Academic Support
Saint Mary’s College High School seeks to educate the whole person by addressing the needs of all types of learners. We welcome students with unique learning needs and offer programs designed to empower students to advocate for their academic success. Our program encourages a student’s journey towards academic growth by fostering a partnership among the student, parent, and school .
Our program supports students who have mild/moderate documented learning disabilities or medical/physical needs that require classroom accommodations. We follow the guidelines set by the College Board for students with learning disabilities and attention deficits . The student, parent(s) and Academic Support Specialist develop an Educational Care Plan which contains information about the student’s diagnosis, the student’s strengths and areas to strengthen, and a list of approved accommodations . Students have meetings with the Academic Support Specialist throughout the year. The meetings are designed to address each student’s needs, as well as promote self-awareness and advocacy skills .
DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS AT SAINT MARY’S
In order to maintain standards of fairness, equality, and comparability with other college-preparatory high schools across the country, students have to comply with the documentation requirements stipulated under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) to be eligible for Saint Mary’s LD/ADHD services . We require a full psycho-educational evaluation for documentation of a Learning Disability and a full ADHD evaluation for documentation of an attentional deficit . A student must have a psycho-educational evaluation completed within the last five years (and/or a full testing and diagnostic report from a qualified physician in the case of ADHD) .
The evaluation must include:
- The specific disability or disorder which has been diagnosed
- Relevant educational, developmental and medical history
- Thorough documentation of the techniques and methods of evaluation
- Test results and subtest scores
- A description of the functional limitations resulting from the disability
- A description of specific recommended accommodations and a rationale explaining the need for the accommodation
- The professional credentials of the evaluator (license, certification, area of specialization)