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Applewild prepares bright, motivated students for success in secondary school and in life. We know students have different learning styles and strengths and that progress can come on different timetables. We are committed to helping students reach their full potential.
Learning Gaps and Individual Challenges
Learning support is a fee-for-service academic support program for areas of need such as:
- Executive Function- Challenges with planning, problem-solving, organization and time management
- ADD/ADHD- Struggles with attention and environmental distractions that impede success in many academic areas
- Dyslexia- Challenges with phonemic awareness, decoding, reading connected text, deep reading, spelling, and literacy within content areas
- Dysgraphia- Struggles with written expression, including: handwriting, spelling, and composing written pieces
- Dyscalculia- Difficulty understanding and computing math
K-4 Learning Support
Applewild School routinely administers assessments and collects data about a student's strengths and areas for improvement. With input from the student’s teachers and parents, it may be determined that a student needs additional support. Students in learning support are usually “pulled” from a non-core subject class, at a frequency of 2-4 sessions per schedule rotation. A written report on the student’s progress is provided monthly.
Learning Support 5-9
Learning Support in 5th through 9th grade is a support program that aims to maximize the academic and social potential of each student through 1-1 and small groups. Looking at each student as an individual with unique learning needs we use assessments and conversations with the student, parents and teachers to understand what type of program is needed. We provide reading support for students with diagnosed or suspected language-based learning differences such as dyslexia through the use of Wilson or Orton-Gillingham. We also support students who struggle with math, writing and/or executive functioning.
Learning support sessions usually take place during study hall or non-core subjects. Frequency is determined by the student's individualized program. A written report on the student's progress is provided monthly. Additionally, we offer a targeted Executive Functioning class with instruction given in small groups. This additional fee class meets during Study Hall three times a rotation and focuses on helping students become successful independent learners through explicit instruction on organization, time management, task initiation, goal setting, etc.
Applewild is a science of reading school. We believe in following current research and scientific evidence on how to best teach students to read.
Teachers in grades Kindergarten through 3 use Wilson’s Fundations Program for teaching reading and spelling. Students use the Geodes series to practice and reinforce what has been taught with Fundations. Faculty routinely screen students’ reading abilities in Kindergarten through 9th grade, using University of Oregon’s DIBELS-8. DIBELS-8 contains a number of reading assessments, including Letter Naming Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Word Reading Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency, Accuracy of Sounds, and Reading Comprehension, depending on grade level. We use these results to gauge reading progress with individual students, the whole class, and the whole school.
Applewild School faculty and staff participate quarterly in professional development centered on reading; most recently focusing on Lexia LETRS® training.
We are deeply committed to supporting emergent and struggling readers through individual or small group sessions utilizing the Wilson or Orton Gillingham program with our highly trained specialists.
Executive Functioning skills are explicitly taught through direct instruction. Executive function instruction includes five main areas of instruction: Organization, goal setting, shifting and flexibility, accessing working memory and self checking. The goals of this class are for students to possess increased self awareness, utilize executive functioning strategies, improved independence, enhanced academic performance and to transfer these skills from school to home and in their daily lives. Monthly progress reports are provided and regular communication between the teacher and parent(s) / guardian(s) are encouraged.
When a student has math learning difficulties, whether diagnosed with dyscalculia or struggling with basic number facts or arithmetic, they may benefit from 1-1 or small group session, which can focus on the the following:
- Daily fluency practice
- Use of manipulatives
- Multisensory methods
- Creative strategies for building fluency in math facts and standard algorithms
- Visual Models
- Concrete-Representational-Abstract instructional sequences
- Metacognitive approach to problem solving methods
- Connection to real world applications
- Planning/pre-writing strategies
- Vocabulary development
- Sentence structure
- Paragraph structure
- Organization
- Editing/revision
Linda Reida returned to Applewild in 2021 after previously teaching there for ten years while her daughter attended the school. With over 30 years of experience in education, she holds a Master’s degree in Education and Deaf Education and is a trained Wilson Reading instructor. Early in her career, she taught deaf children and worked with deaf adults. During her time away from Applewild, Linda directed a local tutoring center and ran her own business. Her focus has always been on supporting students and young adults with learning differences. Now back at Applewild, she enjoys teaching executive functioning, study skills, learning support, and Wilson Reading. She resides in Westminster with her happy husband and their two playful Maine Coon cats. On a personal note, her daughter, an Applewild alumna, now works as an Executive Assistant at a Boston-based biotech company.
Dr. Pugh has over 30 years of educational experience and believes that no one ever stops learning. She received her B. A. in French from the University of Georgia, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from New York University, where her dissertation concentrated on dialectal variation and change on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. When her own son was diagnosed with dyslexia, she trained with the Academy of Orton-Gilliingham Educators and Providers (AOGPE), and currently works with students with dyslexia. She lives with her husband, their three children, and their two large Bernedoodles near Worcester.
Declan Drapeau is the Learning Support Coordinator for grades 5-9. He lives in and loves the city of Fitchburg. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Santa Fe University of Art and Design in New Mexico. He has been teaching since 2013 when he completed his teacher training with New Teachers Collaborative based out of Parker Charter on Devens. He earned his Master’s in Special Education from Fitchburg State University and also received his certification from The Orton-Gillingham Academy. He loves being able to work with students in tutoring, Writing Lab, the creative arts magazine, and advisory. His two adorable, brilliant, funny children attend Applewild’s Preschool. He decided to start boxing recently, much to his family’s chagrin.
Jennifer Buck is in her 22nd year of teaching at Applewild! Having taught at various elementary grade levels, including many years in the 4th grade, she is now the K-3 Coordinator, as well as a member of the Learning Support team. Jenn is passionate about making sure each student has the tools necessary to be self-assured and successful and is certified as an Orton-Gillingham practitioner. Outside of school, Jenn lives in Princeton, MA with her mother and her adult son, who is an Applewild alumnus. She enjoys travel, live music, and comedy shows.
Dr. Packard has dedicated her professional career over the last 27 years to education. She leads a diverse and dynamic faculty and supervises all teaching and learning. Dr. Packard received her undergraduate degree from Barnard College, Columbia University, and her MAT at Sacred Heart University where she presented on students who were double identified as LBLD and Gifted. She then went on to earn her doctorate degree in educational leadership at Northeastern. She loves living on campus with her husband Mr. Ben and her very large chocolate labrador, Toby.
Amanda Hu is the English Language Learner (ELL) teacher at Applewild. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.S.Ed. in Intercultural Communication from the University of Pennsylvania. With over five years of dedicated experience, she has taught English to learners of various ages and linguistic backgrounds, focusing on cultivating self-regulation and intrinsic motivation among her students. Residing on campus, Amanda also supports the Residential Life Program and is passionate about languages, sports, and travel.
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