Learning Support & School Counseling

In keeping with our mission to discover and nurture what is finest in each child in a vibrant, inclusive learning community, our dedicated and experienced faculty aims to provide proactive and responsive intervention to ensure every child is making progress and experiencing success. 

As a community, we value diverse learning styles and strive to differentiate instruction throughout our program. We provide specific, targeted student support services when needed. Our goal is always to work in partnership with the family to ensure each child has the best possible experience.

Services provided by learning specialists:

• May conduct an initial screening (in grades K-4) to determine if a child has a basic learning need. This screening may point to the need for a larger, more comprehensive evaluation, conducted by outside professionals (referrals provided).
• Support individual students with specific student learning disabilities up to twice a week until skill development or classroom assignments.
• Create, update, and share a Student Success Plan (SSP) for each student receiving learning services to ensure information, including goals and current interventions, is up to date and shared among teachers and parents/guardians.
• Consult with teachers to apply interventions as needed.
• Attend meetings with families regarding student progress.

Services provided by school counselor:

• Meets with students individually and/or in groups as needed for brief counseling interventions.
• Provides crisis intervention.
• Consults and collaborates with teachers to support students’ social and emotional needs.
• Conducts conflict resolution, small group problem-solving, and other interventions.
• Provides parent/guardian consultation by appointment.
• Provides referrals to outside therapeutic resources as needed.
• Attends meetings regarding the progress of children with significant social or emotional needs and provides insight or counsel as needed.
• Provides classroom-based programs, in collaboration with faculty, and facilitates group meetings throughout the year at all grade levels covering a broad range of topics related to social-emotional health and well-being.

How does it all work?

1. Faculty and/or parents/guardians observe a child experiencing a significant learning challenge and contact each other to compare initial observations. This can happen ad-hoc or during regularly scheduled parent/guardian-teacher conferences in the fall or spring.
2. The division head is made aware of student concerns in an ongoing fashion.
3. As needed, a student may receive a screening or initial assessment from a learning specialist or school counselor. Some interventions may be planned as needed, including pull-out work with the school learning specialist or other interventions such as summer literacy support or occupational therapy.
4. If needed, a Student Success Plan (SSP) is created to facilitate shared understanding and ongoing communication.
5. If a student continues to struggle, or new struggles appear in older grades as things change and grow more complex, the school may recommend further evaluation conducted by outside professionals or the local district.
6. Upon completion of a comprehensive educational, psycho-educational or neurological evaluation, a report containing the results and recommendations is shared with the family. The school requests a copy of this report to facilitate a full team meeting.
7. The full team meeting is held with the family, current teacher or mentor, learning specialist and/or school counselor, and the relevant division head to analyze the results of the report, set goals, and design appropriate interventions. The outside evaluator is invited to attend the meeting. Interventions can include pull-out or push-in work with one of the learning specialists, outside work with educational therapists or counselors, the use of tutors, and more. Follow-up meetings are scheduled as needed. The learning specialist and division head will ensure that information is shared among all of the child’s teachers.
8. Depending on the developmental age of the child, staff from the school will meet with the student to explain strengths and challenges, along with strategies that will help.
9. As long as in-school services are an integral component of a child’s successful progress, meetings will be held with the family at the outset and conclusion of each academic year to set goals and interventions and review progress.
10. In some situations, the interventions provided by the school and outside specialists over time are insufficient to help a child make adequate progress. In order to best support the child and steward the school’s resources, alternative placements may be recommended to the family.

Read more about the academic program at Mark Day.