The Springboard School (formerly The Therapeutic Nursery at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades) is a nationally-recognized program for bright 3 to 6-year-old children with a variety of developmental challenges, including communication and learning disorders, ADHD, emotional and behavioral problems, selective mutism and high functioning autism. We are a developmental, language-based, parent-child program that addresses the social, emotional, behavioral, language, and cognitive development of each child. Our staff is comprised of a well-trained interdisciplinary team including speech and language therapists, special education teachers, occupational therapists, school social workers and child development specialists. We address the children’s emotional lives along with other aspects of their development. We help them understand and express their feelings. We also help the parents develop new ways of empathizing and communicating with their children. As the children learn to replace inappropriate or out of control behaviors with appropriate ones, self-confidence is enhanced and learning becomes possible. When parents are helped to use these principles at home, the children’s capacity to develop expands still further.