Congregation
Beth Shalom
A SECOND CHANCE from page 15
COME HELP US KICK-OFF
SHABBAT JAMS
Carolyn Monis, co-founder of the schooh helps students Phillip Hellekjaer, 12, of Beverly
Hills; Alex Jones, 10, of Huntington Woods; and her son Sam.
.
JOIN US FRIDAY, SEPTEMDER 9th
with Hillel of Metro Detroit, YAD, and all age!
Kabbalat Service
• Family Service
• Shabbat Dinner
Followed by a Jewish Comedy Club with
JOEL CHASNOFF
now being taken for
this fabulous Friday night experience
Reservations are
NEW ARRIVAL
GAN SHALOM PARENT- IN& CENTER
Exciting and innovative programs and classes for
families and newborns through preschool:
• Brunch, Bunch and Babies • Yoga and Baby
• Parent-Tot
• Parent-Tot Transitional
• Hebrew in the House*
• Art In Motion*
• Science Discovery
• Music Together
• Music and Movement
• Music for Little Folks
Year Two
*All-By-Myself classes
For more information call SUSAN GARTENBERG,
Director, Gan Shalom Parenting Center
(Newborns-Preschool), Ext. 234
AWARD WINNING' RELIGIOUS
SCHOOL PROGRAM
Grades: Kindergarten through High School
• Family Shahhat School • Youth Choir and Orchestra
• Education and Social Retreats • Youth Socials
• Kindergarten Enrichments
For more information call DANNY KOCHAVI,
Director of Religious Education
Grades K-12, Ext. 216.
For more information on tickets and/or synagogue membership, please
contact Steven Weiss, Executive Director at the Synagogue Office at:
16
2q8-5q7-7970
For the upcoming school year, Morris
anticipates doubling enrollment at
the Learning Circle Academy from 10
to 20 students. Students will be
grouped in two classrooms, one for
younger students, ages 11-13, and the
other for those ages 14-16.
In deciding whether to accept a
child into the program, the school
considers both academic and social
development on a case-by-case basis.
The variety of learning styles dictates
a highly individualized, cross-curricu-
lar style of teaching.
"One of our kids has a 136 IQ,"
Morris said. "It's not that they can't
learn — they just learn in a different
way.
Alex McDonald, 13, has imagina-
tion, insight and an excellent memo-
ry, but has difficulty reading due to
severe dyslexia and other visual pro-
cessing problems.
Sam Morris and Alex frequently
"
Please join our congregational family for the Holidays.
8/25
2005
time to develop abstract reasoning."
The Eton Academy in Birming-
ham, a private school for special
needs students in grades 1-12, does
not accept children with autism, she
said. In fact, Eton has .referred chil-
dren like Sam and other students to
the Learning Circle Academy.
"The Learning Circle has good
people and we have seen excellent
results with students we've referred to
them," said Pete Pullen, Eton
Academy head of school.
"There's a school for every student,
for every need," he said "They do
very good work with students we're
not necessarily set up to work with."
1014490
read together, Morris said — "Sam
helps Alex read and Alex helps Sam -
interpret."
Alex's mother, Bonnie McDonald,
is a former president of the Autism
Society of America's Oakland County
chapter — although she has now
learned that her son's disabilities do
not include autism.
In co-founding the Learning Circle
Academy, her goal was to provide "a
school that offers hope and real solu-
tions to parents whose deepest fear is
`how will my child be able to care for
himself when I am not there to watch
over him?'"
The school's tuition is $17,000 a
year, comparable to the cost of other
local private schools.
• "One hundred percent of our
tuition goes to salaries, materials, and
rent," Morris said.
A panel of contributors and sup-
porters help fund the school, which
has received 501(c)3 status as a tax-
deductible nonprofit organization.
Does the Learning Circle Academy
method work? Well, all 10 students
in the school's opening year have re-
enrolled. And, at a recent Learning
Circle open house, Andy Patronik,
who used to cower in corners, stood
up and sang a solo in front of every-
one, friends and strangers alike.
The song he picked — "I Believe I
Can Fly." ❑
For more information about the
Learning Circle Academy, see the
school's Web site:
www.learningcircleacademy.org .
The school's telephone number
is: (248) 538-0115.