About the Gamut School
Our Mission
At the Gamut School, we offer a unique dual curriculum of social emotional education combined with rigorous academics.
Each student is challenged and supported. We educate the whole child in an environment that fosters students’ growth. We help students achieve their academic and social-emotional goals by supporting their needs with our evidence-based therapeutic approach and our tailored curriculum designed to challenge students while meeting them where they are.
Our Vision
Families will come to know the Gamut School as a leader in helping children with emotional challenges reach their goals.
This is the first school in New York City to offer a dual academic and therapeutic curriculum solely for students with developing emotional complexities in their middle school years. It is also the first school to be built on the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) philosophy, allowing for a cohesion between our academic and therapeutic approaches.
Download our brochure and one-page summary.
Our Philosophy
We are all doing the best we can AND we can all continue to grow and do better.
Our philosophy is based on the dialectic from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
We understand that our students come to the Gamut School doing their best on any given day. We also know in the correct environment surrounded by the right community, students can thrive and achieve by finding the right path.
Why DBT?
Comprehensive School-Based Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment applied through groups, individual sessions, and intersession coaching to help students develop the skills that lead to personal and academic achievement.
Our Name
The medieval monk Guido of Arezzo created a musical scale that ran from the lowest note, gamma, to the highest, ut—the gamut. To play it in its entirety was to “run the gamut.”
That’s what we do here. Through a unique combined curriculum of socioemotional learning and rigorous academics, we run the gamut of therapeutic approaches—like playing all the notes—to set you and your child up for success.
Our Leadership
Danielle Eisman is the founder and head of school at the Gamut School. Dani has extensive experience and training in special education with over a decade of experience working in private schools in New York City. After working in education and obtaining a bachelor’s degree in childhood education/special education from New York University and a master’s degree in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Dani noticed a gap in the private school system in New York City. There are many special education schools that cater to students with disabilities, but a middle school for students struggling with emotional challenges does not exist. As a result, Dani sought to create a school that could fill this gap. Taking her shared passions of education and psychology, Dani has designed a school based on a highly effective therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). DBT is often used in school settings and is the perfect fit for a therapeutic middle school located in New York City. The application of DBT in all parts of the school day will be paired with rigorous academics to support our students’ emotional and academic growth. Dani is looking forward to opening the doors to the Gamut School in September 2025 and welcoming the first class of students.
Dani received a Master’s degree in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and her B.S in childhood education and special education from New York University.
Danielle Eisman
Head of School
Board of Trustees
David Eisman
President
Gianluca Casapietra
Treasurer
Mical Gomez
Secretary
Zoe Cuddy
Nanci Fredkin
Esther Wolf
Danielle Eisman
Founder & Head of School (Ex-Officio)
Advisory Board
Roy Boorady, MD
Roy Boorady, MD, is the Senior Director and a senior child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Psychopharmacology Center at the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Boorady is an expert in the diagnostic evaluation and psychopharmacological treatment of children and adolescents.
Ellen Grayson MS-SLP
Ellen Grayson is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in both school consulting and as an admissions and placement director at specialized independent schools in New York City. Ellen is currently the Director of Educational Consulting and Placement at Pediatric Assessment, Learning, and Support , a multidisciplinary group practice in Manhattan.
Alec Miller, PsyD
Dr. Alec Miller is a clinical psychologist, teacher, researcher, author, treatment developer and disseminator of evidence-based interventions to clinical settings, schools and organizations worldwide. He is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants (CBC) , a clinical, training, and research center based in White Plains and Manhattan.
John J. Russell, Ed.D
Dr. John J. Russell is Associate Director of the Global Literacy Hub at the Yale Child Study Center which is an international and interdisciplinary collaborative of researchers and practitioners. Dr. Russell was the head of school for thirteen years at The Windward School, an independent co-educational day school for children with language-based learning disabilities.
David Salsberg, PsyD
Dr. David Salsberg is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist in Manhattan, an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Department of Neurological Surgery, and a Clinical Instructor at The NYU School of Medicine in the Departments of Pediatrics. Dr. Salsberg is the Director of Pediatric Assessment, Learning, and Support , a multidisciplinary group practice in Manhattan.