History & Philosophy

Watch Me Shine began in 2005 as a play group for the owners son and two other children.  In fall of 2006 WMS grew to become a state licensed and accredited school.
We are currently in our 4th year of opperation, and have grown to 3 sites.  Each site employees certified special education teachers, general education teachers and educational technicians.  We also have ABA and DIR consultants. 

The goal of Watch Me Shine, Inc. is to create a new type of specialized learning environment that is developmentally appropriate, offering therapeutic interventions as needed based on individual needs, relationship building skills and the educational tools necessary to allow a child to achieve their greatest potential.

By focusing on each child’s individual differences, and maintaining a low staff-to-student ratio, Watch Me Shine crafts a program suited to each child’s developmental profile.  This results in a nurturing and supportive environment, directly addressing the child’s emotional, social and academic development.

This school relies heavily on family participation to integrate this program into their home life.  It is essential that all parents become involved, not only to support the teacher’s efforts, but also to help identify progress and develop new strategies for their child’s ongoing success.  The staff at Watch Me Shine, Inc. will offer workshops to train family members and in-home aids.  We also offer sibling workshops to teach the child’s siblings how to engage and play with their brother/sister.

Watch Me Shine is a recognized educational model by the Interdisciplinary Council Founded by Stanley Greenspan, M.D. and Serena Wieder, PhD. The Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL) has been a pioneer in its work to advance the identification, prevention, and treatment of developmental and learning disorders. Through its research, training and publications, ICDL extends knowledge of developmental processes and provides a framework for the Developmental, Individual-Differences, Relationship-based Model (DIR®)  in understanding and improving interventions with infants, children and young adults with challenges in relating, communicating and thinking, including autism spectrum disorders.