Aaron School

The school

A small K–12 day, with therapy inside it

Aaron keeps academics, executive-function instruction, social learning, and related services in the same day. The school is coed, from Kindergarten through grade 12, on two Manhattan campuses.

Kindergarten through grade 7 are at 309 East 45th Street, between First and Second Avenues. Grades 8 through 12 are at 42 East 30th Street, between Park Avenue South and Madison Avenue.

Classes enroll no more than 12. The public profile centers reading, writing, and math disabilities plus attention, sensory, and social challenges, and the school does not publish which diagnoses or needs it cannot support, so ask that question directly.

Instruction

Homeroom, skill groups, then Advance

In Kindergarten through grade 5, the homeroom is the academic and social center, and reading and math regroup across K–2 and grades 3–5 by skill. Staff are trained in Orton-Gillingham and Wilson Fundations.

In grades 6 and 7, literacy and math groups may mix the two grades by skill, and writing has two separate periods each week. From grade 8 the day is departmental.

Every student in grades 8 through 12 takes Advance four days a week. It covers organization, time management, prioritization, planning, study skills, goal setting, attention, self-advocacy, following instructions, and multitasking, with reinforcement across the day.

Therapies

What the therapy week includes

In Kindergarten through grade 5, Aaron says every student receives five therapy services a week. Kindergarten through grade 3 receive up to four pull-out sessions in speech, occupational therapy, or counseling, individually or in dyads, plus a whole-class social-skills push-in.

Grades 4 and 5 receive up to three dyad pull-outs, a whole-class social-skills push-in, and either a grade 4 Zones of Regulation class or a grade 5 life-skills class.

In grades 6 and 7, every student has three weekly groups: a 30-minute Study Skills Group led by an occupational therapist, a 45-minute Writing Lab with speech-language support, and a 45-minute Peer Group led by a counselor.

Each student also has 30 minutes a week of Connection Time with a recommended teacher, speech-language therapist, or counselor.

From grade 8, speech-language work is primarily integrated into academic and social courses, and occupational therapy is consultative, focused on sensory regulation, engagement, routines, organization, and executive function. Grades 8 through 10 take weekly Forum and sequenced social-development courses.

Grades 11 and 12 continue through guidance and transition. Individual and small-group counseling is available as needed, and the mix may change by year according to needs and coursework.

The K–3 pull-outs and the high-school “as needed” line are not the same service.

Two campuses

Grade 8 is a new building

Grade 8 is a new building. Seventh graders visit the upper campus, attend a spring dance and an anti-bullying assembly there, and then spend grade 8 on a departmental schedule with multiple educators and service providers, before credit-bearing high-school courses.

A student who enters in grade 8 does not share the K–7 history. A student who enters in grade 9 arrives as credits, course placement, and the transcript begin.

In 2023–24, the federal count at the grades 8–12 site was 79 students and 15 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers. Both draft 2026–27 calendars begin classes on September 10, 2026.

On the upper campus, clubs meet twice monthly during the school day, and with family and school permission a student may leave campus for lunch alone or with friends; students who need support can join a weekly grade-level lunch outing with related-service providers.

High school

A local diploma, with two kinds of courses

Graduates earn a local private-school diploma after at least 21 credits across English, science, social studies, math, foreign language, physical education, health, and electives, plus social-development and transition requirements. Aaron calls the award a local private-school diploma, not a Regents diploma.

In New York, registration is what permits an independent high school to issue valid state diplomas and administer Regents exams. Physical education totals one credit and may not occur every year.

Standard and Applied courses follow parallel core subjects. Applied courses emphasize factual understanding, introduce key concepts, use less complex vocabulary, move more slowly, and provide more individualized support.

Placement follows the admissions review and prior records, and it can mix by subject.

Aaron lists acceptances to four-year and two-year colleges, colleges with learning-support programs, art and technical schools, trade schools, and transition programs. Grades 11 and 12 have a weekly Transition Seminar, and a two-year Real World Applications sequence covers independent living, workplace readiness, and civic responsibility.

Commute

Two campuses, two commutes

Aaron directs East 45th Street families to Grand Central–42nd Street on the 4, 5, 6, 7, or Shuttle. East 30th Street families are directed to the 6 at 33rd Street.

The upper campus is also near the 28th Street subway and the north-south buses on the MTA neighborhood map.

City eligibility depends on grade, distance, borough, route availability, and exceptions. Curb-to-school or specialized transportation depends on an IEP, a 504 plan, or an approved medical exception, and on the student’s documented travel need.

Cost

No posted tuition, and no school aid

Aaron does not post tuition; it asks families to call admissions. It does not offer tuition assistance.

The application fee is $100 and nonrefundable. An enrollment page says tuition covers all therapies and academic programming.

Niche displayed a claimed highest-grade tuition of about $78,488 when checked, with no clear year, so use that figure to ask for the 2027–28 contract, not to budget.

Aaron is named in a 2025 Middle States reaccreditation notice. That status is not approval for a Committee on Special Education to place a student and contract with the school.

Reimbursement after a unilateral placement is case-specific, delayed, and never guaranteed. A 2023 State Review Officer decision denied reimbursement in one Aaron case, after finding NYCPS had offered that student an appropriate program.

An Individualized Education Services Program may provide certain equitable services, potentially including related services, SETSS, or transportation, for an eligible New York resident parentally placed in an NYC private school. It is not tuition reimbursement.

For the 2026–27 service year, the current NYCPS page lists a June 1 notice deadline.

Applying

Rolling admissions, and a file that has to be current

Aaron uses rolling admissions and considers a midyear place when a classroom has space. After the file is reviewed, a likely match completes a one-to-one intake, and Aaron may add classroom time or observe the child at the current school.

The tour page lists dates without a year, so confirm each date for the Fall 2027 cycle before planning around it.

The checklist says a family interview will not be scheduled without current evaluations. The file is the application and the $100 nonrefundable fee, a psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation current within one year, applicable speech and occupational-therapy evaluations, a teacher recommendation, a related-service-provider or therapist recommendation, and a transcript for grades 9 through 12.

The teacher form asks about serious conduct, unstructured settings, response to correction, independence, accommodations, and concerns that would require a specialized program.

Pinning down Aaron's services, transcript and transport

Aaron serves students with learning differences, so the useful answers are specific: which needs the school owns, what the weekly service schedule holds, and what a transcript will show.