On May 1, 2026, nearly 600 guests streamed through the doors at Stephen Gaynor School’s 89th Street entrance, ready to see the magic of Gaynor firsthand during Relatives and Special Friends Day. Relatives and Special Friends Day is a Gaynor tradition where students’ loved ones are invited into the school to learn about Gaynor’s mission, see the work done every day in the classroom, and hear about what makes the Gaynor community so special.
The day is split into two sessions, one for Purple, Pink, Red, and Silver Clusters, and another for Orange and Yellow Clusters. Each session began with a panel of alumni, with graduation years ranging from 2009 to 2022. The morning session’s panel featured Sarah Braverman ’09, Charlotte Brown ’15, Jonah Lichtman ’21, James O’Hare ’22, Meg Rauenhorst ’22, and Madeline York ’22. Facilitated by Assistant Head of School Jill Thompson, the alumni were asked questions about their time at Gaynor, the tools they learned here, and reflections on their experiences as elementary school students with learning differences. Many of the alumni championed the school’s approach to self-advocacy for students, with Meg saying, “Gaynor helped foster an environment that made you understand that it’s okay to be different… with skills like student advocacy you can reach those pathways to be successful and I think without Gaynor I was never going to be able to do that. I’m eternally grateful to Gaynor for that.”
After the panel, guests were treated to two special performances: the Yellow Cluster Chorus performed a moving rendition of “If I Can Dream” before Blue Cluster student Avalon R. took the stage to perform her solo song as Princess Fiona in the upcoming spring musical, Shrek the Musical, Jr. The PAC roared with applause after both performances.
Once the formal program concluded, it was time for attendees to explore the school by either visiting their student’s classroom, or joining their student’s cluster on a trip to the SMART Faire in the North Building gym. The SMART Faire was a hubbub of oohs and ahs as Gaynor students exhibited the projects they had spent nearly a year working on. These interdisciplinary projects blended technology, social studies, arts, and math, to create demonstrations ranging from a rocket launch, to how an electric guitar works, to the science of slime, and more. Students were beaming with pride as they showed visitors their projects.
When not at the SMART Faire, guests were in classrooms, completing activities with their student. Gaynor teachers created various engaging ways to show what their students have been learning so far this year; some rooms played games of trivia and Jeopardy!, while others completed collages and conducted surveys. Opening the door to any classroom led to a scene with plenty of laughter, applause, and heads hunched together over desks debating answers.
The afternoon session’s formal program repeated the morning session’s, but with different alumni on the panel. During the afternoon, Ms. Thompson was joined by Sarah Braverman ’09, Jacqui Lerner ’14, Charlotte Brown ’15, Jonah Lichtman ’21, and Thailandi Tanis ’22. When asked what made Gaynor so special to them, the panelists praised their teachers for guiding them through some of the hardest school years of their lives. Donna Logue, Christina Fabricant, Ruth Rachlin, and Chris Meyer were named as teachers who made a great impact on the alumni panelists, and they were so glad to know these teachers were still at Gaynor, continuing to mentor current students. Sarah closed the panel by saying, “The teachers here are absolutely brilliant, and the most dedicated, patient teachers that your kids will ever have. I felt while here as a student that [the teachers] cared so, so much about my education and how I grew, so I thank all of them, every single one.”
