Parents will soon have an additional choice for their children who have trouble communicating or with social interaction: the Auburn School will open in September 2011 with a mission to grow the social and academic potential of bright students with challenges in the areas of communication, social skills, pragmatic language, and organization, as is the case with children diagnosed with Asperger's syndrom, ASD, PDD-NOS, NVLD or ADHD.
Marjorie Hoffman has been selected as the founding Head of School for its Baltimore Campus. She has 40 years of experience as an educational professional, serving diverse schools in a variety of capacities.
"I am enthusiastic about the possibilities that will exist for students with social and communication challenges now that The Auburn School is a part of the network of outstanding educational institutions in Baltimore," says Hoffman. "My experience with starting a new school energizes me and give me confidence that this unique school will meet with great success. I look forward to speaking with interested families in the coming weeks."
Hoffman joins an experienced senior leadership team at the Auburn School that includes Auburn's founder and CEO, Erik Heyer, Auburn's EVP, Marina Major, and the Heads of Auburn's Herndon, VA and Silver Spring, MD campuses, Linnea Nelson and Dr. Sandra Kleinman. Collectively, these education leaders have nearly 100 years of experience designing, leading and managing high quality programs and services for students with a wide range of learning needs.
A founding teacher of The Krieger Schechter Day School, Hoffman then served as the first head of its middle school.She also served as head of school at Valley Academy, a middle and upper school for students with language-based learning differences in Baltimore, and middle school head at Garrison Forest School. She has been actively involved with the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, working on professional development offerings, the AIMS annual conference and most recently as facilitator for a series of teacher training workshops. She received her B.S. in early childhood education from the University of Maryland, an M.Ed. from Johns Hopkins University, and a certificate of administration and supervision from Towson University.
Source: The Auburn School
Writer: Walaika Haskins