FAQs

Yes. Applicants need to obtain a psycho-educational assessment from a licensed educational psychologist. ACDS can provide a list of referrals if requested.

Your pediatrician or someone at your school will likely be able to provide a reference for an educational psychologist who is certified to administer psycho-educational assessments. The process will involve multiple visits, and will result in valuable information about your child's learning needs.

If you would like additional referrals, ACDS has a list of professionals with whom we have worked in the past. Please contact either Mary Jo Heindel or Cecilia Robb for more information.

Yes. The Learning Center's teachers are specially trained in Orton-Gillingham methodology by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE). 

TLC features a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Sometimes the students gather in larger groups to work together and discuss projects or activities, or to collaborate on creations in the Imaginarium (see "A Day in TLC Life" schedule). Occasionally, a class may have an additional student for a limited time to accommodate fluctuating placement.

This means that TLC students take their core classes (English, math and social studies) in The Learning Center, and then spend the other 40% of their school day with general education students in enrichment and elective classes and at lunch and recess. 

TLC students are ACDS students who are fully integrated into the activities and culture of the school. They are not made to feel different from their general education peers at ACDS; they are instead integrated with other students into the life of the school.

As such, TLC students participate in field trips, events such as our all-school Thanksgiving Feast, after-school clubs and no-cut sports. In fourth through eighth grade they also join their general education peers on overnight field trips. Additionally, TLC families join our community for events such as Food Truck Friday and Pumpkin Carving at Halloween.

It will vary from student to student, but in most cases students will take classes in The Learning Center for from three to five years and then transition into general education classes. The process takes patience, determination, and commitment from parents, students, and TLC faculty, and it is transformative.

Yes. Students who stay at Almaden Country Day School after they leave TLC continue to attend our “Success” class that’s led by a TLC faculty member and meets four times per week. In Success, the teachers provide support for the students in their general education classes. This may include help with completing study guides, revising writing assignments, preparing for tests, organizing materials and advocating for themselves. The Success teachers also provide help with whatever specific challenges each student is facing.

Yes. Students are enrolled at ACDS and specifically in the TLC. They go through the regular ACDS admissions process for a placement in TLC.

Yes, tuition support is available to applicants who qualify. Please see our Tuition Support section for more information.

For further questions, please contact Mrs. Cecilia Robb, Head of The Learning Center.