Student Support
You Are Your Child’s Biggest Supporter, CA is Your Support System
Commonwealth Academy is committed to encouraging, supporting, and empowering our students to become their very best selves. Our dedicated Student Support Team ensures that our students get what they need to thrive. Each student has an individualized Student Action Plan which identifies their interests, the accommodations we have in place to support their learning, areas for growth, and their executive functioning skills. Students review their action plans yearly and are encouraged to advocate for their accommodations. While everyone’s accommodations are individualized, some things like access to our TAB (Take a Break) strategies, alternative seating options, self-regulation tools, and the powerful teacher connections that our small class sizes foster, are standard for all students.
Executive Functioning SKills
Executive Functioning skills allow us to attend to, plan, prioritize, and complete tasks in a timely manner. They develop throughout childhood and adolescence and are the skills that are most impacted by an ADHD diagnosis. Commonwealth Academy’s program is specifically designed to support and encourage the development of these skills through our:
- Consistent daily schedule
- Consistent classroom organization and teaching routines
- Standard Google Classroom setup
- Organized Planner and Binder use
- Explicit teaching about executive functioning
- Teacher and student EF rating scales
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE SUPPORT
Students with language needs and/or dyslexia may be supported with a combination of individual and class based support. Our Speech Language Pathologists use a variety of programs including Lindamood Bell, Wilson, and Social Thinking to help our students develop their reading, writing, and pragmatic skills. Our SLPs are integral to providing a language based learning lens in classes and providing pragmatic and social skill support during the GRIT elective. Social skills are also fostered through small groups, lunch bunches, and brainstorming with teachers to provide support in the classroom.
COUNSELING TEAM
Our Counselors help students become better learners by providing a comprehensive counseling program that encourages their academic, personal, social, and identity development. In each division, students participate in developmentally appropriate lessons from LS Character Counts to Upper School lessons in areas such as respectful interpersonal and romantic relationships. Counselors are available to support students across the school day for quick check-ins or more in-depth conversations to support their mental health. Our Counselors are both trained clinical mental health providers. Their expertise is invaluable to our ability to partner with parents and outside providers to support student success and well-being.
OcCupational Therapy
Lower and Middle School students benefit from Occupational Therapy support to learn self-regulation, how to support their sensory systems, and to enhance executive functioning skills through team building time and our middle school GRIT (Growing Relationships, Independence, and Teamwork) elective. Students are taught the Zones of Regulation and practice using their skills through project-based learning activities. Handwriting Without Tears is used in Lower School ELA time to bolster fine motor skills and transitions to typing/keyboarding practice in Middle School.