Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the average age of children at The Meeting House?

The average age of children at The Meeting House is 8 years old, with children ranging from 6 to 11 years of age. 

2. My child already attends a social group or a one-to-one speech and language or occupational therapy session.  Will I need to eliminate those services for my child to attend The Meeting House?

Absolutely not.  We feel very strongly that all therapists on a child’s team need to work together to help facilitate skills for our children.  The Meeting House can be an adjunct to any other therapy session your child receives, either in or outside of school.

3. How does The Meeting House differ from a social group?

As professionals, we think of it as a social group plus.  All children at The Meeting House have the support of a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and an experienced head teacher throughout the afternoon in order facilitate success and learning.  We aim to achieve similar goals as a social group, but in a recreationally based program that spans 2-1/2 hours of the afternoon.  The focus of The Meeting House is to provide a safe and nurturing, “real-world social setting”, for children to apply the skills they have learned in their individual therapies and school environment.  Our hope is that children of The Meeting House will be able to generalize the skills they learn at The Meeting House into other aspects of their lives. 

4. How do I know if my child is right for The Meeting House?

The Meeting House is designed for children ages 6-11 years of age who are in need of support in an afterschool program.  The children should be able to function independently for the most part, during the activities of the day.  We realize that all children have “off” days and may need increased amounts of support.  Since we are working to facilitate friendship and social relationships with peers, we can’t provide children with 100% assistance.  In order to see if The Meeting House is the right program for your child, we invite all children to spend a trial day with us.  This allows parents and our staff to decide together about the program being an appropriate match for your child.

5. Where are you located?

We are located at The Gateway School, which is at 211 West 61st Street.   It is a beautiful school with state of the art facilities, which we use in the afternoons.

6. Does my child have to attend The Meeting House all 3 afternoons?

Most children attend 1 afternoon a week, with a handful coming 2 afternoons a week.  

7. How does my child get to The Meeting House?

Most children are brought to The Meeting House by a caregiver.  When we have enough children from a school on a particular day, we gladly help facilitate escorted transportation.

8. Does a caregiver have to stay with the child the whole afternoon?

Caregivers are not required to stay at Gateway for the afternoon.  Most children are dropped off after school and picked up at 6:00.  However, we realize that there are some families traveling from all over the city and if they need to, there are places at Gateway for you to stay.  There are also many coffee shops, bookstores and shopping opportunities nearby.