world of tomorrow.

Social skills are an important aspect of learning. Students gain self-esteem and social skills as they teach and learn from each other. Students work on developing relationships with peers and adults and explore their own capabilities for leadership.

The Katherine Thomas School has a fully equipped gymnasium, state-of-the-art drama, music and art rooms, and three fully-equipped OT gyms.

Call our Admissions Office at 301.738.9691, ext. 177 or email mtheard@ttlc.org to schedule a visit at our school or have an admissions packet sent to you. Admissions applications may be submitted at anytime for the following school year or for any openings that may occur during the school year.  You may also access the admissions applications for preschool, and kindergarten through eighth grade below.  The Katherine Thomas School is approved by the Maryland State Board of Education.

• Preschool Admissions Application
• K-8 Admissions Application

Financial Policy

The Katherine Thomas School accepts funding through local school districts. Private pay students are also admitted. Parents/guardians of private pay students are responsible for all costs of their child's schooling. Applications are available for private pay student scholarships from KTS. In addition, payment plans and/or loans are available through Sallie Mae.

Maria's Story- A Letter from Her Dad

As a parent with a child having special needs associated with Prader-Willi syndrome, it's hard to put into words our gratitude to you and your staff of professionals. Before coming to KTS, Maria was in another school where the children abused Maria physically and emotionally in too many ways. Due to Maria's inability to understand the pragmatic skills required for social interaction, she internalized this stress and anxiety, which made her extremely depressed. My wife and I had lost hope for a brighter future for our daughter, from the failures of her other school.  

The odds are against your hard-working staff to be able to turnaround our children's future, yet they not only endure these difficulties, they accept each challenge with fervor and vigor every day. Their tenacity is complimented by each child's successful achievement, identifying the various learning needs of so many children. For example, when your "Maria Team" observed and worked with my daughter's inability to accurately see or focus on the White Board, they detected a visual acuity problem never before identified by her other school’s teachers.  

Maria began KTS as a depressed child working at a pre-kindergarten level at age 9 and has successfully transformed into a class leader accomplishing 3rd and 4th grade work levels within one year! Your staff has totally turned Maria's inhibitions around and her self-esteem and confidence are now being restored.   In closing, these words are too inadequate a measure to express our gratitude for what you and your staff have achieved. The generosity of KTS staff and its supporters goes beyond helping build education levels of children with special needs; their benevolence saves the lives of children like Maria, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and inspirationally to achieve levels of success that would have otherwise be forgotten.

Amanda and Michael’s Story  

My name is Terry McShane. My wife Beth and I have two children, Amanda and Michael. This is our story.  

Beth and I met in New York’s Central Park on April 12, 1987. Yes, some great things do happen in Central Park.  It was magic!  We got married on October 13, 1990 and moved to Washington, DC. Beth and I dreamed of having a family and buying a home in the country.   After living and working in DC for five years, we bought our dream home in Darnestown. Amanda was born in 1999, and Michael was born in 2000.  We were living the "traditional" two kids in outer suburbia "normal" (whatever normal is) life.  Life was good and relatively simple.

But as our children grew, we realized that both of them were not typically developing, and we needed help.   When Amanda turned 3, we discovered she had a speech delay and some related learning issues. We immediately enrolled her in the Montgomery County preschool program, which was a wonderful program that she enjoyed for two years. Subsequently, Amanda attended the local public school for kindergarten. But she struggled significantly because of the lack of adequate staff and services to meet Amanda's special needs. We knew she needed something better than the public schools could offer her.  

That’s when we found KTS, where Amanda has been since first grade. What a difference!  Amanda's self esteem grew immediately, and her speech and learning development progressed dramatically.  From day one, Amanda looked forward to going to school. She constantly tells us "I love KTS!"  Finding the right program for your child can make all the difference.   

Amanda is now a fourth grader at KTS and her self confidence, reading, writing and speech development continue to grow each year. She loves her drama and music class and has been on the basketball team for the past two years. Amanda's self confidence has spilled over to her life outside school. She joined the local swim team, competed in mainstream swim meets this summer and learned how to ride a bicycle.  

As we were learning more about Amanda’s special needs, we realized Michael was also not developing typically. When Michael turned 3, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, an autism spectrum disorder that caused a significant speech delay and related learning disabilities. For Michael, Montgomery County Public Schools have been very effective. Since completing a terrific county preschool program, he has attended a public elementary school in a special education class led by one teacher and two assistants supporting eight students. Michael receives additional help in the summer through the county’s Extended School Year Program.   

Despite Michael’s progress in the public schools, we still felt that he needed something more. Once again, we turned to TLC for help. Three years ago, he began working with his speech therapist, Stacey, twice a week. Stacey and TLC quickly became an integral part of Michael's life and our lives. This past year has been a huge "break out" year for Michael, and we have been delighted to see his speech develop each week. His self reliance is growing, and he is developing by leaps and bounds. Michael has followed his sister into the swimming pool, recently learning how to jump off the diving board and how to go boogie boarding in the ocean. Like Amanda, he is also learning how to ride his bicycle.

While we are living a special life, our children still provide us with more joy than we could have asked for. KTS and TLC have helped our children develop and progress through terrific teachers, therapists and programs, and we will be forever grateful. 

Joey: A Success Story for TLC's Katherine Thomas School Preschool Program

In September 2006, a little boy named Joey who was just four years old came to TLC. For Joey, communicating with others was a struggle because of speech-language and sensory issues, and as a result, he felt badly about himself, especially around other children. Joey's mom Susan knew that early intervention was critical, but for a parent that wants to help their child, navigating the sea of information about developmental delays in young children is at best bewildering, oftentimes frightening. Every child is unique, and there is no one book parents can turn to that will tell them what to do, so they often become each other's best friends. It was a smart neighbor that referred Susan to a psychologist who in turn recommended TLC's preschool program for Joey.

Taking what she called "a leap of faith", Susan brought Joey to TLC, where she was immediately struck by the team of speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists that evaluated Joey using the DIR / Floortime Model for intervention. It seemed in effect to Susan that they could almost read her childs mind, understanding what he was trying to communicate even more than she did. And what became apparent to her was that the team, which included TLC staff Shawna Page, Dr. Pat Ritter and Shirley Anderson, looked at the whole person to determine the most effective treatment plan for Joey's individual needs, a hallmark of the TLC approach. It was something new and different that she had not seen before. It was, in fact, a gift.

Today, just one and a half years later, Susan says, "It is totally amazing, he is like a whole different kid that has a lot more confidence. In fact, he is so verbal that now we have to really watch what we say!" But perhaps his greatest success is that Joey has been accepted into a mainstream school where he will start kindergarten next fall.

On a recent family trip to Sesame Place, Joey was eager to show how much he has also overcome his sensory issues. On a wobbly bridge three stories high, which even his father couldn't handle, he did something which would have been nearly unthinkable a year ago. He crossed.

John's Story

In order to explain what TLC's Katherine Thomas School (KTS) has meant to our son John, we first need to describe John's experiences before KTS.  Since John was an infant, we have known that he would have developmental issues of some sort.  He was in a wheelchair and then a walker until he was three until he had the muscle tone to hold his head up or walk.  Our life has been a journey of discovering John's developmental issues, and helping John as much as we could to give him the best chance in life.

John started in Montgomery County's PEP program where we had a good experience.  Moving to Kindergarten and 1st grade, John was part of a small special education class led by two experienced and dedicated teachers who had led that class together for nine years. John was a happy child who enjoyed and looked forward to school.  As a family, we were generally pleased with the services we were receiving from the Montgomery County school system. 

In second grade John moved to a new school, a new teacher, new classmates, and new therapists.  He was still in a special education class, with a teacher and aide but with 50% more students.  During lunch and recess, John's class was mixed in with the general population of the school.

John's disabilities include speech/language and motor skill delays.  In plain language, he has difficulty communicating and can be clumsy.  In the helter-skelter of an elementary school hall rushing for lunch, or open recess with several hundred children outside, John could not keep up.  Over the course of that year, our happy, school-loving child changed.  He became withdrawn and no longer wanted to go to school.  He was not safe and did not feel safe.  He withdrew to protect himself.  We tried that entire year to work with the school staff to get John the attention he needed to feel safe and make academic progress.  It did not work. 

John started the third grade at the Katherine Thomas School.  The positive change was dramatic and immediate.  You could see it in his face and demeanor.  Riding home from school after just his 3rd day at KTS, my wife could see the change and asked him how he liked his new school.  Our once sullen and uncommunicative son, despite his speech/language issues, said "too many nice teachers to count!"

Space does not permit us to explain all the ways that the KTS program has helped our son.  Suffice it to say that the KTS program of integrating therapy with classroom activity, small class sizes, frequent and regular communication between parents and staff, and intensive individualized instruction, is greatly helping us meet our goal to give John his best possible chance in life despite his disabilities.

John is now a student at KTS High School. He still has significant learning disabilities that we and KTS work to help him overcome.  We have much work still to do.  But John looks forward to school, remains a happy child and continues to make progress every year.  Placing John at KTS is one of the best decisions we ever made.

Moshe's Story

This year, our son Moshe is able to attend KTS kindergarten.  Half the school year has passed, and we couldn't be happier.  Our son Moshe runs to the car to go to school and is greeted at the carpool with hugs and smiles.  Moshe's teacher, Ms. Debbie, and the entire KTS team are doing an incredible job helping our son achieve growth in all areas.

Just to give a few examples, it used to take two hours of physically holding Moshe every night to help him fall asleep.  Now, Moshe is more in touch with his body and can put himself to sleep.  Moshe is also much more socially aware of others his age.  We now only spend 15 minutes a day helping Moshe with the bathroom.  A couple of months ago it was a few hours.

Moshe is also achieving beautifully in the academic area and keeping up with everything he is taught.  All that was mentioned was achieved through the phenomenal support of his teacher at team at KTS, and their hard work and dedication. 

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for giving our son the chance to reach his goals that forever will impact his quality of life.

Corey's Story

Corey attended kindergarten at a private institution but because of my health and lack of funds I had to remove him from the school at the end of that year.  I transferred him to a public school near my home for the next four years.  Since the first grade I noticed that Corey was having difficulties with his overall learning.  Again, financially, I was not able to get him to a school that could offer him more.  At the end of June, Corey's grades were very, very low.  For a fourth grader, his reading, comprehension, math, etc. was on the level of a second grader. 

I was very worried and concerned about my son.  He was constantly teased by the kids at his old school.  He was made to feel useless, and his self-esteem was very, very low.  I am a single mom and I try to instill high self-confidence and values in Corey, but they were all shattered when Corey attended his old school.

Early last year, I was informed by one of my colleagues at work about KTS.  In May we received an acceptance letter from the school, but I could not afford the cost of tuition.  I further applied to the school for financial assistance for Corey, and in late July we received the letter offering us a scholarship.  I was truly delighted, and Corey was overwhelmed. 

I know KTS with their high academic program will give Corey the opportunity of reaching and achieving his goals and ultimately help him regain his overall self confidence.  KTS has truly made a difference in my child's life.