Physical Therapy
School-based physical therapy for mobility, balance, and safe movement.
School physical therapy helps a student get around the building and take part in the day: the gross-motor skills, balance, positioning, and safe movement needed to get to class, climb the stairs, and join gym and recess.
The focus is on what the student needs to do at school. Our licensed physical therapists deliver against the goals in the plan and coordinate with the school on building access.
Mobility, access, and safety across the school day
A school physical therapist looks at how a child moves through the building and the school day, and works on the physical barriers that keep the child from taking part.
- Gross-motor skills: the large-muscle movement behind sitting, standing, running, and play
- The physical therapist works on strength and large-muscle movement through activities tied to what the school day asks of a child.
- Mobility & gait: walking, and moving efficiently between classroom, cafeteria, and yard
- Sessions look at how a child gets around the school building, and the work can include a mobility device, such as a walker or a wheelchair, that fits the child.
- Balance & coordination: staying steady and moving with control
- Practice centers on the steadiness and controlled movement a child uses on the stairs, in the hallway, in gym, and on the playground.
- Positioning & seating: posture that supports attention, breathing, and hand use in class
- The therapist looks at how a child sits during class and coordinates with the school team on positioning equipment where it is needed.
- Safe transitions: stairs, doorways, crowded hallways, and fire-drill routes
- Your child's PT observes how they move through these parts of the school building and works with the school team on safer ways through them.
- Adaptive equipment & playground / PE access: so a child can take part in gym and recess
- The PT recommends equipment and adaptations for physical education and playground time and coordinates them with the school team.
Equipment, building access, and safe transitions.
Sometimes the goal is a stronger gait; sometimes it's the right walker, a wheelchair that fits, a safer way down the stairs, or a route that works during a fire drill. A school PT assesses how a child navigates the school building and coordinates with the school team on accessibility, positioning equipment, and safe transitions. We handle that coordination alongside the hands-on therapy.
See the full education catalog
What a PT evaluation involves
A physical therapist evaluates strength and movement, and also how a child manages in the school building: the hallways, the stairs, the gym.
Pick any part of the sentence to see the detail.
The PT reviews medical and developmental history and gathers concerns from family and school about how the child moves and where they struggle.
Standardized and clinical measures of gross-motor skill, strength, range of motion, balance, and gait show where the child stands against age expectations.
The PT observes the child in the school setting (stairs, transitions, playground, seating) because the goal is safe access, and scores alone don't show it.
Findings become measurable goals, any equipment or accessibility recommendations, and a recommended session frequency for the plan.
- Measurable goals, written from the findings
- Equipment and access recommendations where they are needed
- A recommended session frequency for the plan
PT by age group
The goals move from earliest gross-motor milestones toward the mobility, endurance, and safe access a full school day demands.
- Early Intervention (birth–3)
- On the IFSP under NYS Early Intervention, usually at home: rolling, sitting, crawling, pulling to stand, and walking, with caregiver coaching so movement practice happens in daily routines.
- Preschool / CPSE (3–5)
- Through the Committee on Preschool Special Education: running, jumping, stairs, and the coordination and balance a child needs to keep up with peers and join group play.
- School-age (5–21)
- On the IEP or IESP: mobility and endurance across a full building, safe transitions and stairs, positioning for class, and access to PE and recess, with adaptive equipment where needed.
How we fill a PT mandate
Once the PT mandate or RSA/P3 authorization is confirmed, matching moves quickly, and an approved-but-unfilled service is treated with urgency.
Pick any part of the sentence to see the detail.
We confirm frequency, group size, and setting on the IEP/IESP, or take the details from an RSA/P3 authorization.
- Physical therapy
- 2 times a week, 30 minutes
- Individual
- In school
An example of the line we confirm. The real values come from your child's own plan or authorization.
We match a licensed physical therapist to the child's age, mobility goals, and equipment needs, and to the building the child has to navigate.
We build the schedule, coordinate with the school on access and safety, and keep progress data audit-ready for the annual review.
What parents ask about school PT
What's the difference between school-based PT and clinic PT?
School PT is an educational service: its job is to help a child access and participate in the school day, moving through the building safely, joining gym and recess, sitting well enough to learn. Clinic or outpatient PT (often billed to insurance) targets broader medical or rehabilitation goals. A child can have both; school PT stays focused on what the school environment demands.
Does my child qualify for physical therapy at school?
That's determined by an evaluation and the school team, not by us. School PT generally supports children whose gross-motor, mobility, balance, or positioning needs get in the way of accessing their education. If you have those concerns we can help arrange the evaluation; if a plan already mandates PT, we fill it.
Will PT help my child keep up in gym and at recess?
That's often a central goal. School PT works on the strength, coordination, balance, and endurance a child needs to take part in physical education and playground time, and recommends adaptations so a child can join in rather than sit out.
My child uses a walker or wheelchair. Can you help with equipment and access?
Yes. A school PT assesses how a child navigates the actual building and coordinates with the school team on positioning equipment, mobility devices, safe transitions and stairs, and fire-drill routes, so the environment works for the child. We keep that coordination moving alongside the therapy.
Does PT happen during the school day?
Typically yes: it's delivered in school, at the frequency the mandate sets, and coordinated so it supports rather than disrupts the rest of the child's day. Where a plan or an RSA calls for another setting, we match to that.
How is progress measured?
Against the measurable goals in the child's plan. The PT documents each session, tracks progress on skills like gait, balance, stair safety, or endurance, and contributes to the progress reporting schools rely on, so the record is ready at the annual review.
How fast can PT start?
Once the mandate and paperwork (or the RSA/P3) are confirmed, we match from our provider network. Timelines vary by borough and caseload, but our coordination team treats an unserved mandate with urgency and responds to every inquiry within 24 hours.
See occupational therapy, Early Intervention, or call (718) 540-8268.
If PT is on the plan and you cannot find anyone to provide it
- There are hardly any physical therapists on the city's list near us.
- The city's provider search is split by service and borough, and there is a second list of DOE therapists who take students after school hours. If both come up empty, the parent coordinator or the CSE that issued your RSA is there to help. Tell us the borough and school and we will check our own network.
- The school's PT goals are not what my child's doctor asked for.
- School PT is an education service, and NYC Public Schools describes it as building independence in classrooms, the gym, the playground, hallways and staircases. What a doctor orders is a separate clinic path, and a child can have both. We deliver the school side, against the goals in the plan.
- If the school hires a PT later, does my child have to switch?
- NYC Public Schools says that if its own staff become available before your child starts with an independent provider, the school provides the service. If your child has already started, you may choose to stay with that provider through the end of the school year. We can talk through timing on a call.
- The PT page of the IEP or IESP
- Your RSA letter, if you have one
- School name, borough and grade
- Any walker, wheelchair or other equipment in use
- Sessions per week and length on the plan
You can call without all of these. We will work out the rest with you.
More therapies
Request a PT provider
Tell us the school or the setting and what the plan calls for. Our coordination team treats unserved mandates with urgency and responds within 24 hours, typically within 4–6 hours.
