The Joy School Blog

This Senior Parade was more than a celebration—it was a powerful glimpse into what resilience really is.

Step inside the joy and flavor of TJS’s Multicultural Festival, where over 20 cultures came alive through dance, food, and shared stories, proving that community thrives when everyone has a seat at the table.

From struggling student to licensed therapist, Claire Cooper says, “The Joy School changed my life forever.” Now, she’s helping others rewrite their own stories.

School culture comes about by intentionally identifying and setting forth explicit expectations.

Each of our four houses represents an important piece of our school’s history and the values that have made us who we are today. House Melcher and House Rosner are named for our co-founders, Patti Melcher and Jerome Rosner. House Watt is named after our longest-serving board chair, Mary Watt. House Nelson is named after our long-time neighbor, whose iconic tree still graces our playground.
 

From struggle to success—read how The Joy School transformed one student’s journey and inspired a future special education teacher!

In a heartfelt speech, a father shares how his son went from struggling with confidence and learning challenges to thriving academically, socially, and personally at The Joy School.

Discover how Joy School parents' unwavering support and appreciation fuel our teachers' passion and joy, creating a powerful ripple effect that transforms students' lives—read on to see why parents are truly a teacher's greatest asset!

Discover how 13-year-old Joy School student Dylan turned her learning differences into strengths, launching a thriving hair tinsel business and publishing her inspiring story in West University Buzz Magazine

Understanding neurodiversity helps improve communication and advocacy for personalized learning, fostering inclusive education.

Join us in raising awareness for Learning Disabilities Awareness Month, focusing on Dyscalculia, a specific learning disability affecting mathematical comprehension and reasoning.

This year's Learning Disabilities Awareness Month begins with a spotlight on Dysgraphia.

Understanding neurodiversity helps improve communication and advocacy for personalized learning, fostering inclusive education.

Nineteen years ago, teacher Brady King took a hardworking student with dyslexia to the MFAH to view impressionist art.

The Joy School teachers and staff share some of their favorite summer reads, including Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors by Rachel Gobbel, which we will be reading together as a staff this school year.

We're ringing in the new school year with our timeless mission to create a transformative environment where every child can thrive.

Here are some helpful hints one of our 2nd grade teachers put together, meant to help parents thoughtfully prepare their children for a brand-new school year.

This article celebrates a student's transformation and achievements, highlighting the support, persistence, and belief that contributed to her growth and success.

This guide helps parents understand and address the various academic struggles children face from kindergarten to eighth grade, including learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral issues, lack of motivation, educational gaps, and high expectations.

A deep dive into the difference between simply preparing a child for high school and giving them the skills they need to be independently successful in high school and beyond.

We address one of the most commonly asked questions we receive by illuminating our unique approach to nurturing academic success and independence.

Discover the transformative journey of The Joy School from its humble beginnings in a rented classroom to its most current campus expansion, offering hope and support for students with learning differences. 

The Joy School is a community of lifelong learners, exemplified by over 20% of the staff holding advanced degrees or specialized certifications, an annual budget for staff to attend national professional development conferences, and a commitment to ongoing education for faculty and staff. 

A message of gratitude from our Dean of Faculty & Staff, Rachel WIlliams

By differentiating between undiagnosed learning disabilities and typical post-pandemic school struggles, this article seeks to answer the question: Why have some children easily bounced back from educational interruptions caused by COVID-19, while others are still significantly struggling in the post-pandemic classroom?

The Joy School recently participated in the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness 5K, raising $2,905.16 for breast cancer research while fostering a sense of community and achievement among students, parents, and staff.

While not directly impacting academic skills, ADHD's effect on attention and executive functioning skills can significantly influence a child's learning and behavior, necessitating tailored support and strategies such as building self-awareness and executive functioning skills, plus providing necessary tools and structures in educational environments.

The most powerful moment of Michele Kemper's presentation was when she reminded us that the more we learn, the less we know, and while there may be no cure for dyslexia, we can continue to offer our families all kinds of hope.

Rob Wise, our Director of Enrollment Management, and Andrea Dorr, our Transition Coordinator presented at the Enrollment Management Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, answering the important question: What do admissions offices need to know about learning differences?  

Introducing our new house system! The four houses, each named after significant figures in our history, aim to foster unity, mentorship, and personal development, creating a supportive environment where students establish lifelong relationships.

Yesterday, The Joy School was on the front page of the Houston Chronicle in the number one spot on “Houston’s Most Expensive Private Schools” list. Here are the reasons why: staying true to our mission, doing what is right for kids, and taking good care of our exceptional teachers.

Our staff writer, Laura Spaulding, loves getting letters from happy parents after they first notice their child's transformation as a Joy School student, but nothing compares to being the parent writing the letter herself. 

The Joy School reconnects with a former Joy School family after 20 years, two former students, Maddie and Jenny, return as summer school interns, while other former teachers and students find ways to reconnect during our summer program, crediting their personal and professional growth to the years they spent at our school.

Joy School teachers are our number one resource in carrying out our school’s mission.

Follow the journey of Stephanie and Chris, navigating the difficult decisions of finding the right school for their son, Hudson, who was diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD.

Middle school teacher Ms. Farrah strives to make her science concepts come alive through collaborating with other disciplines, like the arts. 

Read about the evolution of TJS’ Talk Like a Pirate Day from a fun dress-up day to our biggest “makerspace” event of the year!

“The teachers and staff define this school, making it a caring place. A safe place. The kind of place that can change a child’s life.” Check out our latest blog post on a TJS family’s journey from struggle to safety.

In this blog post, we share how The Joy School “measures the gain, not the gap”, and creates a support system that sets students up for success!

Read about The Joy School’s reflective journey through our current reaccreditation process for the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest.

In this blog post, we highlight our 6th graders recent work, the skills they learned along the way, and how TJS teachers include social and executive functioning components into their academic curriculum!  

In this blog post, a former parent shares her TJS experience and her son becoming a “happier, more balanced child!”

In this blog post, we share how TJS works to unlock their students’ learning potential!

Hear from our Director of Enrollment Management, Rob Wise, on how TJS supports its staff to create a supportive workplace culture and drive student engagement.

In this blog post, we share the first part of our Why Joy campaign – a series dedicated to showing the life-long value of The Joy School for our students and their families. Read on to learn how the academic success and developmental support students experience at TJS allows parents to “get their child back”.

In this blog post on our inaugural Alumni Backyard Bash, we recognize the successes of our former students and share an emotional night filled with connection, celebration, and commemoration!

In this blog post, we share how our 4th graders built self-confidence in a TJS school play!

At TJS, our Learning Specialists serve a variety of students with different learning differences and diagnoses. In this blog post, learn how Mr. Justin, one of our Learning Specialists, has incorporated a daily mindfulness practice into his classroom that helps support students' social-emotional and academic goals. 

In this blog post, Learning Specialist Ms. Farah explains why she chose a dissecting unit for her fourth and fifth graders and how it was a lesson in biology as well as a lesson in developing important social-emotional skills like self-advocacy and positive mindset. 

Recently, our middle school students had the opportunity to attend our first in-person middle school meet-up of the year, a nerf war, on the TJS playground. Middle school meet-ups offer students the ability to practice social skills in a fun, real-life way, so it's a true JOY to offer these events in-person again. Read through this Q&A blog post with Program Director Elyse Trusell to learn more about the unique benefits of our middle school meet-ups for students, how we're keeping students safe at these events and plans for future meet-ups.

In this #JoyfromAfar blog post, Christina Medina, Learning Specialist, explains how she developed an online learning program that worked best for her students, striking a balance between providing social opportunities with learning opportunities through live and on-demand videos and giving students chances to have fun while learning, even at a distance.

In this #JoyfromAfar blog post, Laura Gray, Dean of Students and Family Support, and Jonathan Li, Middle School Learning Specialist, describe the ways they support students' social and emotional growth by hosting virtual hangout meetings during The Joy School's COVID-19 closure.

To foster strong partnerships with parents, our speech-language team regularly hosts coffee talks, where they provide valuable strategies that complement those taught in our specials classes. These talks offer a unique opportunity for parents to connect with our team and gain insights into how they can support their children's language and cognitive development at home

In this blog post, we talk with our Instructional Technologist, Christine Dinh, and discuss three assistive technology tools that can help students who have dyslexia.

In this post, we discuss scaffolding with Andrea Dorr, our Transition Coordinator and former math teacher, to help you better understand this term and help you visualize how it's used in our classrooms. We also explain the integral role scaffolding plays as Andrea evaluates students' readiness to transition into other schools.

Summer programs at The Joy School are a great way to bridge the gap between school years in a relaxed environment, and for younger students, summer programs are a great way to prepare for their first year of school. Learn more about The Joy School summer programs by reading our most recent blog post!

Andrea Dorr, Transition Coordinator, explains how to navigate the high school transition process, breaking it down into five easy steps.

Coffee Talks are a great opportunity for parents to gather with their child's speech-language pathologist and other parents. There will be two Coffee Talks (one for lower and one for middle school) during the fall.