Parents | The New School In The Heights

Parent Helpers

A cornerstone of our philosophy is a commitment to strengthening the parent-child relationship. We know who is the most important person in the child’s life is: the parent! While all schools acknowledge the role of parents, The New School includes help for parents as part of our regular tuition. Every family attending The New School is assigned a Parent Helper, a professional clinician specifically trained to help parents with life’s most important challenging and ultimately rewarding job – being a parent.

Regular meetings with a Parent Helper afford the parent(s) or other caregiver the opportunity to develop a shared understanding of their child’s personality. During their meetings, parents and the Parent Helper explore issues of parenting that are relevant to their particular situation. Children who need help at school with social-emotional issues invariably exhibit similar difficulties at home. By putting our heads together, we can find ways to support the child in both settings. We can share information about his or her day at school while benefiting from your experience at home.

Parent Helper meetings are also integral to the fact that we are a school devoted to helping children “move on” to their next challenge—whether that be a successful day in our school or transitioning to a new school. We know that if we can help parents with the challenge of being a parent, our mutual efforts will be long-lasting. We are about helping children make permanent gains. Teachers are in the student’s life for a short time; parents are there forever.

Regular work with your Parent Helper is a commitment you make to your child. Regular participation at Parent Helper meetings is required for retention in The New School.

When I brought my son to The New School in the Heights, I was desperate for help. He was acting out in public school, and his grades were dropping. The public school teachers and administrators did not know how to help. Moving to The New School enabled my son to be surrounded by highly capable teachers in small classroom environments. There was no more bullying - and we finally had peace in our home. We parents were asked to meet with administrators and teachers on a bi-weekly basis throughout the year to monitor progress. The methods at The New School changed my son's academic and social performances as well as our parenting style. It was amazing to watch our son grow to where he is now. He is on the honor roll and is making new friends daily. He has a renewed confidence and joy in his life, and I fully attribute his successes to God and The New School in the Heights.

A Grateful Parent & New School Mom

The New Middle School in the Heights was a God-send for our family. In addition to the current curriculum, our son received everything he needed at NMS. The "Wrap Around" concept really works - the teachers, the parents and the parent helpers all work together and nothing gets past this team. Everyone works with real time information about the child, and thus is able to work daily on situations as they arise. In our experience, that timely team effort made all the difference. Not only is it necessary for a child's growth, it helps not having to go to several different therapists and doctors who aren't always on the same page.

We highly recommend The New Middle School in the Heights for any child and/or family who is looking for quality and professional help in a nurturing and warm environment.

A Grateful Parent & New School Mom

Our son has always brought MORE of everything; more energy, more intellectual curiosity, more anxiety, more defiance, more meltdowns, more exasperation, and more raised eyebrows from other parents. We were coming to our wits end, and he was only in Kindergarten! Thus began our Houston-wide tour of special schools including: Harris, Joy, Monarch, Parish, Focus, and a Montessori or two (all of which had impressive strengths and specialties). But the day we entered the New School in the Heights was the day we experienced new hope.

We desperately needed a NEW school, with a new approach, new techniques, new guidance, and new results. Dr. Manning and her gifted faculty and staff have given us all these. At a recent holiday celebration, several relatives noted the marked progress of our son! Tuition isn't cheap, and the drive (for us) is a long one. But we look at it as the best investment we can presently make for our child who just requires . . . more.

We are SO grateful for New School in the Heights.

How do you say thank to a school that has been not only been a fabulous school but also a sanctuary, a supportive and safe place and a key part of why my family has endured and thrived thru many hardships and road blocks? It truly takes a village to raise a child. NSH has been a key component of my village. They helped me to keep my ship afloat.

A child of divorce myself, I credit my NSH Parent Helper in helping me to heal myself and teaching me how to be the very best parent I could and wanted to be both guiding and directing me through many difficulties and issues from my own messy divorce, then dealing and living with, managing and teaching a child with both learning disabilities and with severe and deep seated behavior issues and also empowering and assisting my other child who suffered from low self esteem, severe anxiety and depression. They helped him find his voice and his place. In addition, the counselors, my children's' helpers, available and provided thru the NSH, worked with each of my sons to see them thru to standing strong and proud on their own and learning how to be independent and successful in both life and in school. When other schools said "NO" or we don't care, the NSH said "YES" and we care. When other helpers said "NO" or impossible, NSH said "YES" and give it time. This is a one-of-a-kind school with a winning "team" approach that is centered on a caring and loving team that includes parents and their children, teachers, parent helpers and "children helpers" that focus on the "whole" family and child's health and not just winning scores on a test.

Without the wisdom and compassion and "wrap around" approach provided by Dr. Manning and Dr. Farley and their school's wonderful teachers and "helpers", neither myself nor my two sons, who were both adopted at birth, nor my ex husband would be at the place we are at right now. Both of my sons are a success in school and outside of school. It took time and a lot of very hard work on all of our parts with baby steps forward and sometimes a few steps backward. The team associated with NSH has been a crucial, invaluable and essential part of my village.

A Thankful Parent

A copy of the Parent Handbook is available to download for Parents of students currently enrolled. Request a password from our Director, .