Learning Support at Holden

Holden welcomes and supports the diverse learning styles our students bring to our community.

Holden Celebrates the Diverse Learning Styles in our Community

Holden recognizes the specific strengths and challenges of our students. Our low student-to-teacher ratio allows teachers to attend to students’ individual needs, skills, and interests. We help students understand how they learn best and effectively communicate their learning needs to teachers and staff. We value self-advocacy, and we esteem and cultivate it at Holden. This approach helps our students develop confidence and affects academic success for all students.

Holden students make measurable progress in skills, show improved self-esteem, and have knowledge of their personal and academic strengths and areas of growth. They are able to more effectively communicate with adults and peers, think critically, and advocate for themselves.

Holden's Learning Support At-A-Glance

Culturally Responsive Education

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Inclusivity and Diversity

Holden’s teaching staff is committed to providing a diverse and rich curriculum for our students.

Curricula across discplines takes deliberate care to provide a diversity in perspectives, topics / events, important figures, and reading selections / texts. 

Holden also offers a full year (5 credits per semester) Ethnic Studies course, beyond what CA Assembly Bill 101 requires for a secondary education.

See our DEI page for more information on Holden programming.

 

Experienced, Collaborative Staff

Holden’s Co-Directors have over 100 years of combined experience working with students struggling with social, emotional, and academic challenges. Our staff includes two  Learning Specialists and two licensed Marriage and Family Therapists.

All staff meet weekly to collaborate for student success. 

Supporting Students with a Range of Diagnoses

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Holden Lyceum

Examples of diagnoses Holden has worked successfully with include:

  • Attention Disorders (ADD / ADHD, etc)
  • Learning disabilities impacting reading, writing, and math (i.e. Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, non-specified)
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder - Mild to Moderate Support Needs (ASD)
  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD / C-PTSD)

    See Special Circumstances below for more information on what is in our scope of practice.

 

Further Support

Students receive academic and emotional support from grade level advisory groups, homework labs, teacher and learning specialist office hours, specialized electives, family counseling, end of semester conferences, transition counseling, study skills classes, and academic or behavioral support meetings (all covered within the cost of tuition).

See our Emotional-Support page for more information on Holden programming.

504s and IEPs

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Special Education Support

Holden will participate in IEP meetings on-site or remotely with district staff. We do not take primary responsibility to create and implement IEPs if we do not have a direct contractual agreement with the student's school district. However, we will do our best to support non-contractual IEPs and 504 plans.

We hold annual end of year conferences with all of our students and their families to discuss student progress, strengths, accomplishments, and goals related to their academic and social growth and transition. These are not formal IEP meetings but serve a similar purpose.

All Holden students have accommodation cards distributed by our credentialed Learning Specialists, and Holden teachers differentiate instruction and expectations to support learner needs.

Individualized Support

We provide appropriate classroom accommodations and modifications for our students by taking input from families, teachers, educational testing, 504 plans, and IEPs.  Holden has two credentialed Learning Specialists to work with both staff and individual students in order to differentiate instruction and facilitate a successful  educational experience for all learning styles.

Additionally, all students receive one-on-one counseling with a Therapist Trainee or Associate, and can opt in to individual homework support tor learning support tutoring.  

We want to ensure that Holden is a good fit for all of our students. If the prospective student has ever been in a treatment program or hospitalized, one of our counseling supervisors needs to speak with their program or therapist before a student can be considered for acceptance.

Students with medically diagnosed psychoses, those who need line-of-sight supervision, have aggressive behavioral issues, or are currently in crisis are out of Holden’s scope of practice. Students with high support needs may be out of our scope of practice.

If you’re not sure if Holden is a good fit for your student’s needs, use the button below to schedule an admissions call to speak to our clinical director or learning specialist.

ENGAGING ACADEMICS & ELECTIVE CLASSES

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Supportive, Low Stress Environment

  • Small class size
  • Mixed grade level classes
  • Manageable homework load
  • Seminar style classes and experiential opportunities for learning
  • Credit for learning done outside of school hours
  • 10am start time
  • Individualized accomodations
  • No fail school: students earn credit for the work they complete

CONNECTED, COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY

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Community and Social-Emotional Support Services

  • Weekly student-run Community Meetings
  • School-wide community service
  • Weekly one-on-one counseling
  • Clinician-run social-emotional electives
  • Student council (organizes community events, collects student feedback, etc)
  • Family support services
  • Schoolwide PSAs, assemblies, and field trips

POST HIGH SCHOOL PLANNING: PREPARATION FOR LIFE

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Transition Support

  • Grade Level Projects
  • Dedicated transition classes (Colleges, Internships, Careers, Trade School)
  • Focus on Social Emotional Learning
  • College and Career Transition Counselors
  • Independent Living Skills Electives
  • Family Transition Meetings
  • No fail school: students earn credit for the work they complete
See our Post High School Planning Page for more details

Testimonials

changing lives since 1969