How MA is setup to help students who face learning differences

When it comes to high school students, some struggle more than others. At Minnehaha (MA), almost half of the school population has a certain learning accommodation that is in place due to a diagnosis.

Martha Erickson is the director of academic support services at MA and has many years of experience when it comes to helping students do their best despite learning differences they may deal with.

“We have a lot of neurodiverse students here at Minnehaha and students with mental health challenges that sometimes require accommodations to their workload,” said Erickson.

At Minnehaha, there are a few major types of learning disabilities or learning differences, such as in reading, which is usually referred to as dyslexia, math (dyscalculia), and writing (dysgraphia) At Minnehaha, various students fall into each of those categories.

“There’s ADHD, which is another form of neurodiversity that affects the way students learn, and there’s autism,” said Erickson. “On the mental health side, we have students with depression, anxiety, OCD, and things like that.” According to the National Center of Education Facts, due to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), public schools must offer a separate curriculum for students with learning disabilities; one way they do that is by providing a separate system called Special education, which Minnehaha does not offer.

Instead, all students are required to take part in the regular classes. MA when it comes to how they deal with learning differences. MA accommodates those struggles in a way that students can be successful. Those accommodations come in all shapes and sizes.

Accommodations

According to Deena Kvasnik, Director of Admission & Enrollment, the school does hear from prospective parents who have questions about how MA supports students with learning differences. “When those questions come up, our Admissions team works closely with our Academic Support team, led by Martha Erickson,” said Kavasnik.

With Minnehaha not having an additional program, that can cause disadvantages to people who study, but the way Minnehaha accommodates students’ needs means those disadvantages end up becoming advantages. “Students are still accountable for all of the curriculum, the tests, the assignments that everyone else does, but we can provide ways to support or accommodate that,” said Erikson. “The most common ones are giving extended time on tests and quizzes and taking those in a separate space. That kind of eliminates distractions and allows students a longer time to present what they know.”

The extra time gives students with these differences time to excel in the classes their student body is taking. “I think at the heart of the issue is we want students to be able to demonstrate what they know and demonstrate their learning, and we don’t want there to be barriers to that,” said Erikson. The accommodations MA has go past just having extra time on a test; it goes beyond the classroom as well.

MA’s Mary Brown is one of the learning specialists who works to help students daily with the challenges they may face. “We have math tutoring support before and after school, as well as offering times of academic power hour where students can go and seek out teachers (for additional help),” said Brown.

Learning Lab + Academic power hour

Due to there not being a separate program for students who have learning differences, MA found a way for there to be a class students can take so that MA can still cater to students who need the extra help.

“We look at times that they have available during the week, like power hour and flex times. So that they can strategize how they best use their time,” said Brown. For students, academic power hour is a time twice a week when students can request teachers for meetings, go to leadership classes, and study in a way that is efficient for them. The reason Minnehaha is able to have students enrolled in a ‘normal’ class structure at MA is due to the various accommodations. One of them is offering a Learning Lab.

“Learning Lab classes are where students can opt into taking one of their electives to have small group support,” said Brown. As she enters her third year, she explains what a normal ‘Learning Lab’ class entails. “Weekly, students come in, and we go over their grades as well as their different classes in Schoology. I sit down with each student and look over how they’re doing,” said Brown. “We strategize on a plan for the week, laying out what they need to be focusing on when.”

With these opportunities as an option, Minnehaha is a unique place where students who are diagnosed with a learning difference don’t have to be separated from the rest of their classmates by being in a whole different program.

Student perspective

Bjorn Carlson is a junior at MA and is one of the many students who live life while battling learning disabilities. “I have a vision impairment. And ADHD,” said Carlson. Bjorn works hard in his classes and is able to do a thorough job because of the help he can get from Minnehaha. “I will talk to my teachers for sure,” Carlson said. For example, Learning specialist Christina Freeman helps him, he said. MA is cooperative in letting students use the tools they think help them independently. Students like Bjorn truly use these accommodations for the best.