The Center for School Success (CSS) is an organization that helps all kinds of
students better understand the way they learn.
CSS believes that every student deserves an opportunity to learn about and
develop strategies to help them achieve success in school and in life.

 

What kinds of students does CSS work with?

Everyone has a unique learning profile made up of strengths and weaknesses. As an adult,
chances are you will pick a job that matches your strengths. However, in school you often
have to do tasks that are not good matches for your learning profile. Sooner or later,
students will face learning situations for which their brains simply aren’t wired.  It would
be unrealistic to expect all students to excel at everything in school all the time. A student
can experience learning difficulties at any age because the expectations of school change
over time. A student might sail through elementary school without any problems and then
all of a sudden “hit a wall” in middle or high school.

At CSS we work with students (grades 2-12) who experience learning challenges.
or certain tasks (i.e., writing, math, word problems, organization) that might be hard for them.

How does CSS help these students?
Each student we see at CSS receives an assessment that identifies strengths and
weaknesses and how they affect that student’s learning. Those strengths and
weaknesses are then linked to specific academic skills. For example, to
uncover why a student struggles with spelling, CSS team members might
examine the student’s abilities with memory, attention, sequencing and language.

The team gathers information prior to and during the assessment and writes a
detailed learning profile specific to each student. We recognize and appreciate
that every student has a mixed profile—stronger in some skill areas than in others. 
Once the student’s individual profile has been identified, CSS team members
then focus on ways to use a student’s strengths to help improve areas of learning difficulty.

Why would I want to come to CSS?

Most students we see are frustrated that they can’t show what they know effectively.
Sometimes it is because they can’t verbally express their ideas, or that they can’t
get their thoughts on paper in a way that makes sense to someone else. Some students
have problems remembering all the facts they need to know to do well on a test. Others
have a hard time figuring out which information is the most important to study. Some
students understand everything they need to do for a project and are able to do the work
but cannot manage to hand it in. Other students find themselves working harder and
longer than their peers and want help to be able to work more efficiently. Does
any of this sound familiar?

What would I do during a CSS assessment?

A CSS assessment usually lasts from about 8-noon. During the assessment day you will
meet separately with three team members who are very interested in finding out what you
are good at, and how you learn best. You will do many different kinds of activities.
In some cases the team member might ask you to explain how you got an answer and
then give you a strategy to try to see if you can complete a task with less effort.
One of the team members is a pediatrician (who will do a quick exam of your eyes,
ears, motor functions and listen to your heartbeat), another is a psychologist and
one is a learning specialist.

Between each session you will get a short break so you can get
something to drink, have a snack or take a walk outside.

At the end of the assessment morning you will have one hour to go out to lunch with your parent(s).

After lunch, a team member will explain to you what the team found out about how
you learn— especially what you are good at. We call this a “demystification”
meeting. The meeting is videotaped and then a copy of the tape is sent to you
so you can remember what was discussed. You will also get a plan sheet that will
give you a few ideas about how to make some things easier for you in school.
This meeting will take about 30 minutes.

You will leave CSS around 2:00 p.m.

Then what happens?

Following the assessment you will get a full report that includes:

• A review of the neurodevelopmental and educational assessments;
• A learning profile summary (your balance sheet of strengths and weaknesses);
• A customized learning plan (includes ways to strengthen your strengths and
  strategies for your areas in need of improvement);
• A one-page management plan based on the learning plan that contains the most
  important strategies you can try right away. This can be shared with your parents and teachers

CSS staff will meet with you and your parent(s) to go over the report (about two months
after the actual assessment). CSS will also make an appointment with you and your
parent(s) six months after the assessment to check in and see how things are going.
In addition, CSS offers coaching for students to help build greater awareness of their
learning profile, link it to their school experience, and to begin applying strategies
and practicing the skill of self-advocacy.

Here is what some students have said about their day at CSS:

“I expected CSS to be a big huge place with lots of kids, but when I got here I
was surprised to find that it was really cool, and the only kid there was me.”

“Can I come back tomorrow?”

“I would like school more if it was anything like what I did today at CSS.”

“It was better than I thought it would be.”

“The team really seemed to want to know how I learned rather than just what I could put down on paper.”

“I liked hearing about my strengths. I wasn’t too surprised by my areas for
improvement, but I liked getting the language to put into words what I know are my weaknesses.”

If you have questions, call or come visit us!