Q. Who are the students at Windham Woods School?
A. Windham Woods School students are extraordinary young people who love learning and being part of a community. Students at Windham Woods School may struggle in a more traditional classroom setting due to learning challenges or learning disabilities such as:
Dyslexia
Specific LD in Reading, Math, and/or Written Expression
Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NLD)
Mixed Receptive/Expressive Language Disorders
Attention Deficit
School related anxiety
Executive function challenges
Windham Woods School students do not present with primary behavioral or emotional challenges.
Q. What grades does Windham Woods School offer?
Elementary Grades 1 - 5
Middle School Grades 6-8
Upper School Grades 9-12
Q. What is the underlying educational philosophy?
A. The well being of our students comes first. They thrive and gain confidence when instruction is meaningful, lessons are dynamic and engaging, and they feel part of a diverse and inclusive community.
Q. What is the classroom model?
Project based instruction in all academic classes works for diverse learning profiles, particularly those diagnosed with Dyslexia, NLD, and Mixed Receptive/Expressive Language Disorders.
Outdoor classroom experiences reduce anxiety and increase attention and focus.
Students learn in an expanded language based classroom model with 10 or fewer students, and are placed in multi-grade classes by ability level.
Q. How does Windham Woods School Accommodate diverse learning profiles in the classroom?
A. For dyslexic students, project based instruction teaches through areas of cognitive strength while reading and written expression are remediated; for the NLD student, abstract and inferential language is reduced while math is strongly supported; for the receptive expressive language disorder student, the sole reliance on language for instruction is eliminated.
Differentiation of instruction in the classroom improves executive function skills and allows students to work at their own pace.
Q: How does Windham Woods School address reading?
A. At Windham Woods School, reading intervention is based in the Science of Reading and a diagnostic and prescriptive methodology that customizes the student’s instruction. Once a student is assessed, our Director of Reading and our Reading Interventionists select appropriate reading programs based upon the student’s level of literacy acquisition and their learning profile. Windham Woods School utilizes a variety of programs including Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech (LiPS), Equipped for Reading Success, Read Naturally, Great Leaps, Rave-O, Orton Gillingham (OG), and Visualizing and Verbalizing (V&V).
Reading Intervention
Reading intervention includes 3 or fewer students of similar ability level and learning profile. Reading interventionists may target phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, fluency, morphology, vocabulary development, and/or comprehension. Students in these interventions are typically 1-2 years or more below grade level.
Reading Support
Reading support is conducted in classes that have an average of 6-8 students. Students in these classes have previously completed foundational skill work and do not require intensive remediation. Higher level comprehension, vocabulary development, morphology, spelling, and/or fluency may continue to be areas of focus. Using highly structured teacher-guided activities, students engage in the reading of short articles and novels at their instructional level. Comprehension tasks are often collaboratively dissected and addressed explicitly to ensure skill development.
Reading and Literature
In classes of 10 or fewer students, literary devices, figurative language, plot structure, and other areas of literary analysis are investigated as students participate in novel studies. While they work to engage with increasingly challenging texts, students are provided with teacher guidance to deepen their comprehension and enhance their vocabulary. The application of previously learned skills in the areas of morphology, spelling, and oral reading fluency are practiced to build automaticity and independence.
Q. How does Windham Woods School specifically work with students with receptive and expressive language challenges?
A. Windham Woods School has 5 Speech Language Pathologists on staff who integrate into the classrooms, and see students on an individual basis if needed.
Q. What is the benefit of a school community, like Windham Woods, that includes students with diverse learning profiles? Students will:
Appreciate and respect individuals with different learning styles while developing an understanding of their own individual strengths and challenges
Become immersed in a nurturing, safe environment where they find their voices and make meaningful connections with peers
Have the opportunity to become positive and productive members of a larger community