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Learning Engagement

Learn to Own Your Story

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The NEIA Learning Engagement Team honors students as individuals who embody unique strengths, challenges, and experiences that influence their learning, and we partner with them as they explore their own learning profiles in order to craft powerful, lifelong learning strategies.

As a human-centered design school, NEIA keeps students at the center of their own learning journeys as they grow in their understanding of themselves and their world, discovering how they learn, and embracing the unique ways their brains work.  

During their progression from middle school all the way to upper school graduation, students’ responsibility to understand themselves and advocate for what they need is paramount to success after NEIA. Opportunities for students to explore their own learning preferences and processes are infused throughout the NEIA experience.

Why Learning "Engagement" instead of Learning "Support"?

The name Learning Engagement highlights students as agents, or active participants, in their own learning and it describes the intentional work and dedication they bring to designing and implementing individual learning strategies that promote their personal growth and goal-achievement. At NEIA, students are expected to actively engage in their learning, both when concepts come easily to them and when they encounter challenges. 

We believe in order for students to grow in their ability to navigate choices and challenges, they must be kept at the center of all efforts to help them succeed. As students discover and follow their passions, practice competencies that will help them to thrive in their world now and in the future, and develop personal responsibility and agency to become confident self-advocates, they must lean into uncertainty and learn to fail forward. We are committed to supporting them through this process.

The Learning Engagement Team collaborates directly with students and their teachers to help them navigate the complex landscape of finding their P.I.N. We support students by helping them to recognize and embrace their unique academic strengths as well as build habits and strategies to courageously meet their individual academic challenges. 

What does NEIA Learning Engagement look like?

NEIA Learning Engagement Plan

A Learning Engagement Plan (LE Plan) outlines a learning engagement meeting schedule and student-driven focus areas, and it tracks student progress in those focus areas. 

  • Creation of an LE Plan is open to any interested student, including those with or without a NEIA Accommodation Document.
  • An LE Plan is designed during the student’s first meeting with the LE Lead or LE Coach, with input from teachers & families, where applicable.
  • The LE Plan outlines student team members, the frequency and duration of student meetings with the LE Lead or LE Coach (most commonly meetings are once/7-day cycle, but can meet up to a maximum of twice/7-day cycle), and up to three focus areas.
  • Student-driven focus areas are defined on the document (no more than 3 at any given time). Meeting focus areas are expected to change/evolve over time as goals are reached and successful habits are formed.
  • The focus of LE meetings is on student growth through measurable outcomes. 
  • The student collaborates with their LE Coach to develop action steps related to determined focus area(s); meetings are used to check-in on progress in the outlined focus areas over time and to generate new and different action steps/focus areas.
  • Short-term & renewable: The student and their LE Coach will revisit the focus areas in an ongoing fashion and make decisions together about the need to continue regularly scheduled meetings.
  • If students who have agreed to an LE Plan miss two consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without communication at least 24 hours in advance (or immediately after an emergency situation), their 1-1 LE coaching meetings will be discontinued.
  • If a student who has ended 1-1 meetings would like to begin meeting with their assigned LE Coach again, a new LE Plan can be established upon student request. If a student’s sessions ended due to lack of attendance, a new plan will be created in collaboration with the student’s parent or guardian. 

NEIA Accommodation Document 

The NEIA Accommodation Document outlines the accommodations a student qualifies for based on documentation the family provides to the Learning Engagement Lead (IEP, 504 Plan, neuropsychological testing).

  • The Learning Engagement Lead creates these documents for applicable NEIA students in coordination with families & outside professionals, where applicable.
  • Teachers are responsible to allow access to these accommodations in their classes.
  • Students are responsible to communicate with their teachers about their use of accommodations. 
  • Teachers and students are encouraged to have regular conversations about which accommodations will be used regularly in their classes. Learning Engagement Team members can help support student self-advocacy as one focus of their 1-1 Learning Engagement meetings with students.
  • Any student with a NEIA Accommodation Document is required to meet with their assigned Learning Engagement Coach when they first enroll at NEIA, and are encouraged to create a Learning Engagement Plan. Students with academic accommodations are encouraged to meet with their Learning Engagement Coach regularly, up to twice/7-day cycle, and minimally twice/academic year.

Informal Meeting Requests & Emergent Conversations 

All NEIA students are welcome and encouraged to reach out to the Learning Engagement Team at any time with questions related to their learning (drop into the office, catch us around the building, send an email…). Many questions require no more than a short conversation to resolve; however, these one-time conversations may evolve into the creation of a Learning Engagement Plan if the concern, question, or issue requires ongoing support.

What does my child’s IEP or 504 Plan look like at NEIA?

  • Many neurodivergent students are extremely successful at NEIA. When a student comes to us with documentation of ADHD, ASD, a specific learning disability, or other learning difference, the Learning Engagement Lead meets with the student and family to create an Accommodation Document that outlines the accommodations they will have access to at NEIA. NEIA learning accommodations may or may not include the entire list of recommended services a student would be offered through their public school district.

Common available NEIA learning accommodations

  • Use of a computer
  • Speech-to-text 
  • Text-to-speech
  • Flexible seating
  • Extended time on projects and assessments
  • Separate location for completing assessments
  • Frequent breaks

Accommodations currently unavailable at NEIA*

  • pull-out learning center skills support
  • 1-1 classroom aide support
  • frequent redirection in class
  • a reading or math specialist
  • occupational or speech & language therapy
  • significant curriculum modifications
  • a therapeutic environment

*Please note: Although NEIA does not currently employ reading & math specialists, speech & language pathologists, content area tutors, or other learning specialists, the Learning Engagement Lead is available to communicate and collaborate with families and outside providers when students are engaging in these services outside of the school day.

Students with accommodations are required to meet with the Learning Engagement Lead or a Learning Engagement Coach at least two times per year and up to twice per 7-day cycle. During these meetings, students are strongly encouraged to create Learning Engagement Plans containing specific and actionable goals related to their growth towards becoming intentional agents of their own learning.

In addition to the creation of Accommodation Documents and working with students on their Learning Engagement Plans, the Learning Engagement Team works collaboratively year-round with teachers and students to create classroom environments that reflect Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and differentiated instruction, allowing students access to their learning accommodations. 

The Learning Engagement Lead is also available to act as the NEIA representative at annual IEP or 504 meetings upon the family’s request, and coordinates with public schools in any cases where assistive technologies or learning services are provided by the public school district. 

If you have questions about how your child’s current accommodations would translate to NEIA, please contact Cynthia Bushey, our Learning Engagement Lead, to make an appointment to discuss your child’s unique learning profile.

Who is the Learning Engagement Team?

The Learning Engagement Team supports students by joining classrooms, providing executive functioning and learning strategy development, and collaborating with teachers to create accessible learning environments. The team consists of a Learning Engagement Lead and a Learning Engagement Coach who work both in and outside the classroom to help students achieve their learning goals.

The Learning Engagement Lead also:

  • Meets with prospective families to discuss learning support at NEIA.
  • Coordinates student support with families, school districts, and external providers.
  • Works with Grades 7–10 as part of the Life Design curriculum.
  • Leads a middle school Writer’s Workshop during PIN Block to strengthen grammar and writing skills.

Additionally, all teachers offer What-I-Need (WIN) blocks four days a week, providing content-specific support and encouraging students to seek help proactively.