For 17 years, The Diener School has educated students with the goal of providing a learning environment for those with learning differences. And for those 17 years, the private school has never had a permanent home, instead renting spaces to hold classes.
“There was always hope that one day we would have a school to call our own,” Kathy Chumas, head of The Diener School, said. “The dream of creating an environment designed to be a sanctuary where each child can thrive, a place where differences are not acknowledged but embraced as the true strengths they are.”
On Thursday, Chumas’s dream came true.
The Diener School opened its own space for its roughly 80 students in kindergarten through eighth grade after raising nearly $5 million and gaining state grants to buy and renovate an office building at 9312 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda.
“Every detail has been carefully crafted to support our students’ individual journeys,” Chumas said during Thursday’s opening ceremony at the school. “This is a space where innovative, innovation meets empathy, where every child can find their path and achieve their full potential.”
The Diener School was founded in 2007 by Rockville resident Jillian Copeland, a former Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teacher, after she couldn’t find a school that clicked with her son, Nicol, whose rare form of epilepsy impacted his speech, language and motor skills. The school was located on the second floor of the Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac.
“Starting Diener … and being head of Diener for the first six years was honestly one of the hardest things I have ever done,” Copeland said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building. “Today is a day to share that and share our pride and our immense gratitude with all of you who helped make this happen.”
Since the school initially opened with five students, its enrollment has grown to roughly 80 students, but it never had a building of its own. Most recently, it was located on the campus of Green Acres School in North Bethesda. But the school was running out of space and needed a new home, officials said.
“While it was still a good experience with the teachers that go out of their way to help their students, the classrooms were small, limiting the number of kids that could attend,” Diener eighth grader Jake Rubinstein said during the ceremony. “We also had to take breaks in the hallways so we did not disturb our class or other classes.”
For Jake, the move to the new building is an exciting change. “Now with our new building we’ll have much more space to move around,” he said.
The new building is equipped with a gym, rooms with multisensory resources, STEM rooms and a playground.
Jake said he is most excited by the science room because he loves doing experiments.
Parent Stephanie Weinberg said the building will empower the school’s teachers, who’ve made a huge impact on her and her son, Dean, a fourth grader.
“[Teachers] completely deserve this independent space, and something new and bright, and something they can make their own,” Weinberg said. “[On the previous campus], I think the kids felt like they were guests, the teachers felt like they were guests, so to have our own space is gonna be amazing for the future.”
The school’s teachers also are looking forward to having storage space and more for students and themselves.
“We’re not on top of each other,” said Kendra Lane, who teaches social studies. “The kids can have enough space that they need to feel comfortable to work in.”
Editor’s note: Jillian Copeland is a former co-owner of MoCo360.
