At Carolina Friends School, students are actively engaged in the process of education. We seek students who enjoy learning, who can work independently and in groups, and who can accept responsibility. We are also committed to nurturing a diverse community of learners. Teachers value the unique contributions of each child and appreciate that students learn differently. They work to understand students’ learning needs and, within limits that vary from age to age and unit to unit, design classroom activities accordingly.

As is true at all schools, some students at CFS have learning differences or special needs. While our flexible curriculum and relatively small class sizes in academic areas enable teachers to work successfully with a variety of students, experience has taught us that limits exist, both in the range of needs that we can meet and in the number of students with special needs whom we can teach effectively. Few CFS teachers have extensive training in working with children with learning disabilities or emotional or behavioral disorders. Given this, and the absence of such resources as a school psychologist or nurse, CFS must insure that efforts to serve particular students do not impose undue hardship on teachers or detract from other students’ opportunities to learn.

Individual admission and continuing enrollment decisions include consideration of the resources available to meet the needs of each child while maintaining the best atmosphere of learning for all our students. Conversation with parents is an important part of the process. At the time of application, parents are required to share any assessment information of which they are aware. If teachers determine a need for further information about an enrolled student, parents may be required to have a child evaluated and to share the results with the School. If an evaluation recommends modifications to enable a student to learn more effectively, teachers determine what accommodations are possible within the School’s current resources, facilities, and policies. It is our experience that, in order to succeed, many students with learning differences and special needs will require outside support and services (for which families are responsible). If the staff questions whether a student’s needs can be met at CFS, communication with parents is timely and thorough, with the final decision resting with the School.

Meeting Students’ Needs: What We Can, Might, and Cannot Provide

Among the many features of CFS that are helpful for all students, whether or not they have learning differences or special needs, are:

• Relatively small class sizes for academic/project work, with opportunities to work in mixed-age groups

• Caring, committed teachers who get to know students well

• A curriculum that offers breadth and affords considerable choice

• Classroom strategies acknowledging multi-sensory learning and multiple intelligences

• Possibilities for communication between teachers/advisors and parents beyond the routine parent-teacher conferences

• Opportunities for extra help (such as supervised lunchtime study hall or appointments with staff in Middle School, or workshop classes or help from teachers during office hours in Upper School)

• Allocation of limited time/space in school for work with tutors hired by parents;

• Parent-teacher conferences and narrative evaluations that address the student as a whole person, honoring effort and improvement as well as achievement.

Parents who expect that accommodations may be necessary for a student to work successfully at CFS are advised to begin conversations about this as early as possible. Teachers consider modifications on an individual basis, as recommended by professional evaluations, in the context of existing resources and limits.

In the Early Schools, accommodations that might be considered include auditory, visual, or kinesthetic cues to help children.

In the Lower School, accommodations that might be considered, within limits, include:

• Preferential seating

• Behavioral contracts

• Access to books on tape, word processors, tracking card for reading

• Kinesthetic cues

• Quiet background music

• Modified homework.

In the Middle and Upper School, parents of students with identified learning differences or special needs have an introductory meeting with the Middle or Upper School teacher who serves as the liaison or “point person” for information about special needs. Further conversations take place between parents and each student’s advisor. Accommodations that might be considered, within limits, include:

• Preferential seating

• Checking of assignment books, advance notice of some assignments

• Opportunity to use another student’s notes or teacher’s notes if available

• Permission to tape a class, ability to use books on tape

• Modification of assignments or due dates, possibly including alternate texts or demonstrations of competence

• Extended time or alternate location for tests

• Behavioral contracts.

Carolina Friends School does not provide:

• Individualized Educational Plans for students with special needs

• Constant monitoring or one-on-one instruction/attention

• Extensive attention to drill or emphasis on rote learning

• Written description of all class activities

• Exemption from major course requirements (including homework and class attendance)

• Program modifications that are not compatible with CFS philosophy

• Adaptive testing that avoids course requirements or skills taught in the class

• Use of electronic aids when security can be compromised

• Regular extensive communication with parents

• Specialized services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, remedial programs, tutoring, nursing care

• Mental health programs or mental health supervision of students with major mental illness

• Routine standardized testing. (The PSAT exam is offered annually in Upper School, and extended-time SAT and ACT exams are arranged for qualified students.)

• It is helpful to note that students at CFS do not work in self-contained classrooms, and that only the Early Schools offer playgrounds with fenced boundaries.

It is our experience that parents play a crucial role in students’ success at CFS.  While true for all students, this is especially true for those with learning differences and special needs.  Possibilities for student success here are enhanced when parents value the Carolina Friends School philosophy, understand the nature of our curriculum and classroom practice, recognize our strengths and limitations, and cooperate in providing information or support services that are sometimes necessary.  We encourage parents to attend programs and read materials designed to inform them about their children’s education at CFS, and to engage with staff in the open and ongoing communication that will help assure that Carolina Friends School is an excellent learning environment for all of our students.