Learning Support

At Marvelwood, we are committed to the belief that every student learns differently, and that these differences are to be appreciated and accommodated through a combination of intensively targeted efforts on the part of the faculty to make even the most challenging college preparatory curricula accessible to students of all abilities, talents, interests and learning styles. Our unique Learning Support programs provide the tools that help students with learning challenges experience academic success, in crease self-confidence, and acquire strong learning and self-advocacy skills needed in college and beyond. Students at every level of ability are encouraged to participate actively in their studies, practice self-advocacy, and accept guidance from the professionals with whom they interact every day.

The school offers optional Learning Support programs in which teachers work one-on-one or in small groups with students to overcome obstacles to their academic success. Our teachers have the training, experience, creativity and patience to identify and remediate weaknesses in basic skills, to support a student's efforts in content classes through the use of specific learning strategies or assistive technology, and to fill in the gaps which may present an impediment to success in college preparatory coursework.

Programs

Learning Support I

One-on-one tutorial support for students with documented learning differences and academic weaknesses in multiple areas. Students in Strategies I meet individually with their teacher on a daily basis, focusing on academic support for content classes, preview and review of homework, use of assistive technology, and instruction/strengthening of reading, writing, organizational and study skills.

Learning Support II

Small-group support designed to improve and support students' overall achievement as they move toward increased academic independence. Students meet daily with a teacher in groups of no more than four, and focus on organizational and time management, metacognition and self-awareness, language and math skills, learning theories, and stress and anxiety management.

Math Tutorial

One-on-one tutorial help for students who struggle with mathematics. The Math Tutorial class is designed individually for each student and typically takes the place of a mainstream math class. Some students enroll in Math Tutorial to fill in gaps in their prior knowledge so that they can eventually enter the mainstream math curriculum; others, such as those with dyscalculia or other math learning differences, may remain in the Math Tutorial program throughout their time at Marvelwood.

Social Connections

The Connections Program supports the development of students’ social competency skills. Each student’s one-on-one program is individualized and developed according to his/her personal strengths and challenges. In addition, students participate in cooperative groups in structured settings. The Connections Program utilizes principles from Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking® model as its foundation, and incorporates other curricula to meet the needs of the student. Direct instruction, modeling, role playing, and cooperative group activities and projects help the students generalize their developing skills from the program’s structured setting to the social world.

There is an additional fee for enrollment
in any of the Learning Support programs.

Learn about our learning and language lab

EmPOWER Writing® and Brain Frames®

EmPOWER, a highly visual, research-based system for supporting students' development as writers, is an intrinsic part of our academic program. All Marvelwood teachers use EmPOWER to support students on many levels, including organizing and visualizing new information, taking notes, and planning writing assignments. Following the EmPOWER process, students produce graphic organizers, called Brain Frames, to help them capture and organize their knowledge and thinking. Brain Frames can be easily applied to many aspects of learning, from writing to test preparation, across all subject areas. Developing and utilizing EmPOWER strategies helps to increase student independence and ownership of their writing and learning.

Architects for Learning, the creators of EmPOWER, describe it as "an instructional routine for teaching expository writing in all grades and school subjects. It incorporates a set of strategies for navigating the writing process within six steps that build on one another in a flexible and dynamic way...Teachers weave its steps and strategies through their own curriculum to meet their own unique writing instruction goals. With EmPOWER in the classroom, writing takes its rightful place as a vehicle for inquiry, higher-level thinking, and learning, and empowers teachers to take their students where they want them to go as writers."

Imagine a place of possibility...

The mission of The Marvelwood School’s Learning Support Department is to provide the support and tools that students with learning differences need in order to experience academic success, increase self-confidence, and acquire strong learning and self-advocacy skills needed in college and beyond. Students at every level of ability are encouraged to participate actively in their studies, practice self-advocacy, and accept guidance from the professionals with whom they interact every day. Our faculty collaborate closely with all other departments at Marvelwood to ensure that the skills students adopt in Learning Support class support the mainstream class curricula in a timely, informed and seamless manner. We aim to identify and remediate weaknesses in basic skills, to support a student's efforts in content classes through the use of specific learning strategies or assistive technology, and to fill in the gaps which may present an impediment to success in college preparatory coursework. Ultimately, the goal of the Learning Support Department is to use a scaffolded program model to gradually move students toward full independence, where they use all the skills and resources at their disposal without teacher prompting to achieve and maintain academic success.

Education...Reimagined