Academic Support

Program Overview

Trinity Valley students are intellectually curious, imaginative, versatile, and caring. They persist through challenges – per aspera ad astra – to achieve their goals. The Academic Support at TVS exists to champion the strengths of neurodivergent students and to support their unique needs through a team-based approach involving students, their families, faculty, staff, and other experts.

Faculty provide feedback to divisional student support teams (heads, counselors, academic support) to identify students who may benefit from educational testing that clarifies their strengths and needs, partnering with families in this pursuit. If a student’s evaluation results in a diagnosis, a Student Learning Plan with accommodations follows.

Student Learning Plans serve as a foundational guide for academic support and may qualify students for parallel accommodations on standardized tests as well as TVS assessments; however, it is the ongoing engagement of students, faculty, and families that achieves the desired goals of learning, growth, and confidence.

Trinity Valley School’s philosophy is that teachers are the first and best resource for students in need of academic support. With some exceptions, academic support primarily takes place in classrooms. Academic Support personnel supplement the role of classroom teachers by facilitating individual interventions for students, consulting with and providing professional development for faculty and staff, partnering with families as needed to monitor student progress, or acting as liaisons among members of a student’s “team.”

Understanding that students are whole people and that mental health plays a vital role in their overall wellbeing, Academic Support relies heavily upon the expertise of our division counselors to inform care for students, drawing also upon the input of our health and wellness teams as needs arise.

Trinity Valley School is a nurturing community with support structures embedded in our standard curriculum, many of which may prove especially beneficial to neurodivergent students. 

Examples include:

• Opportunities for attention re-sets, outdoor recreation, and unstructured play time/peer interaction through Brain Breaks (LS), Recess (MS), and Trojan Time or Free Periods (US)

• Academic and social-emotional oversight/guidance from a caring adult via Middle & Upper School Advisory Programs

• 1:1 technology in Middle & Upper Schools, including assistive technology features

• Online learning management systems, Seesaw (LS) and Canvas (MS/US), that enable parents/guardians to support students’ time management and study skills, and also provide access to immediate feedback 

• Guidance lessons from division counselors that promote self-awareness, self-regulation, and pro-social behaviors

• Support for executive functioning skills through Skills for Tomorrow and MindMakers (MS)