Baltimore Lab School is a nonpublic school for bright children in grades 1-12. Baltimore Lab School provides a unique educational opportunity for students with moderate-to-severe learning differences. Baltimore Lab School is located in Baltimore, Maryland in Goucher Hall built by renowned architect Stanford White. The school was founded in September 2000 as a division of its parent school in Washington D.C., The Lab School of Washington. Both schools were founded and administered by Sally Smith, a nationally recognized leader in special education, until her death in 2007. Baltimore Lab School offers its students and the public clinical services, including speech-language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services. Individual or small group related service sessions are offered on an outpatient basis or through pull-out or push-in services for an extra fee. All students are able to benefit from these on-site specialists through services integrated into instruction. Baltimore Lab is a training site for interns from Temple University, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University, Towson University, Goucher College, and Maryland Institute College of Art. These students complete an internship under the supervision of Baltimore Lab's teaching staff. Baltimore Lab School faculty members are invited to speak at local universities and professional conferences. Baltimore Lab School strives to educate each student with a rigorous, yet non-traditional approach. In addition to core academics, visual arts, performing arts, and athletics, Baltimore Lab School fosters confidence, self-esteem, self-advocacy, and an awareness of individual learning styles and talents. Students of all ages are taught to develop their own personal "tool kits" of strategies, accommodations, and insight into their disability. Emphasis on each student becoming a master of his or her best self is especially emphasized in Baltimore Lab School's high school program, where students explore their options for "Life After Lab," through a community internship programs, opportunities to meet with college representatives, etc. Baltimore Lab School offers a low student-to-staff ratio that allows their students to have better academic support than special needs students would when enrolled in a traditional school setting. The school also offers after-school activities and sports, such as cross country, indoor rock-climbing, tennis, track and field, basketball, and swimming, as well as many field trips to further enhance the learning experience of students. Baltimore Lab School also partners with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to organize a multitude of outdoor learning experiences for students of all ages. Baltimore Lab School's 9th commencement exercises took place in June 2016. The commencement speaker was James Piper Bond, President of Living Classrooms Foundation. Previous commencement speakers have included Fred Lazarus, who at the time was President of Maryland InstituteCollege of Art. In March 2014, Baltimore Lab School began operating fully independently from Lab School of Washington. The building that houses the school was purchased from Washington Lab.
