Learning Support Center

Mission of the Program

The mission of the DWS Lower School Learning Support Center is to provide a unique learning environment within a college preparatory school for students who have diagnosed mild to moderate learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder. All diagnoses must be documented by a current psychological evaluation. The program is designed to help students understand how to maximize their learning strengths and manage their weaknesses enabling them to grow academically, socially, and emotionally. The program values the worth of the individual and seeks to guide each in becoming proficient in problem solving and thus an independent learner.

Goals of the Learning Center

The Learning Center offers a learning environment that is built on trust and acceptance. We teach skills in their smallest components, and through repetition, we help students master each skill before progressing to a higher level. Basic skills are taught through visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic methods based on the Orton-Gillingham approach.

The goals of the Learning Center:

To close the gap between academic performance and student potential.
To provide individualized, multisensory language instruction for developing new pathways for learning to read, write and spell.
To provide students with skills and strategies to succeed in their transition to other schools.
To enable students to experience success and to accept and value themselves in a safe, supportive environment by educating the mind, the heart, the body and the human spirit.
To teach students the strategies to become independent, responsible learners.
To provide support and education to the families of our students.

Lower School Learning Center Programs

The Lower School Learning Center program focuses on early identification of children with learning differences, provides early interventions and alternative academic support for these learners, and supports teachers implementing accommodations for these students in the mainstream classroom. There are different levels of support available for Lower School students.

Tier 1 – Comprehensive Program
Students participating in the Comprehensive Program must have a current psychological report on file at DWS. Students are provided with testing accommodations which are recommended by their current psychological testing. Students may also receive before and after school tutoring and academic remediation during the school day. Weekly academic resources are provided to parents. Students will receive instruction in test taking and organizational strategies. It is also noted that all recommendations from a psychological may not be implemented.

Tier 2 – Academic Program
Students participating in the Academic Program must have a current psychological report on file at DWS. Students are provided with testing accommodations which are recommended by their current psychological testing. It is also noted that all recommendations from a psychological may not be implemented. Weekly resources are provided to parents.

Speech Therapy
Services are also provided. Please contact Kristin Pierce for information regarding these services.

Criteria and Procedures

Documentation and Paperwork Procedure and Policy

Paperwork requesting input from a DWS faculty member for a pediatrician, psychologist, or other clinician will be managed through Learning Support. Materials delivered directly to a teacher will be sent to Learning Support for confidential processing.

Protocols and other forms should be submitted to Learning Support who will distribute and collect from the appropriate faculty member before submitting directly to the provider. Allowing two weeks for this process is preferred and ensures thoughtful completion and timely delivery.

Parents must sign a consent form authorizing DWS to submit materials to a provider before any documents will be released.

If parents choose to request accommodations as recommended from an evaluation with a psychologist, the current evaluation report should be submitted directly to Learning Support who will develop a student profile and accommodations form.

Parents must approve and sign the student profile and accommodations form before implementation.

All paperwork and documentation are kept confidential and filed in a secure location with Learning Support faculty members only having access to these materials.

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