For three years after Kaitlin Thomas discovered she was dyslexic, she bounced from public school to private school and studied with four different tutors. Yet the 11-year-old still had problems with reading and spelling.
Her parents, frustrated that teachers couldn’t adequately help their daughter, began hunting last fall for a school dedicated solely to children with learning disabilities. They found none near their home in Valparaiso, Ind.
“There’s no place for these children,” said Kate Thomas, Kaitlin’s mother. “They have to be taught differently.”
The family eventually found its answer from the Illinois branch of the International Dyslexia Association. The group referred the family to a brand-new option for such children: the Hyde Park Day School. The private school, which opened Jan. 24, caters to students ages 8 to 12 and is the only one of its kind in Chicago, experts say.
Kaitlin, who has blond hair and a splash of freckles across her nose, was immediately enrolled, becoming one of the school’s five current students. They are learning to read through unconventional methods–such as making letters out of shaving cream–as well as tried-and-true phonics.
Her education comes at what many parents of young children might consider a hefty cost. The school’s annual tuition is $25,000, equivalent to that of an elite private college.
But the Thomases say the tuition, which the family will pay by giving up niceties such as home renovations, and their hour commute each way to the school are small prices to pay to watch their daughter progress.
“You see her open up and be excited about what she’s learning,” Thomas said.
Hyde Park Day, operated by Leslie Shankman School Corp., is on East 60th Street in a renovated church owned by the University of Chicago. Its goal is to give learning-disabled students tools to overcome or compensate for their problems and then return to their regular schools. The school will offer two sessions of summer school as well as tutoring. Officials hope to have up to 20 students by fall and be at the full capacity of 30 by fall 2001.
“We’re providing a private option for a youngster with special needs,” said Pamela Adelman, executive director of the school, who has worked for the past 22 years with learning-disabled college students. “When these children are in a regular school situation and they start falling behind, they don’t have the opportunity to catch up. This school will give them an opportunity to catch up and transition back to their schools.”
The school fills an acute need in Chicago for learning-disabled students, who often lose confidence in a regular classroom, said Imy Wax, a Deerfield psychotherapist and educational consultant and co-author of a college guide for students with learning disabilities.
“When they’re in a classroom and everyone else is finding it easier to do the work . . . they start to feel that there is no difference in terms of what the future will hold for them than what it holds today,” she said.
At Hyde Park Day, three special-education teachers employ unconventional methods using the eyes, ears and sense of touch to teach students. For example, students learn how to pronounce “ch” by saying “choo-choo,” mix paint as part of a science lesson and measure ingredients for salad dressing to learn about math.
The closest private school that offers similar services is The Cove School in Northbrook–which is a 45-minute drive from Hyde Park. It has a waiting list of 15 students. Annual tuition there is $21,650.
“I’ve always found it unbelievable that a city like Chicago is so limited,” said Wax. “The more schools there are, the more opportunities there are for children to learn.”
Phillip Jackson, co-director of Cove, now refers parents to Hyde Park Day.
“It’s something that’s sorely needed . . . particularly for the South Side of Chicago,” he said.
Public schools are required to offer special-education services to students with learning disabilities and other needs. Many of them use the same methods as Hyde Park Day, but programs vary in each school district, school officials said.
Chicago public schools have a $550 million special-education budget and 4,000 teachers to serve 52,000 students with special needs, half of whom have learning disabilities, said Sue Gamm, who oversees the city’s special-education program.
“We are using our creativity and every resource available to help kids,” she said. “We’re doing the best we can.”
If a public school cannot offer adequate services to a learning-disabled student, it can pay to send that student to a private school. Hyde Park Day is undergoing an Illinois State Board of Education approval process so it can accept such referrals and has already received approval for its curriculum, state officials said.
But Adelman and other specialists said Hyde Park Day offers students with learning problems a level of service that public schools cannot: a full day of attention in a nurturing classroom with students who have similar problems.
The low student-teacher ratio is a major factor in the high tuition.
“The money kills me, but they need it. They’re my kids. I would give my life for them,” said Kim Mitseff, whose son, Nik, and daughter, Cora, attend the school.
A single mother and a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mitseff took out loans to pay her $19,000 tuition and her children’s $50,000 tab. She already has seen results.
“They make it easier for you to do math or spelling,” said Cora, 10, who was diagnosed last fall with dyslexia. “They teach you more, and they’re not as weird when you don’t do it right.”
Adelman, who resigned as graduate dean at Barat College in Lake Forest to start the school, also served as director of a support program for Barat students with learning disabilities.
“She understands what the end result should look like,” Wax said.
The 6-year-old company that runs Hyde Park Day opened it at the urging of parents and private schools. Leslie Shankman School Corp.’s track record in special education includes operating the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a more than 70-year-old residential facility for children with emotional problems.
The Orthogenic School, which is next to Hyde Park Day, was once run by Bruno Bettelheim, a controversial figure for his belief that autism was caused by a person’s home environment and for some aspects of his management of the school. The school has abandoned that philosophy, said Brooke Whitted, corporation president.
Hyde Park Day will benefit from its association with the company, Wax said.
“The Orthogenic School has an excellent reputation,” she said. “Being part of this umbrella lends a certain panache, a level of depth.”
The school may expand to serve students in kindergarten through high school. It began teaching 8-year-olds because that is the age when students who lack reading skills start to struggle, school officials said.
“The earlier you get them and the earlier they love learning, the better,” Whitted said. “Our mission is to save the lives of kids early.”
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For more information on Hyde Park Day School, call 877-477-5665.
