Student Support

Services provided by the Director of Health & Wellness include:

• individual short-term counseling for students and/or parents
• referrals for services in the community
• mental health skills and resilience training for students through PE, Foundations, and Advisory classes
• professional development presentations for faculty/parent discussion groups
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses for faculty, parents, and students

Whitfield issues laptops to all students.  During the school day, the technology team operates a tech support desk with open access for students, faculty and staff. Here, the team addresses both hardware and software questions, as well as any problems related to technology use including Warrior Web (our intranet).

Students who need additional academic support should contact The Kerner Family Director of Teaching and Learning to discuss the challenges they are facing and determine the best intervention.  Intervention options include, but are not limited to, peer tutoring as well as 1-on-1 tutoring with subject specific tutors employed by Whitfield.  This support is often arranged weekly and occurs on campus before/during/after the school day.

Whitfield provides a comprehensive college counseling program for students and families.  This program follows a formal curriculum that is delivered during the school day beginning in ninth grade.  The curriculum develops a wide range of skills and competencies in students, in addition to leading them to the college in which they will be the most successful.

If a Whitfield student has completed an outside evaluation that meets the criteria stated in the Handbook, he/she/they will meet with the Kerner Family Director of Teaching and Learning to develop a learning profile.  Learning profiles outline the students strengths, areas of support and capture appropriate educational accommodations listed below.  This working document is shared with parents, teachers, advisors and interventionists.

The following accommodations are considered to be appropriate and accessible at Whitfield:

• up to 50% extended time on quizzes, tests, and exams
• reduced-distraction testing environment
• eliminate the use of scantrons when possible
• preferential seating
• use of a scientific calculator when a graphing calculator is prohibited
• access to study guides/class notes when requested
• other accommodations are allowed in cases when the core requirements of the course are not compromised and when existing resources are available.

Student learning profiles are periodically reviewed and modified. Over time, identification and ownership of the need for accommodations should be student driven. Developing self-advocacy skills as well as the ability to differentiate for oneself is the goal upon graduation.

In order to receive accommodations, a comprehensive evaluation must have been completed by a qualified Psychologist/Learning Specialist within the last three years. The student’s evaluation report must include the following:

• the specific disability or disorder which has been diagnosed
• a recommendation for specific accommodations, with an explanation of why the disability requires each accommodation requested
• relevant educational, developmental and medical history of student
• thorough documentation of the techniques or methods of evaluation
• test results and subtest scores
• the professional credentials of the evaluator (license, certification, area of specialization)

Once the report has been submitted and reviewed by the school, it will be kept in the student’s file, and the school’s confidentiality procedures will be followed. It is important to note that a diagnosis, in and of itself, does not necessitate the need for accommodations. Parents are financially responsible for any outside support indicated in an assessment. Parents are also asked to provide any documentation of learning disabilities during the Admission process.

Students receiving accommodations at Whitfield may be eligible for accommodations for the SAT and ACT tests used for college admission. Upper school families are notified each year regarding the process for requesting accommodations for these standardized tests. For a student to be considered for these accommodations, Whitfield must certify that we have current signed documents on file which include the information listed above. The decision to grant accommodations for these exams is made independently by College Board (for PSAT, SAT, and AP tests) and ACT (for the ACT test). Whitfield School is not involved in the review process when determining which, if any, accommodations will be granted for these standardized tests. The Director of College Counseling, and Assistant Director of College Counseling, help families submit their applications for accommodations.

The ultimate goal at The Whitfield School is to build a collaborative partnership with students and families. That relationship provides the platform for maximizing the student learning experience and providing students with the skills to be successful in future academic settings. To that end, reasonable and appropriate accommodations can be consistently provided when proper evidence and documentation is ascertained.

While Whitfield School makes reasonable efforts to support students who are admitted, the school may determine over time that a student’s needs would be better served in a different academic setting.