Letter From Robert & Terri Hale

March 13, 2002

To Whom It May Concern:

Having a child with a Learning Disability isn’t much different than any other disability. At least not when you have dedicated teachers and administrators that are willing to go the extra mile to see that these children get every opportunity to be successful. It has been a pleasure and honor to be associated with Dr. Gaske and the staff of High Road Academy.

Our son, Freddie, is one of these learning disabled students that fell through the cracks of the public school system. Year after year we had to deal with one failure after another. These failures ranged from academic, social, over crowded classrooms to students with other disabilities (behavioral, emotional, even multiple disabilities) in the same classroom.

Freddie was placed in a program for children with learning disabilities when he was in first grade after completing two (2) years of kindergarten. Each year there were different struggles he had to deal with. As with many learning disabled children he struggled with the academics more than any other issue. As a student in the primary grades of elementary school they were unable to find a way for him to learn how to read. We were told many reasons why this was difficult for our son. “He is not able to remember the strategies for reading.” “He could only read from memory and he would only be able to read the words he was able to remember.” “He is just lazy.” “He won’t be able to read beyond a second grade level.” Because of this he had difficulty in all his subjects since reading is such an important part of each subject. He made it through fifth grade with what we thought was good progress under the circumstances. Each year we would be told that Freddie was making good progress and that the next year he should continue that progress.

To our disappointment we did not get the same assessment when he started middle school. Even though he was still in Special Ed. classes we ran into many more problems than before. These students change classes just like everyone else. It took a while but he was able to accomplish this with some ease, but that was about the only thing that came easy. Since the school had an over crowding problem, his classes were also over crowded. Now the classes were even larger than before only now there were students that the teachers had very little control over. Then there was the issue of being taunted and teased, not by the students in the regular classes, but the ones he had to be in class with everyday. None of this was helping to build his confidence or acceptance of being in middle school. Soon he just went along with the crowd and started to misbehave. By the end of his sixth grade year it was evident that this was not going to be easy and we did not look at the next six (6) years of our son’s education with much pleasure.

We tried contacting the teachers, trying to make sure he was getting the accommodations that he was entitled to. Just trying to contact them was an effort in its self. When you did reach one of them they were pressed for time and couldn’t talk long. When a team meeting was called the only ones that showed were the team leader and myself. Each time we would be told that they were doing the best they could but they have so many other students that they can’t spend all their time on one student. His reading assignments were supposed to be at his reading level and reduced to include as much of the main content without being beyond his ability. This never happened, he brought home papers that were well beyond his reading ability. He was to get help writing his homework assignments in his assignment book. Again that rarely happened. We were beginning to believe that our son was never going to get the right kind of help. Looking ahead we were unsure if he would be able to graduate from high school with a diploma or just with a certificate of attendance. There were so many things he had to accomplish in order to get a diploma we knew it was going to be an uphill struggle if we didn’t do something soon.

That is how we got to where we are today. It doesn’t matter how Freddie was placed into High Road Academy, but after what we have been through for the first six (6) years of Freddie’s education it was the greatest thing that could have ever happened to him.

We feel it has been through the dedication and compassion of the staff at High Road Academy we have seen our son make strides we never believed possible. The small classes allowed for little distraction and the ability to work in a much calmer environment. The staff does not allow the students to treat other students with disrespect. They allow the students to learn at their own rate with no pressure to go faster than they can handle.

When Freddie entered High Road Academy they spend several months testing him, to see where he was academically. This was done so they could provide him with the proper program to achieve the goals they set for him. When the testing was done much to our surprise we were informed Freddie was not reading at the high third grade level his other school indicated he was reading but he was at a pre-primer level (kindergarten). At this point we realized why he was having such a difficult time the previous year. We were told then that his teacher would set up a program specifically for Freddie. They may use several programs but initially they would work together to enable Freddie to learn to read. With the use of teacher, teacher’s aide and the computer they were going to start Freddie with the beginning steps of reading. We weren’t sure that even that would work since he was so far behind. Not that we weren’t confident in the staff but we had been told so many times that it just might not be something Freddie would be able to do.

To our surprise and amazement we were proven wrong. After only sixteen (16) months (less than that if you take away the time they spent testing him) he has made incredible progress. As we said when he entered High Road he was reading minimal amounts of words. Now he is reading narrative passages independently at a third grade level and with instruction at a fourth grade level. Reading expository passages he is reading at a fourth grade level independently and sixth grade with instruction. All of this is due to the dedication and compassion of his teachers and other staff making this all possible.

Freddie has made progress in many areas other than reading. He took the Maryland Functional Reading and Math Test this past fall and even though he didn’t pass either one he came very close on each. We are very confident that he will pass these in the near future. Since entering High Road Academy Freddie has gained confidence within himself. He now knows that he can succeed and he has the power to make that happen. His frustration level has also been diminished greatly and when he does get frustrated he has ways of working through it. Freddie enjoys and looks forward to school each day whereas he never wanted to go before. When he passes to a higher level in one of his programs he comes home excited and proud of his accomplishment.

We now feel Freddie has a real chance to graduate with a diploma. We know that there will come a day when Freddie will have to move on and leave High Road, but with the continued support and instruction he will be one of High Road’s success stories.

As Freddie’s parents we feel that programs like this are important to help those children that are not being successfully taught in the public school systems. We wonder how many other children would benefit from programs such as this one. There are so many children that will be lost in the school systems because they are not able to get the instructional help needed to be successful. We are more than grateful Freddie was given the opportunity to attend such an effective program provided by High Road Academy.

Sincerely,

Robert Hale
Terri Hale

 

HIGH ROAD ACADEMY

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