Specialized Studies Program

The Ryken Program is a New York State-approved Private, Secondary School, Special Education Program for students who demonstrate the cognitive capacity to master a rigorous college preparatory program but whose academic performance is significantly hampered by a documented disability that interferes with the capacity to store, process or produce information. These disabilities include but are not limited to, reading, writing, or mathematics disorders, receptive or expressive language impairments, and attention deficit disorder.

The Ryken Program's mission is to challenge and support learning disabled students so that they achieve academically at their intellectual level. The Program's goal is to turn them into effective life-long learners who will go on to college.

Philosophy: The school functions under the belief that learning disabilities can be overcome by a variety of strategic and compensatory approaches in a supportive and challenging environment. That is, intellectually capable adolescents with learning disorders can complete the State requirements for a Regents Diploma and go on to college when:

• They are taught through their strengths.
• Through instruction, they acquire compensatory strategies.
• They work with challenging and age-appropriate material.
• They are taught multi-modally.
• They have access to and instruction in, state-of-the-art technology.
• They are encouraged and counseled to see themselves as academically capable.
• They are provided with appropriate professional interventions and therapies as their disabilities require.

Criteria: It is expected that all students will meet the school requirements for a diploma, and go on to a four-year college program. 

Students in the program are encouraged to participate in any and all curricular and extracurricular opportunities offered at the school. They would, of course, be required to meet the same enrollment/try-out requirements as any other student.

Program Description:
The program offers a 12:1:1 small class environment with intensive remediation and intervention while covering the NYS Regents Curriculum in a challenging and supportive environment. In addition to the standard college-preparatory schedule, students receive both a scheduled skills class and after-school tutoring in reading, homework assistance, and Regents and Test preparation. All instruction is supported by state-of-the-art technology, age-appropriate texts, highly trained and certified staff, and scheduled related services that do not interfere with academic class time. Classes are structured and instruction is multi-modal to meet the unique learning needs of each student.

Tuition: Information about tuition, funding, and placement is available by calling (718) 836-7100 x158

There are a very limited number of seats available for the Program each year. Applications should be completed in the fall of eighth grade.