Kim McDermott: Advancing Stratford Friends Mission To Teach Young Neurodiverse Learners

Kim McDermott: Advancing Stratford Friends Mission To Teach Young Neurodiverse Learners

In this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, Host Bob Blaisse interviews Kim McDermott, Director of Advancement at Stratford Friends School in Newtown Square, PA, who shares how Stratford Friends has become one of the leading alternative primary school programs for neurodiverse learners—autistic students, students with ADHD, auditory processing challenges and language delays— to build confidence and thrive across academics and life. Listen and learn how the advantages of a six-to-one classroom, where integrated speech, OT and behavioral support are incorporated within the teaching rhythm to benefit young learners who otherwise would struggle to advance academically while developing age-appropriate life skills, can make all the difference for students and parents in need of education alternatives. 

You'll hear Kim walk us through what makes Stratford Friends different: intentionally small classes, full-time therapies located on campus and a teaching and learning culture with the mission that turns IEPs into actionable plans rather than paperwork. You'll hear how students from 32 ZIP codes across the five-county Philadelphia Metro Region are being well-served by this school with a Quaker-rooted legacy that uses the most current teaching methods and therapies to help and educate neurodiverse learners.

This episode also pulls back the curtain on the sustainability and growth of Stratford Friends School. From EITC scholarships to foundation and government grants, community sponsors, including support of Stratford Friends from the Eagles Autism Foundation, Stratford Friends, is a thriving and growing mission. Kim explains how admissions for students begin with a conversation instead of a checklist, why the right fit matters more than formality and how incoming primary students now have the opportunity to progress through grade levels, including an upper school 10th grade, with near-term plans for 11th and 12th grades. These programs are for students who have not fully gained the skills needed to transition back to their home school districts in high school years, as the best option for their secondary education.

If you’re a parent, educator or neighbor curious about effective neurodiversity-affirming education, this is a candid look at what truly moves the needle: alignment between teachers and therapists, predictable supports and respect for how each brain learns best.
 
Stratford Friends School
2 Bishop Hollow Rd,
Newtown Square, PA 19073
StratfordFreinds.org
610-355-9580

--- About The Show--- Good Neighbor Podcast is a spotlight on local businesses in and around Delaware County, PA (“Delco” ) and Beyond...  The executive producer and host, Bob Blaisse, is a community sponsorship advocate, business branding specialist, and publisher of several hometown magazines, including: Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, Marple Friends & Neighbors and Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors, mailed monthly to more than 12,000 homes in Western Delaware County, PA, and also available for reading online.
 

Transcript

Welcome to Good Neighbor Delco

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello, DevilCo. This is Michael Barcan. Welcoming you to the Good Neighbor Podcast, where fans of local businesses and their neighbors come together. It's my pleasure once again to introduce my friend and neighbor, our host, Bob Lacey.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Michael Barcan, thank you very much for that introduction again. And everybody, welcome again to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. And if you've listened before, you know we originate from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the most southeast corner of Pennsylvania, frankly, and just above the state of uh Delaware and uh just west of the state of New Jersey. We're just south of the city of Philadelphia in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania's uh 67 counties, Delaware County, lovingly referred to as Delco. We call the podcast Good Neighbor Podcast Delco because the purpose is to bring good neighbor businesses to the community and beyond, uh, outside of Delaware County and and really across the United States and the world get to hear about these good neighbor businesses. And today I'm really excited because every once in a while we do throw the switch a bit, change it up a bit. And instead of having a business today, we have what you would call a nonprofit organization, not a business, but really in a way uh known to be able to provide services and product. It's education. We have a school today that we're presenting on the Good Neighbor podcast, certainly a good neighbor in our community. Let me bring to the stage here uh the director of advancement for the Stratford Friends School at um in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Stratford Friends is the name of the school. And uh welcome, Kim McDermott.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Bob, thanks so much for having me. We're uh

Why Feature Stratford Friends

SPEAKER_02 1:45

or I'm very excited to be here today to talk a little bit more about Stratford Friends.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Well, it's wonderful because I am familiar being uh in that area of Newtown Square, I have driven by the Fratf Stratford Friends, um, the school that everyone knows of Stratford Friends um in Newtown Square. It's been there for, gosh, I would say 10 or 15 years, but I think it even has an earlier history. We're gonna learn about that here today. But the reason why I'm excited to bring news of Stratford Friends to our Good Neighbor podcast audience is because the school really has a special mission, and it's become known in the area in the five county area, the Philadelphia metro area, for its special mission. Kim, give us a little understanding, the listeners, to know what

Meet Stratford Friends School

SPEAKER_00 2:30

makes Stratford Friends different.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

So we like to say we're unique, and we are. It's a special little school for Nordivar students. We have been around since 1976. Um, started with four students, and we're roughly around 80 students currently, um, really supporting students throughout Delra County, Chester County, Montgomery County, Burks County. Um, we are founded with Quaker Values, um, but really here to provide academic, behavioral, and emotional support to our local youth.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

And you mentioned the term Noro, neurodiverse. So there is a specialty in the education that you provide. I guess that's why it's become so well known. And when you mentioned those five

Mission and Neurodiversity Focus

SPEAKER_00 3:20

or six counties really uh that you draw students from, let's talk about that a bit because that's a surprise even to me that you're actually um well known. The school, Stratford Friends, is so well known and known for its mission and its really specialty service in education, that you have students coming from as far away as Berks County and Chester County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, because of serving the the needs, the neurodiverse needs of certain students in the ages of uh well, elementary school, correct?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Elementary, and this year we just opened our 10th grade. So we are now going up to upper schools. We have elementary, which we call lower school, our middle school program, and then a now newly developed upper school program. I mean, you're correct. Students come from many different counties. I think we're at 32 different zip codes for our students. So we're not the neighborhood school, we're really the school that's providing

Who They Serve and From Where

SPEAKER_02 4:20

the special services. Um, students come and some are autistic, some have um ADHD, auditory processing disorders, receptive and expressive language delays. And we're really, like I said, that unique opportunity. Our class sizes are intentionally small. Most classes have six students to one teacher ratio, uh, which is amazing and fairly rare. You don't see that many, many places. Um, but they're intentionally small so that our teachers really can get to know our students' needs and how to support them. Um, we also have full-time speech and occupational therapy here for our students, as well as a behavioral specialist.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Well, this is big news. I mean, I didn't quite know that about you know Stratford Friends. I knew it was specialized learning, gifted students in a way, and it some trays, but but also students that are you know going to become

Small Classes and Integrated Therapies

SPEAKER_00 5:20

gifted in more ways once their educational style is is accommodated, frankly. And and so you mentioned ADHD and you mentioned certain language uh barriers that some might have, or even occupational therapy needs, speech needs. Um tell me if I can, so our listeners uh know this. I mean, we know that public schools, the public school system can accommodate um a certain uh level of this kind of special need education, but not not in all cases. And and so are you uh kind of a private version of that that public schools would provide, or are you the next level of more specialized learning that parents are scratching their head wondering, how can I get help from my child?

SPEAKER_02 6:00

I would say we're the next level. Many of our students come um and are fully district funded or partially district funded. So they're really coming to us because their district recognizes that they can receive more intentional support here. Um so they are coming, you know, for that reason. They're coming because they haven't been able to receive the services they need within their local school district. Um, and again, it's not really the school for everybody. Um, it's the school for our unique learners and the ones that need that extra level of support. Um, some of our students stay here from kindergarten,

Public vs. Next-Level Support

SPEAKER_02 6:40

first grade all the way through. Um, and some of our students need a few years of our level of support, and then we help them transition back into their school districts or whatever school choice.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

This is really good news for families. I mean, for parents that are struggling in in have a have a young child wondering what will their education future be? There definitely does seem to be some learning needs here. Now, I I think that parents would find that out through some uh early testing that might be accommodated by their school district. But can a parent actually um say, I just am making the move first. I don't think that my child is going to be well served in the public school system. Can they apply directly to the Stratford Friends uh and find out if their child can be accepted into your learning program?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

So our director of emissions, Patty, um, as well as our head of school, Jill, are great working with parents in those situations.

Admissions Path and IEPs

SPEAKER_02 7:35

We have some parents that reach out and they want to learn a little bit more about the school and how it would work for their child. And both Patty and Jill really will work. Um, they bring the we don't have our traditional um application process. So our application processes usually starts with an interview because we want to get to know the situation, we want to get to know the students' needs, get to know the family, um, and they will walk them through whether it's the appropriate placement and kind of help with some supports. I mean, we I guess some parents can come to a department to make sure that they're getting the level of need they they um the student requires. Um some work with advocates uh to kind of make sure that they're receiving the support they need. Um, most of them, I would say large majority of our students come with um an IEP or some type of testing that shows what level of need they're and that's great because you'd have the school district kind of on your side already.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

And certainly we know that uh transportation to the Stratford Friends in Newtown Square would be likely provided by the local school district, and and that can go on for 10 or so miles at least in any one direction. That's that's more.

Funding, Grants, and Community Support

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Um we're talking to Kim McDermott, who is the director of advancement for Stratford Friends, the specialized learning school in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and that's in Delaware County. Uh Kim, I have to say you're doing a marvelous job in advancing the mission here of the Stratford Friends to help uh everyone become aware of what that mission is. How are you funded, if I may ask? Because it's a private school and there's probably tuition, but I mean, do you have donors that are are kind of getting behind this mission to kind of grow? You're starting 10th grade and with a plan to, I guess, add 11th and 12th in the coming years.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Oh, absolutely. So that's the biggest part of my job is not only to get the message out about Stratford, but also find resources so that we can provide the academic programming our students need. Um, we are donor funded. Um, we are very fortunate to receive foundation and government grants. Um, we also work with local businesses who sponsor events such as our auction that is coming up in a in a couple weeks in November 6th. Um, so we really do rely on donors, independent or individual donors as well as corporate donors. Um, we also receive scholarship support through the EITC program, um, which is

Upper School Expansion to 10th Grade

SPEAKER_02 10:20

a tax credit program. So we work very hard on fundraising for that as well. Um, and just kind of find every resource we can. Uh, I will very proudly say we received funding from the Eagles Autism Foundation uh recently, which is helping us build our 10th grade program. Um, so it's little foundations like that, um, as well as donors that really are making the difference and allowing us to continue to grow here at Stratford.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Makes sense. And with uh students from 35 different zip codes in and around Delaware County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Philadelphia, and even as far out as uh Burks County, it does make sense that the mission has become known and is funded well. Um, if you're a listener and you have uh an interest in Stratford Friends, you can learn more by visiting their website, which is uh, as it sends, uh Stratford Friends, S-T-R-A-T-F-O-R-D Friends.org. And it's a.org because it's a school. Um, they're located in Newtown Square. You can see them right off of Westchester Pike in Newtown Square, and they've been there for a long time now and growing, we've heard, just starting a 10th grade, uh, and with plans to add an 11th and a 12th grade in the future to really round out that uh primary and secondary education um levels for uh nor diverse students that we've learned about here from the director of advancement, Kim McDermott, who is explained to us that everything from occupational therapy and behavior therapy, some kind of um HEHD or levels of autism, uh or those kind of uh special

How to Learn More and Get Involved

SPEAKER_00 12:00

needs, but from teachers that know how to teach students with those special needs and really an environment that allows those students who are really normal in every other way, but have special needs in their learning style, it's the Stratford Friends School that's providing that. What a wonderful opportunity here, Kim. And you mentioned the fundraising is a necessary part of this mission. Big fundraiser coming up on November 6th. Uh, if you're listening to this in 2026, um, if you'd like to learn how to be a sponsor of that uh friendly auction or attend that auction, visit the website. You can learn more at StratfordFriends.org. Kim, we have to thank you for being a guest here on the Good Neighbor podcast because uh we normally have businesses coming on to talk about their services for the community and we we applaud them for bringing their business to the community. But in this case, I'm proud to know that Stratford Friends School is in our community, providing uh an outreach and a source of education for special learning uh styles and doing it so well. Kim, I want to thank you for really advancing the mission of Stratford Friends by being a guest here today on the Good Neighbor Podcast. It's been wonderful that you've joined us, and uh everybody's gonna be talking about Stratford Friends now. Thanks for being a guest on the Good Neighbor Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Bob, thanks so much for having me. Um, like you said, it's so important for us to get the word out about Stratford Friends. Um we are a unique little school, and I encourage your guests, if they're interested in

Closing and Listener Nomination CTA

SPEAKER_02 13:30

learning more, please come visit us. We love to show off our tiny little space and our wonderful students. Um, and it truly is a place where our students learn to thrive and build confidence and really become the best version that they can be. And we're really proud of everything we can do and offer to our students. And I'm very proud to be on the end here, sharing a little bit more with your listeners.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Wonderful. It's been great having you today. Everybody go visit Stratfordfriends.org, learn more. Thank you, Kim, for being a guest today.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, hosted by Bob Lacey. This is Michael Barkan, inviting everyone to get on the Good Neighbor team. Nominate your favorite local business to be featured on an upcoming episode by going to gnpdelco.com or by following Bob at 610 557 3745.