Curtis Blake Day School

The Curtis Blake Day School of the Children`s Study Home is a private special education day school that provides instruction to students with language based learning disabilities. All aspects of the curriculum focus on understanding language and effectively communicating one`s knowledge. Language intervention, integrated throughout the day, is a systematic collaboration between our certified teachers, many of whom are reading specialists, and our speech-language pathologists. The goal of our unique curriculum, which integrates multiple methodologies, is the internalization and independent application of strategies. Students learn to read by reading, to write by writing, to use language through discourse, and to understand mathematical concepts through extensive use of manipulatives and problem solving approaches.

OUR STRATEGIES
Our curriculum integrates multiple strategies that have proven highly successful!

• Our decoding strategy incorporates a unique combination of the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS) and Benchmark Word Identification approaches, while symbol imagery instruction enhances rapid reading, spelling, and self-correction.
• Comprehension Strategies Instruction (CSI) class targets strategies proven to be effective in fostering comprehension. Vocabulary instruction focuses on words that provide the greatest impact on expanding word knowledge. Emphasis is placed on listening, speaking, reading and writing new vocabulary in authentic contexts.
• The Story Grammar Marker and ThemeMaker & Research Writer tools facilitate language development at the discourse level. Both narrative and expository discourse are targeted. These tools are used extensively throughout the content areas of language and literature, science and social studies.

OUR CURRICULUM
Licensed reading and special education teachers provide one-on-one instruction to develop close and attentive reading utilizing high-quality children`s literature and informational text. The reading session skill building includes:

• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Sentence Structure
• Clarification
• Retelling
• Summarization

The math curriculum encompasses the skills, concepts and processes involved in gaining an in-depth understanding of mathematics. Word problems are an integral component of the program and manipulatives, mental imagery and graphic organizers are utilized to foster the comprehension of concepts necessary to solve those problems. Language and Literature instruction fosters the development of language skills necessary for oral and written expression. The Story Grammar Marker narrative maps and ThemeMaker expository graphic organizers facilitate the students` comprehension and organization of stories and content area information.

In addition, students receive instruction in science and social studies as outlined in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Common Core State Standards. In addition to the core curriculum, Social Thinking instruction facilitates students` understanding of the unwritten social expectancies necessary for class and peer interactions. This curriculum is designed to facilitate thinking strategies that must occur prior to social interactions. We also employ a part time School Adjustment Counselor to address the multiple issues faced by our diverse population of students as needed. All students receive art, music and physical education instruction.

Referrals to the Curtis Blake Day School are accepted from the student `s Director of Special Education or, in the case of private payment, the student`s parent/ guardian. Parents, guardians, students, and advocates are encouraged to speak to our staff and to observe our program in action. We are proud of our curriculum and the compassionate and dedicated professionals who implement it.