The Guilford Day School Way
THE GUILFORD DAY WAY
The following are critical components of the Guilford Day Program.
Accommodations
Accommodations are changes in the way a student receives instruction or produces work that takes into account the student’s areas of disability. Accommodations maximize student learning and performance by utilizing areas of student strength. Accommodations include such things as extended time on tests, use of the computer for written work, use of charts and diagrams in addition to lecture, utilizing a student’s strength to redefine how an assignment needs to be completed, and special assistance such as a reader or scribe.
Advisor-Advisee
Each student is assigned an advisor at Guilford Day. A strong advisor-advisee relationship is one of the keys to student success. The advisor is the primary teacher responsible for teaching advisees about the general GDS routines, strategies, and expectations as well as serving as the student’s advocate and academic coach. The advisor coordinates the IEP process for students and serves as the point person for parent contact with the school.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology can be a means of improving the quality of performance for many students. At Guilford Day we have three computer labs for students, 30 wireless keyboards, and at least one computer in every classroom. Other very valuable assistive technology in our school includes electronic spellers, calculators, books on tape, tape recorders, copiers that enlarge print, and computer software.
Behavior Monitoring System
The Guilford Day School policy for behavior stems directly from our belief that respect is key to a safe, supportive, productive, and positive environment. All students, parents, faculty, and staff are responsible for supporting and encouraging respect for self, others, and property. School rules and behavioral expectations are taught, practiced, and monitored. Our behavior monitoring system includes understanding of behaviors associated with LD/ADHD, implementation of appropriate behavior modifications, documentation of such implementation, documentation of infractions, and a daily reporting system for parents as part of the student planner for students in grades 1 – 9 and for students with such needs in grades 10 – 12.
Checkpoint
A short time at the end of each day is designated to checkpoint. Checkpoint involves teaching students a routine for organizing. Assignment books, notebooks, book bags, and lockers are checked and organized. Most importantly, homework assignments are matched with materials needed.
Community Programs
Our community programs provide educational and enrichment programs to the Guilford Day community as well as the Triad community at large. Guilford Day School Community Programs also serves those needing motivational support and/or self-esteem enhancement, as well as gifted students in need of enrichment. Systematic Multi-sensory Instruction Language Experience (SMILE) is an intensive, structured, and individualized summer program that uses research based instruction to improve students’ reading and writing skills. High School Courses for Credit are offered during the summer for students who need to make up for lost credits or to get ahead in coursework. Complete diagnostic testing is available throughout the school year for all area students throughout the year. The Knight Club is our after school program for students in K – 9. Academic Coaching is a personalized one-to-one tutoring program for students ages 5 through adult. Multi-Sensory Structured Reading (MSSR) consists of remediation techniques and specialized instruction that is researched based and multi-sensory. The Professional Development program offers continuing education credits. Workshop offerings are based on research supported strategies and methodology and are geared to individuals working with students with LD and ADHD.
Course Organizer
A course organizer is developed for each class taught at Guilford Day. This routine serves as a concrete device for communicating course-planning decisions to students. We describe it as a road map for students as they travel through the course. The course organizer is reviewed after each unit to answer course questions, discuss how units fit together, discuss student performance, and discuss the climate of the learning community and how well the classroom rituals and routines are working.
Demystification
Our students need to know themselves clearly. What strengths do they possess? What are their weaknesses? How do strengths and weaknesses work together at school and in planning for the future? Demystification is part of knowing that “you are more than just a label.” Demystification is part of empowering our students by helping them understand themselves.
Direct Instruction
Research tells us that our students respond best to direct instruction when learning skills and concepts that are difficult. Direct instruction in writing, reading, mathematics, study skills, and strategies offer students the careful, systematic instruction they need. Such instruction increases the likelihood of student success.
Get Organized (GO)
A part of readiness to learn in each class is being prepared. At the beginning of every class, all students are expected to come to class prepared with materials such as pencils/pens, notebook, assignment book/planner, a book to read, textbook, and/or other materials required by individual instructors.
Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
Every student at Guilford Day has a written statement of the education plan necessary to meet a child’s individual needs. This plan is called an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The IEP has two general purposes: (1) to set reasonable learning goals for the students specific to the learning disability and/or attention disorder; and (2) to state the specific accommodations and study skills/ strategies needed to maximize the student’s performance.
Low Teacher-Student Ratio
A low teacher-student ratio gives us the opportunity to have high time on task, to make a good faith effort to help each student meet his or her goals, to provide appropriate accommodations for our students, and to teach study skills, strategies, and routines that will help ensure success. Class size at Guilford Day ranges from one-to-two to one-to-ten, with the average class size being one-to-eight. The size of the class depends on the course content and the level of the students.
Multi-Sensory Structured Reading Program
Students who have more severe reading disabilities may be placed into the MSSR program. This program is based on Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, Hill Center, and Lindamood-Bell philosophy and principles and phonological coding research. It directly teaches the structure of words in the English language so that students master the coding system of reading and spelling. The program also includes sight word instruction, vocabulary, oral expressive language development and comprehension. MSSR classes are kept at two to three students.
The Perfect Notebook
Each academic team establishes rules for setting up and keeping notebooks organized. In grades 1 – 9, students maintain one Perfect Notebook that includes a zipper pouch for school supplies, the GDS student planner, sections for each subject, notebook paper, and other materials specific to his or her academic team. In grades 10 – 12, students maintain a one-inch notebook for each subject with indexed dividers specific to the categories needed for a particular class. These notebooks are color coded by subject area.
Professional Development
We have devoted time and resources to professional training that is based on research supported principles and practices that effective teachers use in the classroom and in working with LD/ADD students. We are also committed to current ongoing information regarding the characteristics and development of students who have LD/ADD. Based on school improvement goals, training has focused in the following areas during the past six years:
Strategic Instruction (Instruction focuses on how to learn and how to effectively use what has been learned – Developed by the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.)
COMP: Creating Condition for Learning (COMP identifies principles and techniques used to create more smoothly running classrooms with higher student engagement, lower incidents of misbehavior, and higher academic achievement – Developed by Vanderbilt University.)
Wilson Reading Systems (The core system used to drive our Multi-Sensory Structured Language Reading Program- Developed by Barbara Wilson.)
Skill Building Program
An effective skill building program is vital to student development. A student-centered skill building program focuses on the development of a student’s skills in self-confidence, self-determination, social competency, disability awareness, independence, and study skills/learning strategies. Students in grades 4 through 12 participate in Skill Building activities on a daily basis. Curriculum and activities vary developmentally based on students’ ages and needs.
Students’ Strengths
No Individualized Education Plan is complete without recognition of a student’s strengths. Utilizing and building upon strengths are important to our work with students. Likewise, affinities are very important because these are areas of interest toward which a student is drawn. While most IQ testing evaluates verbal and mathematical abilities, we know that our students possess multiple intelligences. Howard Gardner, a psychologist involved in Harvard’s Project Zero, has identified eight intelligences that include *verbal-linguistic, *visual-spatial, *intrapersonal, *interpersonal, *logical-mathematical, *naturalist, *musical-rhythmic, and *bodily-kinesthetic. At Guilford Day students’ strengths are cultivated and celebrated through such activities as hands-on learning, project and problem based learning, leadership opportunities, art, drama, community service, and physical education/sports.
Student Planner/Homework Organizer
Every student at Guilford Day is issued a student planner. The planner varies for each academic team and is tailored to the level and needs of those students. As a part of this routine students are taught how to record assignments, match assignment to materials needed, and monitor assignment completion. At the upper school level students use the planner to plan for long term assignments, manage time using a five day forecast, and monitor grades in all courses. At the lower and middle school levels the student planner serves as a daily communication tool between home and school where parents see assignments as well as get the answer to the question “How was your day?”