Schools with Academic Support

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
81

@vwlizard I agree and glad you asked for this to be pinned. I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to scramble and try to find info on schools that were LD friendly. The fact is, there are many families who need this information and there are great schools out there not getting mentioned. We need to make sure that this information is out there for others because it makes a huge difference. Finding a school is stressful enough but trying to find a school that can give your child the best academic support, adds to that stress.

I know for me it made a huge difference finding out that @chemmchimney has a child are Darrow, PMnig her was a huge help as really made this process a little better.

CC is a great site for information but it has to be a site that the information is for all types of learners.

82

Ok. New kink in the plan. Lizardkid just failed 2 hearing tests. We meet with the audiologist next week. I’ve done tons of research on academic support for LBLD, but have no idea about accommodations for hearing issues. Has anyone dealt with this?

83

Research FM Systems! I can’t imagine any school wouldn’t be able to accommodate that, especially if you provide the device.

84

Is anyone familiar with The Middlebridge School in RI? It’s a small co-ed LD BS that isn’t often mentioned.

85

@vwlizard - my daughter #2 just went through a battery of hearing tests. Her hearing is fine, but her audio processing is not.

The accommodations in her case included things like text sub titles on all videos, teachers making lecture transcripts available, etc.

86

Well, turns out second round of hearing tests was normal. This kid
 always something.

87

My daughter has good hearing: it is the processing of that information where she has a shortcoming. It was a second round of tests.

One of her teachers threw out an assignment, verbally, as they were leaving class last week. She didn’t register it. Several of her friends heard there was an assignment, but had the task wrong.

She now has official accommodations so a teacher has to write the assignment on the board or give a handout.

88

@Garandman, that is such a great example of how making accommodations for specific students can benefit everyone in the classroom
 Kind of how sidewalk cut-outs and wheelchair ramps are great for parents pushing strollers, too


1 Like
89

Pennington School in NJ was recommended to a friend by a k-8 school that specialized in teaching kids with auditory processing disoreders. Not so many boarders as many, but could be worth a look @Garandman.

90

These are the formal recommendations from the staff for her IHP.

Preferential seating in front of the classroom with the ability to see the teacher’s face.
The ability to take pictures of notes on her phone.
A note taking “buddy” upon request of student
Closed caption on films presented during class when available.
Provided extra time for response to orally presented information.

91

Has anyone looked at The Winchendon School? I’m having a hard time getting a feel for it.

92

Hi,
1st poster here and perhaps this is old for OP but hopefully for others like me reading older posts.

Our DS’s MS advisor told us to look at Winchendon aka The Winch aka TWS. It has an academic support structure built into the curriculum and takes lots of LD students. We are looking at it but have not applied. We had young student tour guides during the OH who were not particularly polished. This rubbed my DS the wrong way. So while the parents liked it, DS was not as impressed as he was with Avon Old Farm School and Berkshire. The facilities are not state of the art but the teachers seem to be very vested in the students.

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Not too old and glad you are keeping this post going.

We looked at Winchendon, I have some concerns. I’ll PM you.

94

@vwlizard my 10 yr old has a unilateral hearing loss. Probably the most important thing for her is class size and style. She could not function in the LPS, and we just moved her to a local Day School. We visited several schools, and found that some had good acoustics and small class sizes, but a “collaborative learning style” that to her was just a bunch of shouting out. Group work is hard as she heard only the sounds that are closest to her hearing ear, so she may not hear her partner on the left speaking if someone is pushing their chair back with a screech on her right side.
Your son could have a fluctuating hearing loss, or an auditory processing issue, which is a different test called CAP (Central auditory processing), also performed by an audiologist.

Quiet HVAC systems, good classroom acoustics (lower ceilings, carpet or other sound absorbing materials, curtains, bulletin boards, etc) all make a difference, but the biggest are small class sizes and allowing any group work to be done in a separate area- one group only.

In addition to classroom FM systems, good visual access to teachers face (no talking while writing on the white board for example), and preferential seating near the front of classroom, she has access to audiobooks, (seems counterintuitive but hearing loss impacts reading skills), extended “thinking time” to encourage class participation, extended time if needed on tests and a quiet room, she also gets literature and English language with a small group (3), and one extra small group period for math, science and social studies to ensure that she and the other kids with language-based LD understand the vocabulary and concepts to be presented that week. (preview and review). She can get a copy of the teachers notes, or have a note taking buddy, and the teachers check her planner to make sure she has understood written the assignment correctly.

A plus for her has been mindfulness, which has reduced a lot of what we now realize was her significant school-related anxiety, and a “skills” class for teaching executive function, study skills, etc.

Also, a hearing impairment can get you excused
from foreign language requirement. They recommend Latin for the kids in her program.

95

Thank you. Great insight and suggestions for accommodations for those with hearing loss.

We did all the hearing testing and structures and hearing are fine (except when he doesn’t keep up with allergy meds). They felt it wasn’t auditory processing as much as ADD-A. Once he hyperfocuses on one thing, he just kind of tunes out anything else competing for his attention.

96

Our youngest is an ADD kid, now at Tabor. While Tabor does not have extra (and extra cost) programs, they have something called the ASSIST Center, open to all (so there’s no stigma).

They have really helped him plan his work, something ADD kids can find themselves spinnin* their wheels over. They look at the student’s clas schedule and assignments and suggest what to study, when, and how much. This really helped him at mid-term, and as they close outterm one.

https://www.taboracademy.org/page/academics/advising–support/assist-center

97

Our daughter is in her 2nd year at Darrow now and the support there is very good. They have teacher mentors (in addition to advisors) who work one on one or in small groups with kids. The school is very inclusive and low key, great for students who have struggled with anxiety or have mild learning differences. Much of the instruction is project based and the work load is manageable (Loved NMH for our older daughter but Chimneykid2’s processing issues would have made it difficult for her to keep up with the pace and the workload there.

98

One of the things to factor in when looking at academic support is if your kid is the type of student that will seek it out when needed, or if they tend to just try to do it on their own. DS doesn’t always know he needs help until things get too far away from him. For that reason, we are going to focus on schools where he will have academic support periods as part of his schedule.

99

Another consideration is a school exclusively for kids with learning differences vs a school that supports them and understands them but includes advanced neurotypical students as well. We were looking for the latter as our daughter is very advanced in some subjects but struggles in math. It can be hard to find schools that support both ends of the spectrum where she can be both stretched and supported. The mentors at Darrow are good for this - they meet during an assigned block but that block varies. In public school our daughter who plans on going to art school couldn’t take art because support was always during this same block. At Darrow they design the kids schedules so that extra help does not mean missing out and because the help is one on one or two on one, it can be tailored to the child and that child’s schedule which is very helpful too.

100

I am interested in whether any of the schools mentioned here have good emotional support as well as academic support? My DD has ADHD and anxiety. She’s getting treatment for anxiety now, and I am looking into next steps for school. I would really like somewhere that has good resources for counseling as well as academics. Thanks!