June 12, 2014
The academic year of 2013 – 14 closes for our graduates and those transitioning from our campus programs. We all continue to move forward.
The year has demonstrated our ability to be flexible in our planning. The completion of the Briggs Continuing Education Center, the new classrooms, apartments and offices and conference room have added new options for students.
Continuing education services assist our students in the process toward independence. Briggs’ staff provide instruction and support at Quinebaug Valley Community College, a long time part of TLC options, since 1980.
The apartments and duplex residences provide living settings that foster students’ independence while at work or college or other activities. Students master the demands of time management and weigh consequences for their decisions and competencies.
Our staff assists students in achieving key goals such as living off campus. Students also learn to find and maintain competitive employment, choose certificate or credit courses at Quinebaug Valley Community College, and increase academic and vocational skills. All of the transition students are fully engaged in the community. We have added the art studio to the Applied Arts Program. All students have opportunities for art, music, digital design and 3D print projects, digital assisted poster and print projects, drone facilitated photography, photography enhancement, and integrated arts projects.
Our yearbook design and production is student planned and produced.
We have students developing an online gallery to illustrate their works.
Our music program developed performances, lyrics and compositions. Films and other collaborative projects with staff and peers have been done this year.
Our Concentrated Learning Model has provided staff and students with a year of successes and challenges. Our staff and students have used additional time to be innovative in studies, researches, and the creation of new options. More time in class has resulted in more student and teacher collaboration on projects across disciplines with multiple objectives.
A panel of students and staff presented a comprehensive and lively discussion of strengths and challenges associated with the new instructional model.
New staff have been added and their talents made available to all of us.
We initiated a visiting artist program to our summer campus as we have had in the Between the Rivers program in Maine during student summer visits.
We initiated a plan, with parent help, to build a green house and a new program at TLC. Construction is planned for June.
TLC remains as one staff put it “organic”. We grow, adapt, and create, thanks to our staff energy and creativity. And thanks to our students’ initiative, intelligence and trust, we continue to grow and learn together.
Raymond W. DuCharme, Ph.D.Executive Director
OUR MISSION
It is the mission of The Learning Clinic Country Day School and The Rolling Ridge Residential Program to provide a complete range of services in education and treatment for students and their families.
Our aim is to assist students in meeting their academic goals and preparing for future experiences in educational, vocational, and community settings. Our programs prepare students to live and work as full participants within their communities.
Most important, we aim to help students maintain and improve their relationships with their families, with parents and siblings, and their social interactions and relationships within the larger community.
Raymond W. DuCharme, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Learning Clinic, Inc. is accredited by The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), with diploma granting privileges. TLC is a member of the National Association of Private Special Education Centers, licensed by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and approved by the Department of Education of Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York (interim placement).