The Whole Learning School was founded in 2003 to offer students with unique learning styles a trusting, safe environment where teaching and learning are enjoyable and students are assisted as they develop responsibility and independence. All aspects of the school's organization, curriculum and life-skills activities are child-centered and designed to accommodate individual learning styles so that all may experience success.
At TWLS, we find out how kids are smart. We believe that that all human beings possess "multiple intelligences." This concept, proposes that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead it proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential. We don't ask our students "How smart are you?" We ask "How are you smart?"
Our curriculum teaches essential academic skills and practical life and social skills with the goal that our students will graduate, live self-sustaining lives and provide needed employees to the work force and fewer people who require federal and state tax dollars to support themselves.
TWLS currently accepts students in grades 1-12 who present with below average intellectual and academic profiles. They may also have the diagnosis of a cognitively or neurologically-based learning difficulty. Our students must demonstrate sufficient emotional stability and behavioral functioning to allow them to fully participate at TWLS. Because many of our students are fragile learners, we are not equipped to serve children with significant behavior challenges. As a private school, we are able to ensure that our fragile learners have the best possible environment in which to learn.
Why We Need a New Website
After five years of refining our approach and curriculum, The Whole Learning School just launched its Possible Dreams Initiative in late 2007. The Possible Dreams Initiative is a two-year campaign to create awareness and raise money to serve more students, add programming and move to a new location in the 2009-10 school year. The number one way that families of prospective students learn about us is through referrals. The first "contact" these prospective families have with our school is through our website.
Here are a few important facts about our school: Tuition is $16,000, which covers 65 percent of the costs to educate each student, leaving a shortfall of $9,000 per student. Because we are a private non-profit school, we do not receive any state or federal support. So how do we make-up the shortfall? Through support from a private foundation and individual donors in our community. While raising tuition seems like an easy answer, most of our families would not be able to continue here if tuition goes up.
The best way for us to fulfill our mission and help kids that struggle to learn is to grow our student body. The good news is that due to economies of scale, we will break-even when we have 36 students. We can begin to add additional programming when we enroll 54 students. As you can see, by growing our student population, we not only become self-sustaining, we fulfill our mission to help more children with learning challenges. The key to our growth is a new website that offers the best and most current information about our school. If we cannot achieve our growth goals in the next 18 months, our school may not be able to continue.
Here are some specific requests:
-The ability to update the site in-house
-The ability to frequently add photos of our students
-An Intranet for staff and parent use
-Online admissions forms
-Contribution form
-Blast email capability
-Request more information form
-Ability to register for events online
-Ability to showcase videos about our school
-Search function on the site
-Ability to quantify traffic to our site
-Develop better presence on search engines
When the judges choose which non-profits will be selected to participate in this year's F1 Challenge they will take into account testimonials from beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, board members and other
Our school is a "whole learning" school. To me, this means each student experiences his or her own path to knowledge, using individual talents and a multi-dimensional education plan. I have seen each student at this school succeed at learning because they have the tools and coaching appropriate to their individual selves.
We dream of including more and more children and families on this journey. So many children, like mine did, go to school each day, dreading yet another 7 hours as a round peg in a square hole. They fall down every day, come home shamed and sad, yet pick themselves up the next morning and go back to try again. They go back and they try, because every child is capable and wants to learn. As a parent and an educator, I'm convinced of that.
The Whole Learning School (TWLS) provides a healthy learning environment for students who need more individually designed education plans, as well as coaching and support to grow into knowledgeable and self-sustaining adults.
I am honored to work at a school where it really is "all about the kids." We all try to live that every day. I believe there are more kids out there who need some "whole learning." I want to see all children have the opportunity to learn, succeed, and feel proud of themselves at the end of each day. That is what TWLS does, consistently and persistently.
Donna Callender
Educational Assistant, TWLS
Donna Callender, Educational Assistant TWLS
Dear Selection Committee:
Please select The Whole Learning School (TWLS) to receive this wonderful honor.
Why?
Simply put, this school does what it claims to do, and it has changed our lives!
Before TWLS, our son, was floundering in the public school special education system, and each year he would get further and further behind. Even though his teachers were making a well intended effort—they were falling short because of extreme caseloads, limited human and financial resources, and too much paperwork. The Whole Learning School isn’t plagued with these problems; therefore, their teachers are able to focus on direct and indirect instruction based totally on student need. At TWLS he is achieving his potential both academically and across all youth to adulthood transition domains. How do they do it? They:
1) have created a “stress/anxiety free” environment,
2) teach students at their instructional level using only Mastered degreed, special education licensed staff,
3) focus their teaching on all aspects of development (academics, social, and life skills all the while focusing on how to make it functional),
4) have a 9:1 student-teacher ratio serving students in grades 3 and up, and
5) give each student has his/her own computer.
As you can imagine it takes a lot of time, energy, money and effort to continue to do this special work. Having a new web site would be a huge benefit to our school and we'd use it to spread the word in order to help more kids.
Please consider us -- we appreciate what you are doing. Thank you!
Colleen Thoresen, parent
Judges:
Have you ever walked into a meeting, watched the conference room door shut and, as the meeting began, you realized you were totally unprepared for it...and you couldn't wait for the meeting to end so you could return to your office, where your comfort zone was? This is how my child was for years. He went to a good school, got lots of extra help from qualified and kind special ed teachers but just wasn't tracking. He wasn't dumb. He just needed to be taught things a little slower and in different ways. He's been at the school for a little more than a year now and has made a great deal of improvement. Of course, you'd expect me to say that since I'm taking the time to write this. But it's the truth. The Whole Learning School was literally an answer to my prayers.
How do you put a pricetag on even one child's ability to read, to do math, to understand some basic ways the world works today? This school could serve many other students. Among other things, it needs your help to craft a website that is useful and helpful for those seeking help for their child. And if you're a judge who's a parent, you know that you would do anything to help your child succeed. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Steve Benjamin
w 612-359-2554
h 952-945-9388
Steve Benjamin...son attends this school
I am a parent of one of the children that attends this AWESOME place. Our hope and dreams for our son are starting to be answered by him attending this school. He is in his second year of attending The Whole Learning School. Our son has ADHD and other learning disabilities. I believe that from grades K-5 our son "wandered" through the public schools, going from mainstream to special education classes, he never fit in anywhere, never talked much. Within 6 months of our son attending this school, our son could finally be himself, he finally realized that he could read, write and do math problems because this school teaches him at his level. He doesn't have to hide anymore. He is reading, writing, doing math and all other aspects of education. But to me, the greatest thing that our son has received from this wonderful school is his self-esteem. Anything that you could provide for this school to further educate our children, reach out to other parents, teachers and anyone else who is looking for help for their children would be a wonderful gift.
Sincerely,
Kathy Olson
Kathy Olson, Parent
When my daughter was very young, she was diagnosed as being selectively mute. Her anxiety made it next to impossible for her to speak or interact in a classroom. She completed several types of therapy, but nothing seemed to work. She attended school, but rarely talked and was unable to complete the work. I then met Maryann Dennis (founder of TWLS) and I told her about Annie. We both knew there had to be a better way to teach the "whole" child, in a setting where they feel safe, yet challenged. The Whole Learning School is just that place. My daughter has attended TWLS since the day it opened. It is hard to believe she is the same shy, quiet girl of five years ago. From the minute she started at TWLS, she felt safe. The multi-dimensional approach to learning, showed her that she had areas that she excelled in. Through yoga, she learned that she had amazing endurance. Through music, she learned she can recognize and keep a beat. This all translated into tremendous growth in her self confidence. That self confidence transferred over to math, spelling, reading, etc. Her social skills have skyrocketed and she is now comfortable in social situations. THis has been an amazing transformation and it would not have happened without the love and support of the teachers and staff at TWLS. It is a unique school and one that could really benefit from your help.
Julie Bensen, parent of a TWLS student
I believe that The Whole Learning School is a very special place that does amazing work with very little resources. Teachers, staff, parents and the students are always doing "extra" to help this school succeed. I see amazing results how they carefully, lovingly and effectively teach their young students. These students WILL be prepared for a life on their own...something that might not have been in the cards for some of them, without the school. They will GREATLY benefit from the enhanced website and the credibility and visibility it will bring.
Lori Lynn, Community member
The Whole Learning School is such a special school. Just the name makes you think about what they are teaching at this school. I have worked at TWLS since its inception in 2003 and the rewards I have received watching these students grow and thrive in this environment are incredible. They not only have academics at their instructional level, but they have community involvement, morning mind/body works and life skills training which goes back to the name of our school The "Whole" learning School. We are a family orientated school and to see all the love and caring that comes from an environment like this is hard to imagine. It is time for our school to let the secret out about how special we are. We need to have a website that we could direct families to who are seeking a school where they feel their child would thrive and feel safe. It's time to let it out about TWLS and with your help it is a step to our goal of being able to grow such a unique school. Thank you for considering The Whole Learning School and what a dynamic challenge you have given to the non-profit community.
Mary Lorenzen, Office Manager TWLS
Dear selection committee this is our story regarding this wonderful place and why it should be chosen: This school was a God send for us our daughter has a diagnosis of PDD NOS. I was determined to not have her fall through the cracks in the educational system that I was observing all around me. My daughter is bright, intelligent, humorous and fun and needed a place where she could be herself. She was one of the first five to attend the school when the doors opened in 2003. I had applied at Groves Academy but they were not informing me whether or not she would be accepted into their school. The very last week before school started with no information from Groves and no idea where my daughter would be attending school. I saw a sign as I drove down Hwy 100 that said there was a school for kids with different learning styles. I turned around and could not find this wonderful place but I kept following where I thought that it was and found it. I called and talked to the staff and felt a sense of peace just talking with the staff about the program. After meeting everyone I knew that this was better than I could have ever hoped for. My child has a thirst for learning and enjoyed being challenged in that aspect but she also needed help in her social cues and interractions. She received help in that area as well. This school meets each child where they are in life and helps them develop the needed skills to meet and challenge their goals and aspirations. The program provides a stimulating environment that will help these children be productive and aware citizens for our future. These children will be independent and not so dependent on systems that can victimize them. These children because of this school and staff will have the tools socially, and academically to meet the challenges of living in a way that is productive. Thanks, Twanda MacArthur
Twanda MacArthur parent
Our son was diagnosed as severely autistic just as he turned 3 years old in 1995. He is now 15 years old. We learned about The Whole Learning School through a family whose daughter attends there. They had nothing but high regard for this place. They invited us to attend a drama performance put on by TWLS students last May. We were so impressed with it, that we knew we had to find out more about this school, even if we could hardly afford it.
So, this is our son's first year at The Whole Learning School. For 11 years we had to force him to go to public school every single day-special ed pre-schools, Kindergarten and then 1st through 8th grades. Following his first week of transition at TWLS this past September, he was so glad to get up and go to school each morning, I could not believe it. This has been such a pleasant surprise for us. He is such a night-owl, but no matter how tired he feels every morning, he gets up with his eyes half-open and tells us he is ready to go to school at TWLS. How many teenagers do you know, that want to go to school everyday? He has only been at TWLS for 5 months, but we are seeing differences in him all ready, including working harder, more interest in reading and also some indepence and self-esteem.
Our son also has struggled with shyness and embarrassment when up in front of an audience. This past December, we were able to watch him in a drama performance for the first time at TWLS and we were so pleasantly surprised that he looked confident, proud and happy to be in the play, and he also seemed to remember his lines without really any coaching. In years past, any type of performance he has been involved in has ended in tears and frustration for him.
I have no doubt that the well-qualified staff and faculty (both classroom and office) at TWLS, could be making larger salaries, elsewhere, but I believe they all know they are making a huge difference in the lives of these kids and so they choose to stay on at TWLS.
Parents like us would not be driving the many miles twice daily to TWLS and back, driving for the many field trips and also saving every penny possible, to send our children here, if this school were not making a big difference in their lives. Thank you for considering this school in your contest.
Steve and Beth Goblirsch
Steve and Beth Goblirsch, parents
Dear Judges, please choose our remarkable school for your exciting website challenge. At The Whole Learning School, we are in the business of dramatically improving the lives of children. Our students and families come to us with heartbreaking stories of failure and frustration. They only desire what every parent does, a healthy, happy, and successful life experience for their child. Imagine the sadness, fear and panicked feeling you would experience being told your child will not succeed. The Whole Learning School changes that. Our direct instruction model with master level special education teachers and small class sizes produces actively involved learners who will develop into independent self- sustaining young adults. Citizens who will be tax payers instead of tax takers. Right now, we are at a very critical place. A place where we can move from a small, remarkable school to a larger, incredible school that serves the needs of many struggling students. To achieve this we have begun our "Possible Dreams" Initiative. A two-year campaign to create awareness and raise money to serve more students, add programming and move to a new location in the 2009-10 school year. The number one way that families of prospective students learn about us is through referrals. The first "contact" these prospective families have with our school is through our website. Your exception website challenge could really make a difference in the life of a struggling child.Thank you for the opportunity to participate and for your help in getting the word out about The Whole Learning School.
Ann Rooney Head of School
I have been a teacher in the public schools for 15 year. Twelve of those years were in a special education resource classroom setting and three were in regular classrooms of various grade levels. I came to TWLS as a very "burned out" individual who was seriously considering a career change. I am so glad I didn't and that I found this "best kept secret". It is truly an awesome job and very rewarding. There is no du process paperwork, no politics to work with, and no aggressive behavior that drains me. These were some areas I wanted to get away from and I did!! I have truly found the best job ever and one that has supportive parents who are involved (which often is rare with special ed. families in the north part of the metro area where I worked). I have seen more rapid growth in the childrens overall development than in any other setting I have been in anywhere. It is truly amazing what this environment allows in order for learning to take place. We have excellent research-based curriculum and materials to use and excellent student-teacher ratios in the classroom and the student are thriving!!. We have kids that are safe, happy, confident, and above all, secure in their learning and very proud. Special education students here know "how they are smart". Please consider this school for your contest as the best possible winner. There is no other more deserving non-profit organization than The Whole Learning School.
Katherine Taylor, Lower School Teacher, TWLS
Dear Judges,
I deeply urge you to consider accepting The Whole Learning School for your website challenge. I have been fortunate to be a part of this remarkable school since its opening day in 2003. Being a music therapist, working in various school and environments the last 10 years, I have not found another school in our city/state that provides the type of individualized, meaningful, safe, successful and fun learning opportunities which TWLS provides for its students and their families. At TWLS I have observed students who started out appearing to have challenges socializing, communicating, balancing their sensory input/output and thus difficulty in learning - become successful learners and thus more successful members of our society because of the incredible teachers, staff and families of this school. To that end our city, state, region and nation need to know about this school. Our staff, families, students and community need to be able to communicate more succintly. Our website needs to be able to funciton as an information-provider as well as an information-gatherer. With the acceptace of this website challenge TWLS will be able enhance their relationships/learning opporutunities and communciation with staff, students and the community, TWLS will be able to enhance their marketing campaign, and TWLS will be able to position itself for positive growth for future years. Thank you for considering The Whole Learning School for the website challenge. Your support WILL make a difference in the lives of so many in our community and beyond.
Todd Schwartzberg, board-certified music therapist, neurologic music therapist
I am a high school student who volunteers at TWLS. It is a fun and nurturing environment for learning-I sometimes wish my high school was more like TWLS! They also have some of the most dedicated, patient teachers I have ever seen. Students at TWLS make amazing progress, not just in core subjects like reading, but in their self-confidence and life skills. I hope you choose TWLS because I know a new website would really make a difference.
Meghan Berman, volunteer
The Whole Learning School is an amazing place. The students have touched my heart and continue to grow in my art class weekly. This has all happened with just the staff and parents working for the students. Your help with the web site would make a significant difference in the lives of many children and their families. I am not sure there is a better place to put your energy and efforts than with the people who will move on to help so many more.
Mary Strohmayer, art specialist
Please pick my school as the winner of the website challenge. I go to TWLS and it's a great school. I have a lot of nice friends and I like music and reading. My teachers are nice and I especially like Mary in the office. I really like to go to school at TWLS. More people need to learn about TWLS.
Annie Bensen - student at TWLS
My name is Paula Thoreson and I am an aunt to a student at TWLS. I have seen her participate in productions at TWLS, exciting annual year end celebrations and heard her relay her stories of success to me. She has gone from a quiet (never speaking) child to one who is proud to tell me that she got 100% on her weekly spelling test. She has gone from being uncomfortable in large family gatherings to being the one demonstrating how to do yoga or yogurt as her younger cousins refer to it. She has made unbelievable progress over the 5 years she has been at TWLS. We come from a very religious family and over the the years we have all prayed for a miracle for Annie, that miracle was TWLS. The individual learning styles, teaching the "whole" child philosophy has changed my nieces life. I have seen her order and pay for herself in a restaurant, I have seen her volunteer in the community and countless other situations that I never dreamed possible. All of these were possible due to the curriculum at TWLS.
My most special memory is being asked to be her "special person" at the first ever "special person" day at TWLS. Annie selected me as a special adult in her life. She shared her day with me, taking me through various workstations (including yoga) and we had lunch together. Throughout the day it was stressed that it is important for each of us to have adults besides our parents that we can count on and no that they are there for us. There were grandparents there, art instructors, mentors, sisters, brothers, etc. It really drove home the idea of a community of people supporting the growth and development of these children. Every time my niece comes to my house, she sees my "special person" ribbon on my refrigerator and she is reminded that I am always there for her. Please select this school as the winner of your contest. It is a special place that the world needs to know about.
Paula Thoreson - aunt to Annie Bensen
As a former teacher at TWLS I had the privilege not only to teach the students, but to interact with them in a playful way and to watch them grow beyond belief. School for so many had been drudgery and it showed in the fall, but by January the students were settling into a routine and enjoying school. When I began to teach at TWLS, a student who has processing problems took all the class period to spell 3 words in sentence form and by the end of the following year that student had moved up to 7-8 words a week and remembered all the words from the previous weeks. Another student who joined the schools parents often told me how much they appreciated my work with their child, not because I am that great, but because I allowed the student to progress at a pace that was comfortable to them and still hold that student accountable for their work.
How many of you have refinanced a home? You understand the mound of papers you must sign, multiply that by a case load of students. The paper work that is required for Special Education is like any other government regulations, it takes away from the time with the student. At TWLS the paperwork is minimized and the work with the student is accentuated. So you can see that the student is more important than the government paperwork to prove the child is learning.
Zan Severson - former teacher
I have seen incredible growth in my son since he began attending The Whole Learning School this this past September. His self confidence has skyrocketed and his academic and social skills have progressed in a way that could not have happened in any other school. The teachers and staff are very dedicated to giving each student highly individualized instruction and the support of a warm loving atmosphere. They are very receptive to input from families and are creative in how they modify each student's learning plan to best fit each students needs. There are many children in this school who thrive here but would probably be miserable and frustrated in any other school. I hope that this school can grow because there are many more children in the Twin Cities area who need the special setting that the Whole Learning School provides so well.
Barbara Sawicke, parent
The Whole Learning School is the most incredible learning opportunity for students that I have ever seen. As a volunteer at the school, I am amazed at how students build on each successful learning block to become confident learners. They feel empowered and ready to take on the next challenge. Because of the nurturing, respectful, and caring environement, the students are part of a close knit commmunity learning together each day. Walking in the building, you can feel the positive energy and excitement. This school changes students lives forever. Please consider this outstanding school in your website competition.
Maggie Meagher volunteer
As a mom who visits a variety of websites daily in search of information regarding raising my children, I realize how incredibly important it is for schools to have a website design that is up-to-the-minute and up-to-date. These days having a fully accessible and creative website is an increasingly important means of communication - especially for educational services. My association with TWLS is now in its third year and I am thrilled that my daughter, a high school senior, has had the opportunity to be a volunteer at TWLS. The experiences she has gained working with TWLS as a bell choir co-conductor have enriched her life. The highlight of our spring is attending the annual TWLS Bell Choir Concert - a musical event not to be missed! I wholeheartedly support this request for TWLS to have the opportunity to be treated to a new web design! I can't think of a more deserving group of young people to serve! Bravo to the selection committee in considering TWLS for this wonderful gift!
Vicki Densinger, mom of a TWLS volunteer
Dear Judges, how can I describe the magic of this place? When you have a child who is a different learner the normal school experience is difficult.Kids spend very little time in the classroom and lots of time pulled out for special services throughout the day. They have far more transitions during the day than "normal" students even though they may be students who struggle the most with transitions. They miss the community of a classroom, the friendships and social learning with their peers. Often the other children in the pull out group may be there because of emotional or behavioral issues and that is not a good environment for fragile learners! The Whole Learning School is a place of community, comfort, safety and learning. It took only one day of school at TWLS for our son to feel at home and be ready to learn, relieved of the anxiety of his previous school days. He has grown in confidence, academics and leadership. Educating our children is the most important job of parenting, when there are no options that can help children with different needs, then families despair. The Whole Learning School is a valuable asset to our community. I want to see this school grow larger and serve more children and families.
Christie Paulsen parent of TWLS student
This school has changed our lives.
Our daughter has made progress in school thought impossible prior to attending the Whole Learning School. She has received professional attention, loving care and unwavering devotion to her academic and social needs unavailable anywhere else at any price. Many organizations make promises, but the Whole Learning School really delivers what it promises.
We need your help to reach out to the community. Our school is small and offers a vital resource which has changed lives. Please help us change more lives by gracing us with your skill and expertise in communicating our mission in a beautiful and compelling website.
Thank you for considering the Whole Learning School!
Edwin Funk, parent of Sophie, in her fourth year at the Whole Learning School
Please make a real difference for this special school and cast your vote for TWLS. They are making a difference in the lives of their students and the lives of their familiies. Unlike much of what you read today regarding how schools are failing so many children, this place is making a difference in the life of those who might otherwise be another statistic of failure. How can we put a price tag on success? Cast your vote for TWLS.
The Whole Learning School
5524 West 41st Street
Saint Louis Park, MN 55416
Our Mission
The Whole Learning School is a private, nonprofit school community that provides a caring, nurturing environment designed to accommodate the individual learning styles of students with developmental and learning disabilities. Students learn how to achieve their highest potential, both academically and functionally, by integrating individually-targeted traditional curriculum with essential life and social skills, resulting in an independent adult life.
The Whole Learning School
