The Center for Learning was founded in 1975 by Dr. Edmund V. Cervone in reaction to his experiences with a wide range of schools. Dr. Cervone found that there were students in the most competitive independent schools who had significant learning disabilities yet were in learning environments that often denied the presence of such students. Within public schools, he found that students classified with learning disabilities were often denied access to college preparatory courses. Because of these situations, the Center for Learning was created at The Pennington School to provide a program of academic support for intellectually capable students with diagnosed learning difficulties.

The three primary objectives of the program are:

In addition to preparing students for college-level study in the future, the program’s objectives are two-fold. A central goal is to identify each student’s educational difficulties and to address them through individually tailored academic supports and accommodations. A second goal is to help the student to access and participate in the school’s college preparatory curriculum. The student plays an essential collaborative role in this process.

The key strategy employed by the Center is the Communication Skills (CS) class, a daily one-to-one class designed to address compensatory strategies, and in some individual cases, remediation. The CS teacher begins the year by completing an assessment of the student’s strengths and areas of academic need. This assessment includes a thorough review of the student’s academic history and formal psychological and educational evaluations. This may also include the administration of tests designed to assess the student’s specific instructional needs, for example, an Informal Reading Inventory that assesses the student’s reading level, reading comprehension skills, and word reading skills. From this initial assessment process, an educational plan is developed that is referred to as the Communications Skills Plan (CSP). The CSP is the framework for establishing short and long-term instructional objectives for addressing individual needs within the CS class, and for helping the student to develop strategies for managing the academic material presented in other classes. Included in this plan is a focus on developing the skills of self-advocacy.

Strategies for helping students to learn to manage the academic material presented in other classes include a focus on study and organizational skills, particularly in the preparation for tests and the completion of long-term projects. Students are expected to develop an understanding of the way they learn best, and attention is given to how well students are using learned strategies in their work in other courses.

Sixth grade students enroll in a Communication Skills class in conjunction with their other courses. In grades seven through twelve, a student will in most cases have a Center for Learning (LC) English class and may have an LC class in mathematics, as well as a Communications Skills class. These small LC classes are taught by content-area teachers who understand the accommodations needed to present course material to students who struggle in a specific academic area. They follow the same general curriculum as a standard course, but the size of the class makes accommodation possible in the presentation of material and provides the individual attention that assists learning. Beyond these, students follow a standard course of study.

The goal for most students is to transition out of LC classes before graduation from Pennington and to achieve the independence and confidence that will help to assure success in college.

Applicants for the Center for Learning follow the regular admission process. In addition to the regular requirements for admission, candidates for the Center for Learning must meet the additional criteria and requirements.

Extra documentation is required for applicants to the Center for Learning: