Learning Center moves to new classroom

The Learning Center has recently been introduced to a new setting in room H62. The Learning Center welcomes students who are experiencing learning difficulties, auditorial students, all other students who need work-help and students with an Individualized Education Program, also called an IEP. These students receive accommodations that give extended time and aid with tests such as having tests read or translated so that they can be understood. Accommodated students are those unable to take a test in a regular classroom environment who are sent to the center to complete the test individually.

“It was primarily made for students with accommodations, but it’s actually open to everybody, any age and any grade are welcome here,” Giles said.

The Learning Center has been around for more than ten years and was recently renovated from room S24 to its new area in t he Hawthorne building. This move took place be cause its former space had to be provided for specialized students with personal needs. The Learning Center is currently run by head of the Special Ed department Kisha Williams and advisors of the Learning Center Pam Trutanich and Theresa Giles.

Teachers who oversee the room and the students find this transition a challenging adjustment, but something that they will be looking forward to. “It’s a work in progress because we’re still getting t hings hooked up and waiting for things to be done so that it’s a little bit more comfortable for everybody, but change is change and we make the best of it,” Giles said. “It is a nice classroom and it is just a matter of re-gearing ourselves in the right direction.”

Generated to provide a friendly environment to students taking exams, the new, smaller Learning Center may experience crowding on certain days. There are occasional days where “Social Skill” classes, a class where a group of students collaborate together to determine their social skills, take place, impacting the use of the center. Crowding may also be experienced on days when students are taking a major test they missed.

According to Giles, the general students that stop by the Learning Center are still adjusting to the new location. Once everyone settles in , Giles hopes that the center helps students adjust to other changes.

“The only thing you know for sure in life is change and you have to be ready for it ,” Giles said.