Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The LD center is the key to college success

The importance of the learning center cannot be over-emphasized, says Veronique P. whose son Benjamin S. (Ben) is a freshman at Emerson College in Boston, MA. Veronique has heard too many stories over the last few years about graduates who were doing well at Churchill but failed in college because they did not take advantage of the available support. And since it is up to students age 18 and above to keep their parents updated on grades and progress, parents rarely find out in time to help avert academic failure. 

When adjusting to college, Ben missed the high degree of individual attention at Churchill that comes with the small student/teacher ratio, he writes in an email from Emerson. At Churchill that ratio meant that every teacher was very familiar with his effort level and accomplishments. Not necessarily so at Emerson.

“You have a different relationship with teachers at Churchill than at college,” Ben writes. “In college you really have to self advocate for yourself so the teacher doesn't only know your face, but your name and how hard you are working.” He found the self-advocacy preparation he received at Churchill the most important college readiness skill he learned while in high school. 

Being away from home in a new environment can be all at once intimidating, overwhelming and frustrating.  Veronique repeats over and over again that during the Junior and Senior years Churchill parents should make it a priority to drill the importance of self-advocacy into their children's heads so that they will be truly comfortable with speaking up for themselves when they are on their own. 

At Emerson Ben is taking advantage of peer tutoring, especially for essay writing and sometimes for test prep. The help center is available to every student and you don’t need to be an LD student to obtain assistance. Many main stream students also utilize the help center’s services for academic support.

Ben knew early on that he wanted to attend a college with a strong film program, which limited the number of schools of interest. He visited four colleges and decided on Emerson because of its highly regarded film program and well-connected alumni network, the "Emerson Mafia", which helps students find jobs in the competitive film industry. In addition to studying subjects that he finds interesting, he is enjoying being in college. “The feeling of accomplishment I get sometimes after a very busy week of working and studying hard,” is the best part of his new life.

Ben’s sister Emilie is a junior at Churchill getting ready to go through the college process. She is interested in Liberal Arts schools with strong dance programs, also in the North East. She has learned from watching Ben adjusting to college life and feels strongly that self-advocacy will be instrumental to her future academic success. When Emilie starts touring colleges this spring, she will spend a part of each visit at the Learning Center to make sure that the college has the resources she requires.

When planning school visits, systematically get in touch with the Learning Centers and schedule appointments with each of them, Veronique advises. The LD centers vary from college to college, and you may find that some are unable to help on a day-to-day basis because they lack the staff/structure/expertise. It is vital to know in advance about the supply of available resources and how to obtain access to these services.
“The LD center is the lifeline.”

Questions to ask:
1. Is there an LD Center?
2. What LD services and accommodations are offered?
3. Additional fees associated with these services?
4. Is there a general academic support center?
5. Are tutors peers or specialists?
6. What LD documentation is required? When and how is this info submitted?
7. Will the student need to update her/his LD documentation?
8. What kind of information should be submitted about the student's LD on the application?
9. How does a learning disability factor into the admission decision?

Thursday, February 23, 2012

College Workshop presented by a Churchill parent alumnus, March 7

Warm up before the Life After Churchill workshop on March 14 (see previous post):
A College Workshop on March 7th presented by Churchill parent alumnus Franca Rawitz is designed to support and inform parents of LD students who are approaching the college journey.  
There will be an overview of the admissions process, but the discussion will focus on the specific steps that parents need to take and questions they need to ask to insure the success of their children in college.

 6 - 8 pm at 417 East 90 Street 
  

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Life After Churchill workshop on March 14, 7 - 9 pm

Churchill’s final Parent Educational Network (PEN) workshop of the 2011-12 school year is rapidly approaching - register now! 

“Life After High School”
Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Speaker: Susan Yellin
Registration fee: $20 per person

Graduating high school and moving on to further education or the workplace brings with it a whole new set of challenges, and this is especially true for students with disabilities. Our workshop will provide an overview of key issues that students and their families will need to consider after high school graduation, such as the legal rights that students with disabilities have available to them and the critical skills needed in order to succeed in their college and/or workplace.

To register online – click here!

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Upside of Dyslexia - NYT article and reader responses

Many Churchill parents are familiar with dyslexia and issues associated with it.  In an interesting article in the New York Times titled  The Upside of Dyslexia on February 4, 2012, the author cites recent research documenting advantages of dyslexia:

"Dyslexia is a complex disorder, and there is much that is still not understood about it. But a series of ingenious experiments have shown that many people with dyslexia possess distinctive perceptual abilities. For example, scientists have produced a growing body of evidence that people with the condition have sharper peripheral vision than others."

On February 13, the New York Times printed some of  the reader responses which were equally interesting.

If the links in the copy above are not working, click on these below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-upside-of-dyslexia.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/opinion/the-reality-of-dyslexia-millions-struggle.html

Monday, February 6, 2012

Gap Year Fairs at the Hewitt School & Dwight School, Feb 10 & 11

Considering a Gap Year? The organization USA Gap Year Fairs is having two presentations in New York City this week:

Friday - February 10, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Location: The Hewitt School
45 East 75th Street, Manhattan
Scheduled speaker: Holly Bull (Presentation 6-6:30pm) 
 

Saturday February 11, 2012
The Dwight School
18 West 89th Street, Manhattan, New York 10024
12:30pm - 3:00pm
Presentation Time: 12:30pm - 1:00pm
 

Friday, February 3, 2012

College, gap year and internships - one family, three paths

This is from a phone interview with Debbie I., mother of three Churchill alumni. 
Josh, the family’s oldest Churchill alumnus, graduated from Churchill High School in 2008 and is graduating from George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC this spring. When applying to college and deciding where to study, Josh's two first choices were GW and Trinity College in Hartford, CT. After a second visit to both colleges, Josh felt that he would be happier at the larger GW. The location and wealth of opportunities at the school and in the city also factored in.  When not studying, Josh has been busy working at Obama's favorite burger joint, Good Stuff,  and is currently apprenticing at 1789, an upscale restaurant in the center of DC. Josh has also worked at other restaurants during school breaks and plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America, CIA, after college graduation. 


At GW Josh is receiving great LD support, and has had a positive four year college experience, Debbie says. GW accommodations include early registration, before all other students including the athletes, extra time, and an adviser at the LD center in addition to his academic adviser. At the beginning of each semester, the LD center adviser writes letters to the professors of the classes the student has registered for explaining the student’s accommodations. The student then picks up the letters and delivers them to each professor.


The process leading to GW included some detours. Debbie recalls visiting the LD center at Cornell University and asking about whether readers were offered. “They didn’t know what a reader was,” she says. LD support can vary tremendously from college to college.


The middle child, Emme, attended Columbia College in Chicago, IL after graduating from Churchill in 2010, but did not feel at home and decided to take a gap year after her freshman year. At college she took a music business administration class, which inspired her gap year activities. Emme loves techno music and finding talented unknown artists with potential. Upon returning to New York City she landed an internship with the well-known record label Island Def Jam and enrolled at Pace University part time to study micro and macro economics.  Through connections she made at Island Def Jam, Emme managed to find another, equally exciting, gig after the first internship ended. She now interns at Complete Control Management, a DJ management company. At her internship she does creative work, meets fascinating people, and is at the epicenter of activities for artists such as Dada Life, Tiesto, and Dirty South. Overall, Emme is happier and more content than she has been in a long time, Debbie says.
“I am proud of her for all her hard work it took to make these opportunities materialize.”


The family’s youngest child, Sarah, transferred out of Churchill after 9th grade to Bard High School Early College, a top-rated public high school. In addition to the social adjustment that comes with entering a new school as a transfer student, she has had to work hard to adjust from the nurturing Churchill environment to the heavier work load and the harshness of some of the teachers at her new school, Debbie says. There has been an ongoing battle to obtain the necessary academic support that she is entitled to.
“You have to have a strong backbone,” Debbie says about transitioning to a public school after Churchill.
Now in 11th grade, Sarah is doing well and to the surprise of many, her favorite subject and the one that she excels at the most, is Chinese.  She'll be going to China in April for two weeks with a group from school.  Now Sarah is preparing for the college application process. She is interested in applying to Brown University, Bowdoin College, Boston University, Trinity College, Tufts University and Tulane University.

The most important advice to parents of LD students?
"Teaching your kids how to ask for and to get help," says Debbie. "We all seek help every day, via customer support, counselors, specialists, and confidants. The sooner our kids learn that it's ok to need help and to seek help, the better off they will be."

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The psychoed/neuropsych evaluation on the cheap

At Churchill, students have the option to take the PSAT during their junior year. In order to obtain extended time at the PSAT, you need to submit a recent evaluation of your child to Churchill's College Office, which will submit an application to the College Board on your child's behalf. The College Board needs at least seven weeks to process the application. Once approved, accommodations are valid for all College Board administered tests (PSAT, SAT, SAT II and AP).

A complete evaluation is free if you use the NYC Board of Ed and typically costs between $4,000 - 5,200 if done privately. If you have a recent evaluation, you can ask the person who performed the evaluation to do the additional tests required by the College Board. This could cost around $1,500. Most testers don't accept health insurance and many health insurance providers don't cover educational testing. If your child has medical conditions such as epilepsy, the health insurance might cover a neuropsychological evaluation, but not the psycho-educational evaluation. Check with your health insurance company.

I know my son's learning issues and don't want to pay $5,200 for the purpose of obtaining accommodations. Instead I called a few schools whose doctoral students perform these tests at more reasonable rates. Adelphi University 516-877-4844 supposedly charges $500 for testing, but did not answer the phone. Teachers' College 212-678-3262 doesn't have openings until September 2012 and same goes for Fordham University, 212-636-6483. Apparently,  the low cost testing sites in the City fill up quickly.

I had better luck with Hofstra University in Hempstead 516-463-5660, which charges $650 and had an opening during Presidents' Week. When my son is tested I will make sure that the report includes that he was first evaluated at age 7 and based on that evaluation admitted to a special ed school for learning disabled children where he has been a student ever since. I will also make sure that the report's recommended accommodations, such as extended time, are consistent with his IEP.