LEARNING SUPPORT PROGRAMS

Helping to Create Foundations for Life

The middle years represent the first time when many students encounter the challenges of learning to manage expectations alongside the demands of being a young learner. This shift can also mark the first time that a student’s executive functioning is challenged. At North Country School, our Learning Support team views these moments as opportunities to help our students learn critical skills that set a foundation for success both inside and outside the classroom.

Our Learning Support Program has a long history of engaging and supporting a diverse range of learners through personalized academic guidance and the creation of an optimal learning environment for our students. We help our students to learn who they want to be within our community, but to also recognize how to be themselves in our community—critical skills that everyone should learn at an early age. As a key part of Learning Support at North Country School, this development of self-awareness and self-advocacy allows us to meet students where they are so that they can thrive personally and academically to ultimately prepare for a successful transition to secondary school and their larger lives.

Our Approach: What Sets North Country School Apart

Students who benefit from our dynamic Learning Support Program are bright, capable, and inquisitive, but may have struggled in a traditional academic setting. We work with students along a continuum of experience and needs—from those who need an individualized plan to students who require regular check-ins and a group setting. Enrollment is initiated during our application process, or at the recommendation of our Director of Learning Support Services. Once enrolled, members of our Learning Support team provide support in small groups, separate from classroom instruction, and focus on individual student needs across four key areas:

• Executive function skills
• Reading skills
• Writing skills
• Math skills

Building these skills is the core focus of our Reading, Writing, and Math Labs, which meet for 45 minutes two days each week. For students requiring more frequent support due to the impact of their learning challenges, alternative arrangements can be considered. You can learn more about our various Learning Labs below.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Learning at North Country School is rooted in a gradual release of responsibility enabling students to gain increased independence in completing complex tasks as they move from our Lower School to Upper School.

• In grades 4-6, essential academic skills such as studying for a test, planning an essay, and keeping track of homework are taught by our classroom faculty in consultation with the Learning Support team. The self-contained classroom setting for our younger students allows for consistent routines, monitoring of skills, and individual attention. Additional fee-based support in grades 4-6 focuses on reading, writing, and math needs that are beyond what can be addressed in the classroom.
• In grades 7-9, students build on core skills already developed through continued support in reading, writing, and math. They can also receive additional support to sharpen executive function skills through five-day learning skills offerings or three-day Learning Lab.

Tracking Progress

At the end of each week, Friday Feedback – our weekly feedback system—allows our teachers to report back to families on three categories of academic performance: promptness and preparedness, citizenship and class norms, and homework and classwork. This personalized report is created for each student and provides a measurable way to track progress over the course of a term and a year both in academic classes and in our Learning Support Programs.

Learn more about North Country School’s Learning Support Program below, and please reach out to us with any questions.