Zi 1

Andy Patronik, 11, of Huntington Woods concentrates on his magnet experiment
as Sam Morris, 13, ofWest Bloomfield works in the background.

A Secon

Alex McDonald, 13, ofWest Bloomfield, son of school
co-founder Bonnie McDonald, takes a break outside.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
Special to the Jewish News

W

hen Andy Patronik of Huntington
Woods came to the Learning Circle
Academy last January, the 11-year-old
would hardly make eye contact with other chil-
dren, preferring to find a quiet corner and suck on
his shirt.
"My son is a really awesome kid, but he's got
some serious learning disabilities," said his mother,
Ann. "He went to a special private school, and they
were able to help with some of his learning issues,
but it became evident that his social skills were not
developing at the same rate."
As director of special needs at the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, Ann
Patronik knew Andy was not reaching his poten-
tial.
Then his parents transferred him to the Learning
Circle Academy. A fully licensed non-sectarian pri-
vate day school for preteens and teens with corn-
plex learning disabilities, the school opened a year

,

ante

School offers fresh hope to older children
with complex learning disabilities.

ago. It leases space at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek's Irving & Beverly Laker Youth and
Education Center on Walnut Lake Road in West
Bloomfield.
"The beauty of the Learning Circle is that social
skills and pragmatics — developing social language
— are wrapped up in a real academic curriculum,"
Patronik said.
Last year, Andy Patronik attended the JCC .day
camp in West Bloomfield, which provides a special
inclusion counselor for each special needs camper.
Even so, he barely interacted with the other
campers.
"This year, he barely needed his inclusion coun-
selor," his mother said. "He couldn't be happier. I
feel very fortunate that this school is there."

Meeting A Need

Carolyn Morris and Bonnie McDonald, founders
of the Learning Circle Academy, began the school
out of their own needs as parents of children with
learning disabilities, coupled with a desire to help
others.

"My son Sam has high-functioriing autism, but
he's of normal intelligence," said Morris, who lives
in West Bloomfield. `He can read at a very high
level, but he does not have the insight to interpret
what he reacts."
Sam, 13, who celebrated his bar mitzvah at the
Shul Chabad-Lubavitch last year, had attended the
West Bloomfield Public Schools, like his brother
and sister. But, without modifications and pro-
grarnming focused on critical thinking skills, Sam
had stopped trying to learn, Morris said.
"This struggle wasn't for lack of caring by the
public school staff," Morris said, "but rather from
lack of resources."
Morris said she loves the Friendship Circle, the
West Bloomfield-based enrichment and respite pro-
gram for children with special needs run by
Chabad-Lubavitch. However, she said, "Sam needs
somewhere where there is reading, writing and
arithmetic."
"Most people try to make their way through ele-
mentary school with their learning disabled chil-
dren,". Morris said, "but these children tend to give
up at middle school, and that's a very important

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2005

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