Winston Preparatory School- Long Island

Jul 18th, 2022

Nov 7th, 2020

My daughter started at the Long Island campus in 9th grade. It has been a life changer for her. Winston Prep thoroughly addresses all of her learning needs with a level responsiveness and flexibility that exceeded any expectations. When she entered Winston, she was depressed and had no academic confidence resulting from years of struggling to learn in the one size fits all model offered by the public education system. Today she is thriving, loves to learn and has not missed a single day of school in 2 years! They have challenged her and helped her to rise, face and succeed with ever increasing expectations. If you have a child who is struggling - Winston is the answer you have been searching for!
Sep 28th, 2019

We truly cannot endorse Winston Prep strongly enough. Our 12-year-old son is in his second year at Winston after attending public school through 5th grade and we are absolutely thrilled with his experience. And it is not the case that we had some horrible experience in the public schools rather we just felt that in the transition from elementary school to middle school, it was a good time to assess whether there was an environment better suited to help him navigate his academic development given his learning challenges. What drew us to Winston when we first made the decision to enroll him has fully proven to be the case: - Their small class sizes and lots of individual attention would be beneficial The powerful impact of this for any child, but especially one that may be struggling, cannot be overstated. Most of his classes are a total of 4 students, all with fairly similar learning challenges (which allows the teacher to tailor his or her approach), and the daily one-on-one Focus class is priceless. - Staff passionate about their mission Every single teacher and administrative person believes wholeheartedly in what the school is doing, cares at a very person level about each and every student and shows tireless dedication to making the students and the school a success. - Close coordination among a teaching team and the parents The teamwork and coordination really amplifies the impact of these great people. We get at least weekly (and often more frequent) postings from our sons focus teacher which speak about what is going on across all of his classes, what is going well and where he is struggling. It comes across very clearly that the teachers discuss as a team each and every student on specific basis, brainstorm as to how to give him or her the best chance of success and how to work with the family to re-enforce those efforts. The feedback loop that results is incredibly effective (and unbelievably comforting to parents anxious about their childs challenges). - Creativity Perhaps what impressed us most in learning about Winston, and continues to wow us again and again, is the creativity the staff brings to bear in creating effective learning opportunities. Without the constraints of a state mandated curriculum, they can and do modify things to make it work for the students. In some cases that is as simple as picking the right books that will actually engage the students. In other cases it involves things like bringing in actors for the students to direct in performing monologues they have written to powerfully teach things like self-reflection. - An established, and heavily / constantly researched approach to teaching While we love and appreciate the creativity, it is also critical to understand that it isnt just creative teachers making it up from scratch. Their efforts revolve around a core of key principals / objectives / approaches that Winston has developed over many years and that they re-enforce and improve upon through hard research (through the Winston Innovation Lab). This combination of: 1) staff with the capacity to provide a highly individualized approach; 2) in an environment which allows them the flexibility to creatively address the challenges that these students face; 3) as part of a highly coordinated team; 4) with the support of a proven, researched and constantly improving formula for developing Sustainable and Independent Learners is truly unbeatable and unbelievably powerful. We could not be bigger fans and supporters of Winston Prep.
Aug 10th, 2019