What kind of school allows a teacher to teach about dictators by acting like one and making the class revolt?

The Baltimore Lab School does.

What kind of school encourages students to sing their book reports?

The Baltimore Lab School does.

What kind of school allows students to paint on the walls?

The Baltimore Lab School does.

The alternative school for 122 elementary through high school students with learning disabilities is catching the area's eye with its unorthodox approach to education. The lower school doesn't place its students in traditional grades, but in academic "levels." Classes and learning tools range from a caveman club to a giant papier mache dragon, the school mascot, which guards the lobby.

On June 9, the eight-year-old school in south Charles Village, a division of the 41-year-old Lab School of Washington, will mark a milestone when it graduates its first senior class.

Graduating is a major accomplishment for any high school senior, but especially so for the eight members of the Lab School's senior class. They have struggled not only with disabilities from dyslexia to attention deficit disorder, but also with emotional baggage.

Although the school doesn't accept emotionally disturbed students, many students come in with a lack of self-esteem. They've been stigmatized, misdiagnosed, bounced around from one school to another and scolded that they weren't trying hard enough.

If not for the Lab School, says its co-head, Andrew Zvara, "they probably would have fallen by the wayside."

Now, students such as Curtis McPherson, 18, of Prince George's County, have found a home at the Lab School, 2220 St. Paul St.

"I'm doing a lot better than I would have been doing in public school," he says. "It kept me in school."

On a typical school day, students as young as 6 are hamming it up as cavemen, kings and queens, fat-cat industrialists and knights in shining armor. Themed clubs engage students with short attention spans and teach them through role-playing and hands-on experience. Students even dress up as characters.

Seniors, meanwhile, are painting on the walls as part of a class on famous writers. Robin Monaco, 17, is painting Jane Austen. He jokes that he shares a resemblance with her.

Support network

The backbone of the school is a staff of 60 special-education teachers, psychologists, speech and language teachers and physical and occupational therapists. They're essential in helping students.

Zvara told of a 9-year-old girl with dysgraphia, a writing disorder, who won a Young Playwrights competition sponsored by Center Stage. The girl dictated her play to her teacher.

The school is also a member of the Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities, which allows parents to apply for city, county and state aid.

Tuition is about $30,000 per year, but more than half of the students are wholly funded by the public school districts from which they came because their schools of origin couldn't meet their special needs, Zvara said.

Students who are funded by their home districts must pass state-mandated exams, like any other public school student, he said.

Many seniors came to The Lab School after being pegged as troublemakers at their former schools.

Steven Watkins, 19, of Baltimore, was running out of options when he came to The Lab School in 2000, the year it opened.

"I couldn't get into any other school," said Watkins, who had previously attended St. Dominic's, a Catholic elementary and middle school in Baltimore. "I'm better now."

Zack Watts, 18, of Anne Arundel County, also came to The Lab School in 2000. He remembers his old school, Eastport Elementary in Annapolis, as "really dull" and ill-equipped to deal with his problems as "a slow reader."

The Lab School is the opposite, Watts said.

"It's not like a normal school, where the lockers are blue and the walls are white," he said.

McPherson says he came to the Lab School from Parkdale High in Prince George's County as a sophomore because "I was getting into trouble."

"It wasn't working at my public school," says Monaco, of the White Hall area in north Baltimore County, who came to The Lab School in his junior year from Hereford High.

And in a familiar refrain he adds, "I was getting in trouble."

Difficult transition

That doesn't necessarily mean these students hated their former schools or particularly like The Lab School. McPherson wistfully recalls being popular at Parkdale High.

When asked if it was hard to leave, he replies, "Real hard."

It also bothers him that The Lab School has a limited sports program, with no football team.

On the other hand, seniors give The Lab School credit for having creative classes.

"It's definitely more hands on," said Hunter Brown, 18, of Lutherville, who previously attended the Harbour School in Baltimore, where he said he got into trouble for what he considers nitpicky things, such as throwing a pencil to a student next to him.

"The coolest teachers are in clubs like Renaissance and Industrialist," said 18-year-old Jordan Saunders, of Overlea, who came from The Odyssey School.

"The teachers are really into what they are teaching. The teachers got me invoved in some things that I couldn't have done," Saunders said.

Common ground

Students also say The Lab School is less prone to cliques than other schools.

"It teaches you to fit in with all different kinds of kids," says Andre Greene, 17, of Lochearn.

Now, several seniors are college-bound. One wants to join the Marines; others plan to travel and explore their options. Career plans include being a veterinarian, a percussionist, a teacher and a music producer.

Audrey Bareham, 18, of Timonium, wants to study psychology at the Community College of Baltimore County-Essex. She's the only girl in the graduating class; more boys than girls are prone to learning disabilities, Zvara said.

Bareham came to The Lab School last year as a well-traveled student, bounced from one school to another, including Dulaney High for two weeks and The Jemicy School. She still misses Jemicy.

And as she prepares to graduate from The Lab School, she still can't decide whether she likes The Lab School.

"For the most part," she said after a long pause.

"When I get my diploma, it'll work for me."

Jane Eisner, a graduating senior at The Park School, recently finished an internship with the Messenger.

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