SSSAS - lots of students w/ learning differences?

[Anonymous]

We live in VA and we’re looking at high schools. I know Flint Hill has supports for students who have learning or attention differences. Does SSSAS offer the same? I’ve heard they also have a learning center.

[Anonymous]

Yes, plenty of kids do and the academic center is great (HS - but I’ve heard good things about the other divisions too, I just have no personal experience). We had a really helpful long conversation with admin about the school’s supports during our first open house at the school. Everyone we spoke with while looking at schools was very helpful, so I recommend calling to talk to a staff member if you’d like to discuss the specifics of your child’s profile.

DC loves the school and has been doing fantastically. We’re extremely happy with it.

[Anonymous]

Anyone else have experience with this school?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Their Learning Center is very helpful, and they are good about accommodations. The curriculum is tiered so my kid does not take a language or high math, but is still able to take AP history/English. The teachers are very good about giving extra time. My kid says they are never the only person in their class who uses it. We have found them to be very flexible. HTH.

[Anonymous]

LOTS of students with learning differences. I was at the MS one day during standardized testing and the entire cafeteria was FULL of kids that had extended time. Hmm.

[Anonymous]

Our kid started in MS with dyslexia and ADHD at SSSAS. Now in HS there.

Academic Center is a class catering for learning disabilities, teaching exec function skills. So one of my kids has amazing exec function skills and my other one does not. In AC, my kid who doesn't gets taught to leverage a planner for example. My other kid can instinctively do it but a kid truly with severe ADHD cannot do this effectively without help and that's what AC does. They teach org skills and provide a safety net by way of checking if homework is completed, if all their papers remain in folders, things you just don't need help with when you do not have ADHD - and let me just say there's a ton of people who really do not have kids who need it - but if your kid truly has ADHD, they 100% need this. Most ADHD kids do not have it, but for those like mine who have issues with managing complexity, AC is great.

They don't help with dyslexia however but have tutors they can suggest. Some can work with your kid during AC time onsite at school which really helps with scheduling.

In HS, the AC works a bit differently but still effectively. As they are older and hopefully have more basic org down, there's always an option during AC time to get help with homework or listen to presentations on effective strategy options. They teach note taking as well. They literally demonstrate to you how and why doing things a certain way will prove more effective on the organizational front in hopes of providing a toolkit to utilize. A lot of what they do also is teaching the kid about how their brains are wired differently.

It's not perfect and it isn't going to help someone 100% but it's pretty damn good esp if you're not going to a specialized school.

[Anonymous]

OP here, many thanks