Support Services

Support Services on the Lafayette campus include: Executive Function classes, Academic Support, Learning Center Language Arts instruction, Learning Center Math instruction, and before and after school tutoring.

Lower School Executive Function Classes

All students in grades kindergarten through 5 are supported by Executive Function (EF) classes, taught weekly for 30 minutes. EF Classes are taught collaboratively by the school’s learning specialist and the school counselor. The five- year EF curriculum includes: active listening, planning, organizing, advocacy skills, test taking skills, study skills and strategies. The focus and content of the lessons vary as students progress through the grades, matching the academic demands of each grade level. By the end of fifth grade, students have had instruction and practice in all the student skills they need to be successful independent learners in ESA’s middle school.

Before and After School Tutoring

Before- and after-school tutoring is available for individual students. Typically a student is identified by the classroom teacher or a parent referral. Often tutoring is the first service recommended for a student who is struggling. To initiate tutoring, parents may contact their child’s teacher or the Learning Specialist. It is strongly recommended that parents use a tutor selected by our Learning Specialist rather than one who might not be as familiar with the methodology and expectations of ESA Lower School’s program.

Academic Support

Academic Support is a contracted service designed to assist students with any or all of the following skills: general study skills and organization; individualized study strategies matched to personal learning styles; reading and vocabulary development; special assistance to students with learning differences. Services vary based on the individual needs of the student. Students meet, one-on-one, with their academic support teacher two days a week for one hour sessions in lieu of the student’s French class. Individual objectives are developed for each student in collaboration with the classroom teacher. To initiate Academic Support, parents may contact the classroom teacher or the Learning Specialist.

Learning Center

The ESA Learning Center is a contracted support service for students with a diagnosed learning difference. Entrance to the Learning Center requires educational testing that identifies average to above-average intelligence and learning difference that interferes with a child’s development of language skills. Students work with their Learning Center instructor in lieu of the regular classroom language arts block. Each class is ability grouped in a 1:4 teacher to student ratio. The Learning Center employs the Hill Center Language Arts program, a unique, researchproven program and service delivery model of explicit, structured, systematic instruction developed by The Hill School in Durham, North Carolina. All Learning Center teachers have attended the Hill Center training and are pursuing or have achieved certified status with IMSLEC. Typically, the discussion about inclusion in the Learning Center comes from the school, but parents are welcome to contact the classroom teacher or the Learning Specialist to initiate a conversation.

General Academic Information HOMEWORK

The purpose of homework at the Lower School is to provide reinforcement, enrichment, and development of classroom concepts. Whether the homework assignment is designed as practice of the day’s lesson or to prepare a student for the next day’s lesson, homework should be work a student can complete, or at least attempt, independently. Teachers recognize students’ goodfaith efforts to complete homework and use information about any difficulties they may have had with completion to adjust instruction. A parent’s role in homework is to provide a consistent routine and a quiet place for homework. Teachers neither expect nor want parents to feel they must teach their children at home in order to complete homework. Doing so conveys a false assessment to the teacher and masks misunderstandings that the teacher could remediate. Teachers expect good-faith effort toward completion and quality of all work turned in, including homework. A student’s grade will be only minimally affected, if at all, by errors on homework that reflect lack of understanding.

Late Assignments

Students are expected to complete and submit all assignments on time. Any assignments submitted late, whether home assignments or class assignments will receive a 5% penalty each day for the first two days beyond the due date. Parents will be notified if a child has a missing assignment that is more than two days late. In order to receive credit, students must submit late assignments by no more than one week beyond the due date.