Academics
Center for Learning
At the Center for Learning (CFL), we meet students where they are academically and work closely with them to develop effective skills and strategies for their needs and challenges. Through a partnership with our caring, dedicated, and knowledgeable staff, students develop self-awareness, learning about their strengths and using those to overcome their challenges. In this way, we help students become independent learners and develop skills they will use throughout their lives.
Our Learning Specialists Focus on Four Core Areas to Enhance a Student's Learning Experience
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Building Motivation and Confidence
A lack of motivation and confidence are often tightly intertwined in a student. Low motivation and confidence can manifest in a lack of attention, productivity, and performance. Helping a student build self-awareness, self-advocacy, and self-efficacy--as well as finding competency anchors in things he or she already loves and feels comfortable with--are what Vermont Academy's Learning Specialists do very well. Helping students unlock their potential is extremely rewarding work. -
Coaching for Executive Functioning and ADHD
Many students struggle with executive function. This means they find it difficult to organize or regulate themselves. Sometimes this presents as an inability to organize a notebook, or to filter and choose appropriate interpersonal behaviors. Vermont Academy's experts in executive function use research-based approaches to offer strategies and tools to combat challenges that arise for students with difficulty in executive function. -
Managing Long-term Projects
Project management is a skill that we often teach in the Learning Center, assisting a wide variety of students. One of Vermont Academy's missions is to prepare all students for college-level work. Therefore, teachers will often assign projects that require planning, organization, and discipline. Students must learn to manage their time, materials, and resources to achieve success. Our Learning Specialists teach students how to construct timelines and utilize approaches to complete projects on time and at a level of personal excellence. -
Tutoring for Specific Subjects
In addition to partnering with students to improve executive function, organization, long-term planning, and general study skills, each Learning Specialist has expertise in specific subjects. Vermont Academy offers tutors who specialize in chemistry, biology, physics, all math subjects, history, writing, literature, and Spanish. All together, the Center for Learning team has expert content knowledge in nearly every subject taught at the Academy.
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Learning Specialist Session Fees
1 session / week $950 / trimester 2 sessions / week $1,850 / trimester 3 sessions / week $2,750 / trimester 4 sessions / week $3,650 / trimester 5 sessions / week $4,550 / trimester
Resources the Center For Learning Provides
- Structured study hall
- Quiet study space during the day and night time
- Testing accommodations such as extended testing time
- Tutoring - 1:1, group
- Math tutors (peer led)
- College placement support
- Less distracting test environments
- Scribes for tests at school and with the College Board
- Audio books
Contact Us
If you are interested in learning more about Vermont Academy's Center for Learning, please email Director of the Center for Learning & Coordinator of the MAPS® Program Peter Ahlfeld at pahlfeld@vermontacademy.org.
Getting Started with the Center for Learning
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Step 1: Determining the Right Fit
We first work with the student and the family during the Admissions process, determining together whether Center For Learning is the best fit to support the student in meeting the academic expectations of the school. After meeting the family and reviewing the student’s documentation, IEP, 504, educational evaluations, and admissions materials, the Center For Learning staff develop a personalized student profile on the student. -
Step 2: Student Profile
The student profile lists the students strengths, challenges, accommodations, and suggestions for teachers who work with the student. It is reviewed with the student and their family for any changes. The profile is made available to all teachers, dorm parents, and coaches, and it is directly emailed to the student’s teachers. -
Step 3: Attending Sessions
The student is then signed up for sessions. A student can meet up to 4 times a week with a Learning Specialist, and we can provide additional sessions during a time of increased work. These sessions are scheduled during a student’s free periods so we do not take students out of class time. -
Step 4: Monitoring the Student’s Progress
We work closely with teachers and the student’s advisor to achieve student success. One of the ways we maintain this dialogue is through receiving the student’s grades every three to four weeks. The Director of the Center For Learning is also a member of the Health Team that meets every week to discuss students’ well being, and the Center For Learning works closely with Health Services on a regular basis. Vermont Academy conducts a full student review with all faculty, houseparents, and coaches three times a year, at the end of each trimester. The Center For Learning also works closely with the student and the family. Together we develop, revise and implement plans that will support the student meeting their academic expectations, developing skills, and building self-awareness, to become an independent learner.
Meet the Learning Specialists
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Peter Ahlfeld
Director of the Center for Learning & Coordinator of the MAPS® Program / Math Faculty / 9th Grade Class DeanClark University - BABio
University of Connecticut - MA -
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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.
