Learning Skills
The Learning Skills Center plays an integral role in Tower's mission to empower a diverse range of learners as they work to reach their academic and personal goals. The Learning Skills Center consists of four learning specialists and a speech/language pathologist. The Learning Skills teachers work closely with classroom teachers to ensure that all students are reaching their learning potential.
Literacy Skills
Beginning in kindergarten, specialists closely monitor each student’s literacy skills. Teachers continually assess students' reading throughout the year to make sure they are on track for success. Within each grade, students break into smaller groups, and learning specialists implement a systematic skills-based approach to learning in order to ensure a solid reading foundation.
Academic Support
The Learning Skills Center also provides one-to-one services to students who need additional academic support. These services are individualized to meet the needs of each student in our program. Different areas of intervention include reading, writing, math, organizational skills, and study skills. Learning Skills support is determined by the parents, classroom teacher, Learning Skills specialist, and academic evaluation recommendations. The Learning Skills specialist will attend grade-level meetings, work closely with teachers, update parents when needed, write academic progress reports, and have twice-yearly conferences with parents.
In addition to providing academic support classes and case management for students with diagnosed learning issues, the Learning Skills Center provides consultation for any student experiencing academic difficulty and ongoing support to Tower faculty and parents.
Speech and Language Pathologist
The speech/language pathologist provides in-school screenings based upon referrals from parents, teachers, Learning Skills Specialists, or outside evaluators. Services are provided to select students from Pre-K through 8th grade. Individualized programs are designed to address one or more of the following areas: articulation, speech fluency, language comprehension, reading comprehension, auditory processing, verbal/written expression, study strategies, narrative formulation/organization, and social/pragmatic language skills. In addition to these services, the speech/language pathologist will also work closely with parents and teachers, attend grade-level meetings, write progress reports twice yearly (December and June), and attend parent/teacher conferences.