Rumson Country Day Launches New Initiative to Help Students of All Learning Abilities

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By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
RUMSON – The Rumson Country Day School is embarking on a new initiative that will create a place to nurture students with learning disabilities and the entire RCDS community.
“One of the things we feel really good about expanding the program is it’s also about enhancing how we teach kids of all abilities,” said Slade.
The Jayne S. Carmody School at RCDS, scheduled for a September 2015 opening, will be an expanded and enhanced version of RCDS’ School Within a School program that will create a more comprehensive approach to teaching and learning for all its students.
“The program has been around for seven or eight years as a smaller entity,” said Whitney Slade, RCDS’ head of school. School Within a School was established to serve a specific group of RCDS students who were bright and capable, but who used different paths to gather and process language-based information.
“The program was originally started to support kids who might have a brother or sister here and their sibling may apply and their learning style is different,” Slade said.
In the program, students with learning disabilities are integrated into all classes, except for math and language, which will have its own curriculum. Extracurricular activities, sports teams are open to all students.
This varies from many other programs where such students are in an intensive program of their own all day.
“These kids have special learning needs. They’re super bright and they want to feel part of the culture here,” said Slade. “We want to give them a better product.”
With the Jayne S. Carmody School – named after RCDS’ head of lower school and creator of School Within a School – newly created positions will include a director, faculty member and school psychologist, who will be available to work with all RCDS students. Additional occupational therapy and speech pathology resources will also be readily available. The director will be responsible for creating learning profiles for all RCDS students and helping all faculty members with different teaching approaches, including recognizing learning disabilities.
“We know so much more about how kids learn than we did 10 years ago. We have to have the teaching tools,” said Slade, who early in his educational career worked with a specialized school for dyslexic children. “That was an eye-opener for me,” he said. “I quickly figured out the kids were super bright but they couldn’t read but because their brains were wired differently.
“Learning disabilities don’t go away, you have to learn how to work with it,” he said.
Slade expects the new school to have about 30 students in the fall, and hopes to increase to 60 to70 students in three years.
“There are not a lot of programs like this…The school within a school model is, we feel, somewhat unique.”
The school will also create a new space for the Carmody School, designed for small group lessons and easy access to teachers.
Colin Brennan, 12, and his family are excited about the expansion of the program. Colin, who enjoys science and writing on his iPad, has dyslexia and has attended different schools until finally coming to RCDS last year in the middle of his sixth grade.
The move has made a world of difference. “My son is thriving in a way I couldn’t have envisioned a year ago,” said his mother Cathy Brennan. “At some point, he’s no longer going to need academic support,” she said.
The Brennans, who live in Sea Girt, have struggled to find the right school for Colin where his learning needs could be addressed and he could feel comfortable.
“With dyslexia you need expressive teaching methods,” said Brennan. “Colin is a smart boy and kids (like him) need the right program. Unfortunately, the right programs are not available widely.
“We maxed out what we could do through our public system,” said Brennan, who has done extensive research on such programs. “There’s nothing like this in Monmouth County.”
Of the many aspects Brennan is happy about is how RCDS fosters independence in students and she sees it working for her son. “I’m no longer going into my local public school advocating for my son,” she said. “He’s advocating for himself.”
“I can’t express how lucky we feel to be at Rumson Country Day.”
“It’s about elevating the teaching and learning of all our kids and increasing professional development for all our teachers,” said Slade. “It’s going to great for all our kids.”
RCDS has financial aid budget and have added to the budget for a possible increase.