-
-
Academics
academics
-
Academics
Our highly trained, committed educators understand the needs of students who learn differently and are well prepared to nurture your child’s academic, social/emotional and executive function development.
Our small sizes - six in first grade, eight in second grade, ten in third through fifth grades, and twelve in sixth through twelfth grades - enable our teachers to meet the needs of each child in the way they learn best. Our hallways are celebrations of student accomplishments, and our classrooms are bustling with all types of learning opportunities.
Our highly trained, committed educators are certified to teach your student the way they learn. Majority of our staff are Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALT) and Certified Academic Language Practitioners (CALP).
The Academic Language Therapy Association defines a Certified Academic Language Practitioners (CALP) as one who can “provide explicit, systematic, sequential Multisensory Structured Language instruction which builds a high degree of accuracy, knowledge, and independence for students with written-language disorders, including dyslexia. Practitioners are trained at the practitioner level, skilled in Multisensory Structured Language, and results driven.CALT (Certified Academic Language Therapist)
ALTA Certified Academic Language Therapists “provide diagnostic, explicit, systematic Multisensory Structured Language intervention which builds a high degree of accuracy, knowledge, and independence for students with written-language disorders, including dyslexia. Therapists are clinically diagnostic and prescriptive, skilled in Multisensory Structured Language, intensive and results driven.”
Our curriculum is Orton-Gillingham Approach based.
The Orton-Gillingham Approach
Orton-Gillingham (OG) is an approach that has shown to be highly effective for children and adults having dyslexia – a difficulty with reading, writing, and spelling that is unexpected given average to above average intelligence. The Brighton school employs OG strategies in the classroom setting, in reading therapy group sessions, in individual instructional time, and throughout the content areas. All Brighton’s teachers have had training in one or more programs that reflect the OG approach.The Orton-Gillingham Approach is:
The OG approach is diagnostic and prescriptive. Instruction is designed by the teachers and individualized to the needs of the student(s). Progress is assessed daily, which informs the next day’s instruction. Content is to be mastered to the level of automaticity.OG is direct and specific. All concepts are directly taught through continuous interaction between the student(s) and the teacher.
OG is language-based. OG teachers are trained in the areas of phonology and phonological awareness, sound-symbol association, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax, and semantics. All the components combined strengthen reading and reading comprehension, expressive writing, and spelling – all critical components of the learning process.
OG is multisensory. Teaching through the senses – sight, sound, movement, and touch – open the brain’s learning pathways. Multisensory instruction engages the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile pathways simultaneously, which improves memory and overall learning.
OG is systematic and cumulative. OG instruction follows a logical order. Basic skills begin the learning process and progress systematically toward more challenging material as the student’s skills increase. Step by step, skills build on those prior. A systematic approach that regularly reviews previously taught concepts enhances memory.
OG is synthetic and analytic. Synthetic instruction shows the parts of our language work to form the whole. Analytic instruction begins by looking at the whole and proceeds to breaking down the whole into parts.
We are a school that is dedicated to students who have dyslexia and other language-based learning differences. We believe that ALL students can learn. It’s a matter of how the instruction is given and the support that is available to push students to their potential.
