Adam Wolfsdorf - Bay Ridge Prep

Adam Wolfsdorf is the Humanities Department Chair and has been with Bay Ridge Prep for over 20 years. He is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program.

Adam holds a PhD in English Education from Columbia University, where he served as the Coordinator of the INSTEP Master’s program. He has published extensively in Changing English, The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, English Education, English Journal, and The Columbia Literary Journal. Dr. Wolfsdorf has book chapters in Humanizing Grief in Higher Education (Routledge) and Deep Reading, Volume 2 (Peter Lang). His new book, Navigating Trauma in the English Classroom, comes out in November of 2022 (NCTE). The book explores the convergent space connecting trauma, literature, writing, and pedagogy.

Outside of the English classroom, Adam has performed professionally for 25-years. He appeared in the national tours of the Broadway musicals RENT (with Neil Patrick Harris) and Grease. He fronts the nationally touring rock band, The Energy (MTV, NBC, ABC, and ESPN). Wolfsdorf received his MA in Psychology and Education from Columbia University, and holds a BA in English from Harvard University.

ADHD

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) find it particularly difficult to concentrate on tasks, to pay attention, follow directions, modulate their energy, and control impulsive behavior. Some children only exhibit inattentive behaviors that make success at school difficult, while others also struggle with hyperactivity and impulse control. ADHD presents differently as children mature.

At Bay Ridge Prep we coach children every step of the way to utilize strategies to help them regulate attention and meet their goals.

Bay Ridge Prep helps children with attention difficulties by:

Utilizing multimodal instructional strategies
Routinely helping children set goals, reflect on their performance, and apply feedback
Providing flexible seating options in the younger grades and allowing for frequent movement breaks throughout the school day
Scheduling active gross motor play daily for all children in grades K-8
Offering frequent check-ins with students

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language-based learning-disability officially referred to as a “specific learning disorder in reading”. Children diagnosed with dyslexia have difficulty learning to read and can also struggle to organize written and spoken language, reading quickly enough to comprehend longer sentences and sections of text, spelling, and even memorizing number facts.

In classrooms where teachers lack training in effective reading instruction and knowledge about how students with dyslexia learn best, children can become discouraged, anxious, and unmotivated. Bay Ridge Prep’s teachers are highly trained in research-based approaches to help students overcome dyslexia and become more confident, engaged, and independent readers.

Children with reading challenges at Bay Ridge Prep receive:

Intensive daily reading instruction that explicitly teaches the structure of the English language using both multisensory and word analysis approaches. The program is Orton-Gillingham-based and incorporates phonics, reading, spelling, and grammar into one integrated lesson.
Frequent progress monitoring to adapt instruction and measure student success
Small group instruction in functional groups
Speech-Language intervention when needed to support reading comprehension skills
Specialized, multisensory writing instruction that helps children expand sentence composing skills and create longer form narratives and expository writing pieces
The confidence that all reading and writing strategies taught in language arts classes are utilized and reinforced when students are asked to read and write in the science or social studies/history classroom.

Mission Overview

We explicitly teach skills that build emotional and social intelligence which help students create healthy and constructive relationships in and outside of school.

We provide students the freedom and responsibility to pursue their interests through open ended projects, course selections and student-initiated clubs.

We emphasize innovation, creativity and practical application over acquiring rote knowledge that can be easily accessed on any digital device.

We build social responsibility through school-wide, student selected community service initiatives and projects.

We offer a full array of arts programs and dynamic electives including ceramics, graphic design, theater arts, music composition, band, chorus and studio art.

We value all athletes and celebrate team spirit and positive role-modeling in our championship athletic program.

Dynamic Scheduling

Students come to Bay Ridge Prep with a complex array of strengths and weaknesses, multiple intelligences, and a vast set of interests and passions. When designing schedules, we look at each student as an unique and evolving individual. There is no static track for children in our support programs.

Our dynamic scheduling includes:

Many opportunities to enroll in advanced and honors classes in domains where a student has strengths
Robust arts programming
Student electives beginning in grade 7
Classes that aggressively target areas of weakness to accelerate success.
Rosters that leverage the social connections of classmates

Executive Functioning

It is very common for children diagnosed with ADHD to have executive functioning issues, but children without ADHD can struggle with weak executive functioning also. The simplest way to explain executive functioning difficulties is to look at how they impact a child’s day. For the most part, a child who has weak executive functions has difficulty with multitasking, taking notes while listening or reading, initiating activities, and /or moving from one step to another. Some children can also have trouble thinking flexibly. These children often overgeneralize new skills, have trouble thinking differently about new concepts, taking the perspective of others, correcting errors, and making course corrections when new information is introduced academically or socially.

Organizing time and materials can also be a challenge for children with weak executive functions. Forgetting books, losing assignments, and procrastinating when assignments require many steps or effort can also be commonplace.

Starting in the earliest grades we help students develop strategies and systems to manage time, attention, and materials that they can take with them into adulthood including:

Work time periods where children begin to learn time management skills with teacher guidance
A daily advisory period in the middle school to build effective organizational habits
Individual and small group executive functioning coaching when needed
Breaking down tasks and assignments into smaller steps
Providing visual cues, checklists, and consistent routines
Helping students create goals and work toward meeting those goals
Frequent opportunities to self-reflect and self-correct

Faculty Expertise

The success of Bay Ridge Prep students starts with our passionate leadership and faculty. They are experts in their respective fields and animated by the school’s fresh approach to education. Their extensive training to support children with different learning needs both inside and outside of the classroom creates a culture where everyone belongs and everyone learns.

95% of our faculty have advanced degrees in fields of study that equip them to enhance student life on a daily basis
Teachers in our supportive programs have Masters degrees in their areas of specialization, or are certified/trained to work with students with learning needs
Seven PhD level psychologists, 6 NYS certified school psychologists, 5 Speech/Language Therapists
Two department chairs with PhDs in education
Several members of faculty currently teach graduate school courses in education and psychology

Anxiety

While it isn’t unusual to occasionally feel stress and worry at some point during their time in school, for some students typical school activities like making and keeping friends, public-speaking, managing assignments and test taking can become a source of great discomfort and anxiety.

To support students who experience higher levels of anxiety Bay Ridge Prep:

Partners with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to teach children in the lower school strategies to better recognize, understand, and manage uncomfortable emotions.
Provides individual and group school-based counseling for children who need it in all divisions
Reviews and previews assignments and expectations with students
Organizes instructional groups considering both academic and emotional needs of students
Maintains a positive and empathetic school culture

Writing Challenges

Writing is one of the most complex tasks students undertake on a daily basis in school. They need to juggle ideas, the content, genre, the perspective of the reader, the rules of grammar and spelling, and motor skills (forming letters or keyboarding). Students that have dyslexia, executive function and/or attention difficulties can find the writing process all the more burdensome.

To help students gain confidence, master skills, and maintain motivation when faced with a writing task Bay Ridge Prep provides intensive writing supports including:

Specialized and structured writing classes (separate from reading/ literature classes) from grades K-12
Speech-Language pathologist support with written expression and expressive organizational skills
Assistive technology, consistent graphic organizers, and note-taking support for students as they begin the writing process
Handwriting and keyboarding skills explicitly taught in the lower school

Math Challenges

Dyscalculia is a learning disability officially referred to as a “specific learning disability with impairment in mathematics”. Students diagnosed with dyscalculia have difficulty learning, understanding, and performing math tasks. Dyscalculia does not affect a child’s performance in other subjects like English or History. Some children who struggle with reading, executive functions, attention, and anxiety also have difficulty learning mathematics.

To increase student confidence and mastery in mathematics our school provides:

Small differentiated academic groups
Supportive tools to build skills and reduce anxiety including charts, graph paper, calculators, and manipulatives
Speech-Language support to aid word problem solving
A low stress, supportive environment that emphasizes learning over grades

Staff Directory