You have questions,
we have answers!

Social City (established in 2013) is a social skills program in New York City for children and teens who would benefit from supplemental social and emotional support.

Social City is committed to providing high quality services to enable and empower children to thrive socially and academically, preparing them for life-long success.

Anyone! Social City provides social skills group classes for students of all levels and abilities who are grouped according to their age, grade, language skills and social-emotional functioning.

Classes at Social City consist of four parts, with a mix of explicit (direct explanation including sharing and modeling new information) and embedded instruction (learning and practicing skills through modalities such as games, activities, role plays, etc.), each designed to teach, practice, or improve communication and social skills.

1. Group Conversation – encourages social interactions and relationship skills (ex: asking related questions or making connected comments to maintain the conversation, turn taking, and other conversational skills).

2. Social Skills Topic – presented in an interactive and engaging manner through group discussion, role plays, interactive and instructional short video clips, and group games and activities. Skills build upon previously learned skills, and each skill spans approximately two classes. Although there is a specific skill topic each week, we are constantly targeting many other skills indirectly (embedded instruction) during each class.

3. Creative Movement and/or Creative Art. Movement focuses on getting the students up and moving, and promotes self-regulation. Art focuses on reinforcing the skill topic through interactive and collaborative art projects.

4. Centers – the students break up into groups to play different games. Games are chosen based on which skill is being targeted that day. The games provide an opportunity to reinforce the learned skills in a less structured environment. During Centers, group leaders take a step back to observe student interactions and each individual’s ability to get along with peers, explain rules, and demonstrate patience and good sportsmanship. Group leaders step in when necessary in order to provide verbal prompts, models or reminders and, at times, to stop situations in the moment in order to analyze and further discuss them with the students.

Weekly class summary emails are sent to the child’s team. These emails outline the skills targeted and include tips and strategies that can be used to reinforce the learned skills throughout the week (in between classes). Over the course of the semester, phone calls led by your child’s group leader are held to discuss your child’s individual progress and performance at Social City. This is also an opportunity for you to share any feedback, updates, and/or ask any questions you may have.

Student progress is reviewed in weekly team meetings. Progress will be presented to parents via individualized student update calls.

Absolutely! Social City encourages you to connect them with anyone on your child’s team (ex: teachers, therapists, etc.). Social City is happy to email or set up phone calls for the purpose of collaborating with others who support your child. Social City encourages you to include your child's team members on their email summaries, so they can be aware of the skill topics being covered and use the carry-over strategies with your child to reinforce the learned skills.

We suggest framing this as a “hangout” or joining a “club” to meet some new friends outside of their school and improve their friendship and social skills. In order for your child to get the most out of the program, this should be a fun and enjoyable experience. Social City makes it a point to incorporate each child's interest (as well as their specific goals) into the curriculum in order for your child to get the most out of the classes.

Some potential examples to explain Social City to your child:

— letting them know the program is called "Social City" and talk about what being social means to them.

— mention meeting new kids, finding others who have similar interests, potentially making new friends.

— you can outline activities/review the schedule above, highlighting things you know your child may enjoy (centers-"oh I bet they have UNO, maybe you can even bring your own to share").

— mention practicing xx (handling when other kids are being difficult, joining a new group, etc).

The semester cost varies depending on your child's age and which day of the week their class falls on (i.e. due to holidays, Mondays and Fridays often have fewer classes within a semester). Individual payment plans are available upon request.

Social City can provide coded receipts/superbills, at the end of the semester, which you can submit to your insurance for potential reimbursement. Coverage varies depending on your particular insurance plan and benefits. Please note that Social City is not in network with and does not communicate with any insurance companies. Please email Social City to learn more and/or request codes in advance.

Every semester a unique curriculum is developed for each group. The curriculum is tailored to meet the goals and needs of the students in each particular group, and caters towards their current skill level. Some topics will overlap as students may not have necessarily mastered the skill the previous semester, however, lessons will not be repeated. Any topics that are repeated will be presented in new ways including engaging and interactive activities, in order to provide students with a deeper understanding of the target skill, as well as opportunities to continue practicing the skill to demonstrate mastery and an ability to generalize the skill to other situations and environments. As children progress and grow, there are new social demands and expectations; Social City's curriculum is adjusted accordingly to meet their needs and hone their social emotional skills.

This varies! Many students enroll for one or two years, as learning new skills takes repeated practice and trial and error. There are some students who attend our program with very specific goals that they master within one semester. Since Social City's program is developed for two year olds through teens, a student who was enrolled when they were five years old, might return as a middle schooler as social norms evolve with age. Social City also has students who continuously enroll in the program, as mastering social skills is a lifelong process. Students benefit from continued learning in this area, fine-tuning their abilities throughout middle school and into high school and college. It's beneficial for students of all ages to receive continual instruction and opportunities to practice social and emotional skills.

Yes! Anyone can enroll in our school break social skills camps (when schools are closed)! Additional details on this service can be found here.

The specific skills taught varies depending on the program structure but you can preview a general outline of our curriculum here.