April 10, 2025 • 35 mins
In this inspiring episode of The Writing Glitch, Cheri Dotterer sits down with John Munro, Head of School at the GOW School—an internationally recognized boarding and day school transforming the lives of students with language-based learning disabilities. John shares the school's rich history, rooted in the work of Dr. Samuel Orton, and details the school’s signature Reconstructive Language (RL) curriculum that empowers students to master reading and writing through neuroscience-backed methods. Discover how small classes, structured literacy, a robotics program inspired by BattleBots, and deep staff-student relationships make GOW a hidden gem for students from around the world.
https://www.gow.org/
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TIME STAMPS
01:00 GOW’s mission to transform life trajectories for students
02:00 The meaning behind “ignite learning” at GOW
03:00 John’s background and motivation for joining GOW
04:00 The school’s 99-year history and founding story
06:00 From boys-only to co-ed and its current demographics
07:00 International student body and cultural representation
08:00 Supporting English language learners with dyslexia
09:00 Overview of GOW’s academic structure (6-day school week)
10:00 Athletics and extracurriculars at GOW
11:00 Outdoor education and unique enrichment offerings
12:00 Day student experience mirrors that of boarders
13:00 Faculty’s intensive involvement in student life
14:00 Teacher commitment and long-term retention
15:00 Academic calendar with built-in recharge breaks
17:00 Handling breaks and student housing during holidays
18:00 Personal boarding school connection and perspectives
19:00 Transition to discussion about Reconstructive Language
20:00 What is RL and how it originated at GOW
21:00 Structure of the RL deck and how it builds reading skills
23:00 Integration of RL with writing instruction
24:00 Enrollment capacity and class sizes
25:00 Robotics program and BattleBots championship success
27:00 Admitting students who are a mission fit
28:00 GOW as a college-prep school, not a therapeutic school
29:00 Summer program overview: academics + camp fun
30:00 How summer school feeds full-year enrollment
31:00 Structured literacy benefits all learners
32:00 Website and open house details
33:00 The school’s four pillars: Honesty, Hard Work, Respect, Kindness
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
. Welcome to the Writing Glitch.
I'm Cheri Dotterer your classroom coach.
Today we have John Monroe.
He is the head of the GOWSchool in Buffalo, New York.
The GOW is a primary, no, it's not.
It's a premier.
The GOW is a premier boardingand day school for students
with learning disabilities ingrades five through postgraduate.
(00:25):
Just about 20 miles outside Buffalo, NewYork, and I've gotta say it's a little
on the envious side of me because Iabsolutely fell in love with Niagara when
I was there, and you're not that far away.
So welcome to the show.
Great.
Thank you Cheri.
I appreciate you taking time thisafternoon to have this conversation.
(00:45):
It's a terrific school and I knowit's in your wheelhouse in terms of
the work that you're doing, so I lookforward to a productive conversation
and hope to share more detailswith you about the GOW School, it's
mission and the work that we're doingto transform the life trajectories
of so many wonderful children.
Fantastic.
Before we get started, I'm gonna.
(01:08):
Read a word from our sponsor atDisability Labs, we are committed
to impact the journey of.
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Our professional development seriesfocuses on math and learning strategies
to help all students in your classroom.
(01:29):
These interventions improve studentswith and without disabilities.
All students have access to themathematics and the writing skills.
But now let's find out a littlebit more about the GOW School.
Tell us a little bit about yourselfand what is the GOW School?
Great.
Thank you Cheri.
And I just have to say, I love thephrase in your spot, ignite Learning,
(01:51):
and that's a motto that we use quiteoften here at the Go School because many
of our learners arrive at Go as brokenlearners and have been knocked down
to the mat a number of times in their.
Previous educational settingsand they discover a program with
extremely small classes with expertteachers that, that, that instill
(02:11):
confidence and indeed ignite learning.
So I'm excited to dig intothat topic with you today.
I. A quick background.
Again, my name is John Monroe andthis is my second year serving as
the head of school at the Goo School.
Prior to serving Goo, I led a smallK through nine independent school
in Fairfield, Connecticut calledFairfield Country Day School.
(02:32):
Traditional school very fewstudents with learning differences.
So this is a new, a new mission for meand frankly, one that's very inspiring
nothing against some of those traditionalschools out here, but I think I can
speak for myself and our faculty, thatwe are highly motivated by the work
we do here because it is meaningful.
We're helping underdogs who havebeen knocked down to the mat.
(02:54):
And it's fulfilling and motivating work.
It was really the reason why I came to theGow School and now I'm living that mission
and doing my best to advance that mission.
Fantastic.
Tell us a little bit more about thehistory, because when we were on the
phone a little while ago, you were tellingme it's been around for many years.
(03:16):
So yeah, thank it's avery interesting history.
So we are in our 99th year as aschool and obviously very exciting
about excited about celebratingour centennial next year.
The school was founded in1926 by two individuals Peter
Gow and Dr. Samuel Orton.
Peter Gow in the early 1920s wasteaching English at a private all
(03:42):
boys school in the city of Buffalocalled the Nichols School in.
He began growing more and more frustratedwith a small handful of students
that he was teaching who were clearlyvery bright high intelligent highly
intelligent but struggled mightily withspelling and with reading, and with
(04:03):
writing, and he didn't understand why.
So he took it upon himself to starta small school, as you said, 20 miles
outside of Buffalo in South Wales, NewYork, that would focus on supporting
these students and teaching them theskills necessary for them to be successful
academically in college and beyond.
(04:24):
And so as he was getting this school offthe ground in its infancy in 1926, he had.
Recently startedconversations with a neuro.
Scientist Dr. Samuel Orton, who wasone of the early pioneers in, in,
in understanding the connectionsbetween neurology and learning.
(04:46):
He, at the time, I believe, wasworking at Iowa and then moved to
New York City in the mid 1920s.
And Peter Goo and Dr. Orton, Dr. SammyOrton, got together on numerous occasions
to discuss this conundrum of how do we.
How do we impact and how do weteach these students who are really
struggling with their reading?
(05:07):
Peter Gow provided a school and awonderful pedagogical philosophy.
And in partnership with Dr. Orton, heprovided the neuroscience behind what
was going on, and he was referringstudents to attend the GOW school.
So in 1926, the school got off the ground.
(05:27):
It was the foundation of thework that they did centered
around dyslexic thinking.
It also led to the development ofour signature curricula, which is
still in place right now, known asreconstructive language also known
as RL to all of our students and.
We can dive in.
I can certainly talk to youa little bit about about rl.
(05:48):
But over the last 99 years, theschool has grown to be a globally
recognized boarding school studentsfrom grades five to postgraduate level.
It was an all boys school until about2012 where we admitted the first girls
to Gau, and right now we are about.
(06:08):
Two thirds boys and one third girls, andthe number of female students is growing.
About 85 to 90% of our students areboarding students and another 10 to 15%
live locally here in the Buffalo area.
You said international.
You have students fromoutside the country.
(06:29):
We do.
We were actually a little strongerinternationally before Covid where we were
probably about 20, maybe close to 25% ofour student population was international.
Today we're at about 15%, andfrankly, we're looking to.
Regain that international population.
But we have we have studentsspread out from across the world.
(06:51):
We have students from Oman, we havestudents from just north of US in Canada.
We have students from Ecuador, we'vehad students from Spain, we've had
students from United Arab Emirates.
You name the country almost allof them have been represented
over time here at Goo.
And again, typically small numbers frommultiple comp countries rather than a
(07:14):
large number from one singular country.
Bermuda is an interesting feeder countryfor us and as part of the culture, I think
in that country regarding students lookingat gout to help support their needs.
Very interesting.
I just wanna sit there aminute and just absorb that.
(07:34):
We've had students coming here to theUnited States from all of these outside
areas and they're learning English,but they probably were coming because
they were struggling with their ownlanguage to begin with, I would imagine.
So how did you bridge that?
(07:56):
Gap between their nativelanguage and English.
So that's a good question.
So I would say most, almost all of our.
International studentsare fluent in English.
We do not provide a formal,separate ESL program.
We have support in that area for studentsthat need it, but really the work that
(08:17):
we're doing is on their remediation.
Their strengthening of skills that willallow them to be successful academically.
We are a college preparatory school.
99% of our students go on to collegeand have successful experiences that
lead them into particular careers.
So that is our, that is our primaryfocus, is to build their level.
(08:41):
Of reading and their level ofacademic confidence and their maturity
so that they can have successfulexperiences in college and beyond.
So those two strands of ourmission go hand in hand.
Now, before we get into the rereconstructive language, let's
sit in there on the boardingschool idea for a minute.
(09:02):
What extracurricular program do you have?
Because they're not in school 24 hours aday, they, there's gotta be other things
that are bringing them to your school.
What are some of the other extracurricularactivities that you have provided?
Yeah, good question.
Thank you, Cheri.
Really the number one drawthat is attracting families
(09:23):
and students to our school.
Is our mission to supportdyslexic thinkers and those with
language-based learning differences.
That's our bread and butter.
It's a pretty intensivestructured program.
Our students have classes six daysa week Monday through Saturday.
I. Those classes go from eight 30 in themorning to three o'clock in the afternoon.
(09:44):
There's a tutorial session thatgoes from about three to 3 45.
Then we have our athletic program andour students are involved in sports.
I. Our boys soccer program isa very popular and successful
program in, in, in the fall.
Our girls' volleyball program isgrowing and finding more success Boys
basketball we receive a lot of snow in,in, in Western New York, so we have a
(10:07):
robust skiing and snowboarding program.
Offer lacrosse and flagfootball and tennis and squash.
So the extracurriculars along with.
Theater and performing arts are allcompliment our academic program very well.
But quite honestly, I don't think manyfamilies are drawn to go because we
have a. Successful soccer program.
(10:30):
Many of them love the fact that weoffer sports and we have competitive
inters, inner scholastic programs.
But it really complimentswhat our focus is.
And that's in the area of academicremediation and again, building
their confidence as readers.
But we are fortunate to have a.
Beautiful, 126 acre campuswith lush fields and hills
(10:50):
and a creek that runs through.
So it's a gorgeous setting.
We try to take advantage of ouroutdoors as much as possible.
We do have a very popular outdooreducation program, which is an offering
that, that students can choose if they donot want to choose an athletic team event.
I'm.
That group of, I think a dozenstudents just just got back from
an incredible canoeing trip inAlgonquin Provincial Park in Canada.
(11:13):
We try to find.
Areas where students can find success.
And for a lot of our studentsespecially our new students, the
first few months are, can be bumpy.
Because typically they're comingout of programs where they weren't
finding success, or maybe they'vebeen to two or three schools before
gout and they're a little skeptical.
I went to these otherschools and it didn't work.
By.
(11:33):
By having a program, like ourathletics program or our arts
program, it gives kids some wins.
We want every kid to have atleast a few wins every day.
And some of our new students thosefirst few weeks of, six days a week,
academics, sometimes there's notthat many wins right out of the gate.
Ultimately there is of course.
It's about striking the right balance.
And you said that you have some kids,10% of your kids are day students, right?
(11:58):
Are they also coming six days a week?
They are, yes.
Yes.
And typically they are staying throughour dinner and required study hall.
Our day is a full day.
They, they, whether they arrive asa day student and they're dropped
off at eight o'clock or whether theyget up at seven 30 in the dorms to
get ready for breakfast, they are.
(12:19):
They are structured with a consistent,predictable schedule that really
goes from 8:00 AM 7:30 AM all the waythrough our evening required study hall.
So after a full day of classes,there's an opportunity for a tutorial.
There's then the academic, excuse me,the athletic period, which is about.
(12:40):
Four o'clock to five 15.
Little bit of a window of catch yourbreath dinner at six, and then mandatory
study hall six 30 to eight if you'rein the middle school, six 30 to eight
30 if you're in the upper school.
So it's a very full day.
It by design.
But your staff.
(13:00):
I'm thinking about like a 24 hour step.
You don't have teachers on, do youhave teachers on staff from six
to eight during that study hall,or is that study hall very much
independent with not extra support?
No, there are the studyhalls are proctored.
There are two separate study halls.
There are multiple proctorsin each study hall.
It's opportunities not just to sit downand study independently, but to seek extra
(13:24):
help and support as well from teachers.
Yeah it's, it's an incredible qualitythat I don't think many educators possess
is that, our teachers are going nonstop.
It's one of the strengths of the programis because often a student who has, Mr.
Smith for math might have Mr. Smith forsoccer and might see Mr. Smith again
(13:47):
during tutorial, and Mr. Smith mightbe, and Mrs. Smith might be his dorm.
Parents.
So the relational elementsand the connections that are.
Faculty build with ourstudents are really unique.
And, the boarding, the residentialenvironment really promotes that
increased level of connection andrelational learning, which translates
(14:11):
directly into increased performanceand academic and character metrics.
So it's a, again, we call it thetriple threat because so many of our.
Teachers teach they coach and they'redorm parents and they work extremely hard.
Sounds that way.
It sounds like they have to be devotedto that program to be employed by you.
(14:37):
It doesn't sound like there's muchtime for them to have extracurricular
time during the school year.
It's a challenge.
I don't have the exact statistics,but there's, we have found that if a
teacher stays with us for three years,gets through that, again, 24 7 approach
(14:57):
because, the day just doesn't end at 11.
There are things that, happen between11:00 PM and 7:00 AM someone is ill and
needs to get to the nurse, et cetera.
So if they get throughthose first three years.
They tend to stay till, I thinkthe 10 years, about 16 or 17 years.
So it's remarkable.
But you're right, I, theydon't have a lot of free time.
(15:18):
Our philosophy around our academiccalendar is we have an intense
first six weeks where we startlate August, we get to October.
15th and we take a full week off,not a long weekend, we take a full
week off, and it's intentional toallow those teachers to disconnect.
(15:40):
To reenergize as well as our kids.
Our kids are working hard six daysa week for six weeks, and then
everyone disconnects for about a week.
Then we regroup and go late Octoberto late November, maybe four weeks
until we get that Thanksgiving break.
Take a full week off for Thanksgiving,and then go about another three or
four weeks to our December holiday.
(16:02):
That's typically two weeks full.
Two weeks, and then another sixweeks to the February break.
We take a week off.
Another four weeks to Easter,take two weeks off, and then
we graduate in late May.
So we meet our quota of 170 school days.
That's our goal, but we chop it up ina way where there are those periods
(16:24):
of disconnection and restoration,if you will, for both our faculty
and our students that need it.
And in those periods of.
Of weeks off, is theschool physically closed?
Like when my daughter wentto Penn State, they literally
kicked them out of the dorms.
(16:44):
They kicked them out of off campus, exceptfor a very small group of kids, and then
they had to be in like one dorm becausethere was no way for them to go anywhere.
Is that the case there, that weekbreak, they are kicked off campus And
we don't to, we don't like to usethe word kicked off, but we do.
(17:07):
It is important to separate.
But there are always someissues where that doesn't work.
We, again, having internationalstudents the cost of travel, we
have an expensive tuition and youlayer in, four or five round trip.
Airfare is a year, it adds up.
So if there are students for whatevercircumstances that need to stay on
campus, that during those breaks, wetypically try to partner match them
(17:30):
up with one of our day students.
Or if absolutely necessary,we will, run a, a skip very
much scaled down program here.
But typically it's.
It's, I can probably count on onehand or less the number of students.
And we really do try to separateas most, as po as much as possible.
'cause it's, ideally we don'twant two or three faculty to be
on campus having to use that week.
(17:51):
Supervising kids that couldn't get home.
That is really fantasticthat you are able to do that.
And sorry if I use kicked it off,but that was the thing that was like
in my head as I felt like they wereunder pressure to get off campus
and they were kicking them out.
I have to share a quick movierecommendation holdovers, if
(18:11):
you haven't seen it, is exactlywhat you're talking about.
It's about a group of six or sevenmisfits in a boarding school that
have to stay over Christmas break.
So anyways.
Quick plug for a very funny movie and thattells a lot about boarding school life.
And it was filmed at the boardingschool that I went to, so even better.
Aha.
So you have a history ofboarding schools in your life?
(18:32):
I do.
I attended boarding school andtwo out of my three daughters
attended boarding school.
Even though I haven't worked at a boardingschool before, I, I. I can see it through
the lens of a student and as a parent.
So I think that helps in someof the conversations I have with
prospective families who might notreally feel comfortable about sending
their child to a boarding school.
(18:52):
In some areas, geographic regions,there's a stigma that don't love your
child, you don't love your child.
Is that why you're sendingthem to boarding school?
And that's not the case, especiallywith a specialized school like GOW.
Now let's shift gears and talk alittle bit about this reconstructive
language, because I've notheard it called that before.
(19:13):
But you mentioned that Dr. Orton waspart of the foundation of the school.
Gillingham.
Where did that, yes.
Yeah.
Where did he come in?
Does he later, did he,is he part of it too?
He came in later.
So sometimes our original academicphilosophy is called Orian after
(19:34):
Samuel Orton, but it was really, I.
Samuel Orton, Dr. Samuel Orton'spartnership with Peter GOW, which
led to the development of a reconreconstructive language curricula.
And that is the cornerstone of whatwe do in our work with dyslexic
thinkers and students that haveserious reading impairments.
(19:55):
And it's essentially a systemthat allows students to memorize.
A deck of cards, the RL deck.
If you ask any GOW, alumni, theywill tell you about their RL deck.
It's something that they create.
They take ownership.
(20:15):
And essentially an RL deck is consistsof, I think about 115 or 120 RL
cards, and each card is a phonogram.
It might be a one letter phonogram,it might be a four letter phonogram.
It's complimented by guide words thatrelate to that phonogram, because
(20:39):
dyslexics are unable to make thevisual connection of looking at a
letter, two letters, three letters,and connecting it with a sound.
That is the weakness of the dysfunctionalor the dis dyslexic mind that
was identified early on by by Dr.
Samuel Orton, so that RLdeck enforces memorization.
(21:04):
Of those connections betweenletter combinations and sounds.
Our students receive RL class every day.
RL class is available attutorial RL class is available.
Or support is availableduring our study hall period.
We have class sizes ofthree to five students.
That's small,
(21:25):
right?
And even the RL classes,I think are even smaller.
So in those sessions, students aregoing through reciting those, memorizing
those listening to their other classmateor two that are in that classroom.
And that's reinforcingauditory comprehension.
So it's, again, it's RLreconstructive language.
(21:47):
Orton-Gillingham for that matter.
It doesn't solve dyslexia.
You don't cure dyslexia.
It's something that is part of theneurological wiring of someone who
has that has that brain wiring.
So this is an opportunity tocreate a system that through
the constant memorization.
Implants, that relationship betweena letter sequence and a sound, which
(22:12):
allows them to read and ultimatelystrengthens their reading comprehension.
How does RL bridge over to writing skills?
I.
That's a good question.
There, there are elements ofthe, certainly of the spelling
piece through those RL cardsthat will translate into writing.
But that's, again that's asignificant obstacle that a lot
(22:35):
of our students face as well.
So the, in their, perhaps classesin reconstructive language.
And other of the humanities classes,whether it be an English class, a
journalism class a history class,those writing skills are reinforced
to compliment the work they're doingin in re in reconstructive language.
So the, what they're learning overhere in the be, whether it's a v
(23:01):
consonant v. Consonant vow consonant.
That is reinforced.
Consonant vow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What?
Whatever direction it goes.
That's being, those words are the similarwords are being reinforced in the other
subject matters, so you're creatingscience questions that revolve there.
(23:24):
You're developing history that.
That supports those words.
So they're seeing them across curriculum.
Yeah.
And students are also supported bya number of assistive technology
tools, whether that is text tovoice or voice to text work.
And that's, that can obviously helpreinforce some of those skills that
they frankly, really struggle with.
(23:47):
With three to five students in a class.
What is your max level of studentsthat you can take in a year's time?
So that's a great question.
Our, we find the most successobviously working in small classes,
especially in the RL curriculum.
I think there are opportunities.
(24:08):
For classes to grow slightlylarger in those courses that again,
they're gonna need to be preparedfor at the next level in college.
I would say second to our reconstructivelanguage program our other signature
curricula that a lot of ourstudents are drawn to is robotics.
And there is, yes.
So the dyslexic mind for many.
(24:31):
Aligns well in the fields of science,design, engineering, and we're fortunate
to have a robotics lab that wasfunded primarily through one of our
GOW graduates who was the inventor.
Battle bots.
So you might have be familiar with thebattle bots, which is a competition
(24:53):
for school age children, high schooloutta high school collegiate, where
teams are building weaponized robotsto battle against one another.
And it's a. Highly competitive activity.
We have a team of faculty that aredevoted to this part of our curricula.
(25:14):
And we have boys and girlswho are extremely motivated.
And it's prestigious to be partof the robotics team at Go.
I think last year we had two of ourteams qualify and were invited to the.
National High School championships inBattleBots and, these are teams from
(25:35):
different schools that are, operatingremote controls to basically eliminate
and defeat the competitor robots.
And, don't I think last year ourteams finished out of 60 teams that
qualified for the Nationals as anannual tournament in Pittsburgh.
Our teams.
The two go teams finished infifth and 12th place, I believe.
(25:56):
So congratulations.
And these are against some very highpowered private boarding schools that
have, a very high reputation for academicstrength that are sending majority of
their graduates to very selective high-endcolleges, ivy league colleges, et cetera.
And our group.
Holds their own and then some.
So it's something we're very proud of.
(26:17):
I feel like in our admissions processit's an element of what we offer.
Again, we're trying to get, findkids wins and the success they
have in robotics and the and thecommunity, if you will, around that.
We have the whole school at assemblywatching our, live streaming.
The tournament in Pittsburghcheering our squad on.
(26:38):
That's cool, but you never didanswer how many students you have.
So our capacity Cheri with fullevery room filled, et cetera,
is probably close to 1 40, 1 50.
Our enrollment is lower than that rightnow, so we're making strides to, to
rebuild up to that number partly was hurt.
I think I shared earlier ourinternational population.
(27:00):
Was impacted during Covid andwe're still regrowing from that.
But we're also, we're alsointent on enrolling the students
that are mission appropriate.
The students that have a havea learning profile where they
are gonna find success here.
There are at times students who cometo us that have a much more traditional
learning profile that could be quitesuccessful in mainstreaming public
(27:25):
schools and other private schools.
And sometimes we'd love to havethose students with us, but that
it isn't exactly the right fit.
We are a very academic,college preparatory school.
We're not, and we're not a therapeuticboarding school, so there are schools
that are very well suited to servechildren who have a. Therapeutic needs.
(27:46):
And unfortunately those are our familiesthat we, and students that we can't
serve because that's, we don't havethe, our expertise is in teaching kids
how to read and to be able to masterthe reconstructive language curricula
and deliver that to our students.
And what does summer look like?
Great question.
So we finish in the academic school yearfinishes in late May, mid to late May.
(28:13):
The month of June is a littlebit of time to, to reenergize
for our faculty and staff.
We just started a tradition ofdoing a a June colloquium and
bringing our faculty together to.
Dig in into a a specific topic.
And this past summer we looked intoreally assessing and evaluating our
our day-to-day academic schedule aslong as our as well as our academic
(28:35):
calendar with really through the lensof looking at maximizing the experience
for our students as well as our faculty.
So a lot of good takeaways that willinfluence some of the changes we make
in the future around our schedule.
But the heart of our summer is ourfive week go summer school program.
It typically enrolls a hundred studentsand probably about 75 of those students
(28:57):
are live here on campus for five weeks.
Another 25% or so are local.
It is a camp that has a veryintense morning of academic work.
Centered a lot around our reconstructivelanguage, curricula and other academic
offerings in the morning, lunch,and then afternoon, followed by much
more traditional camp activitiesand performing arts and sports and
(29:24):
field trips and outside activities.
So it's actually the Go Summerschool program is our biggest
feeder into our full year academicprogram, I think this year.
Maybe five or six.
I think six students came from ourGAU summer school program and started
in the fall as a regular studentthrough the full year program.
(29:44):
So what you just said there wasmost of those 75 students were
not year long resident residents?
No.
No.
Very few.
Once in a while, Cheri, we will.
We will, through the admissionsprocess, we'll identify a child
who's a good fit for G, but we wouldsuggest to them or sometimes require.
(30:05):
We really need you to do the fiveweek program to give you a running
start so that you're gonna be verysuccessful on day one at gout.
But most of our summer school programstudents aren't current students,
but many of them become full-timecurrent students through that process.
Sometimes it's a couple yearsafter they do the gau summer.
School program.
(30:25):
But again, I think it's a terrificbalance of academic remediation,
academic support as well as thetraditional fun camp activities.
And we have a lot of students thatattend our summer program that don't
have dyslexia, that might not have alearning difference, but they I would
suggest all learners will benefit, allstyles of learners will benefit from.
(30:49):
The academic work thatwe offer in that program.
Yeah.
Oh yes.
Oh yes.
All students benefit fromstructured literacy education.
Absolutely.
So how do we find outabout the Gow School?
I would always encouragefolks to explore our website.
It's under a little bit of a remakeright now, but it's obviously
accessible and it tells a goodstory of what GOW is all about.
(31:11):
But of course, nothingbeats a visit to GOW.
We are having a in-person open house,I believe on Monday, November 7th.
I don't have my calendar on me.
I think that's Veterans Day.
A lot of schools are off, so we willbe hosting an in-person there, but.
Anytime someone wants to visit, we will,we will individualize an open house
(31:34):
for them that meets their schedule.
But, it's all about finding the right fit.
And so it's a conversationwe have with families.
And for a lot of students who havebeen diagnosed with dyslexia and are
not finding success in their currentschool, this can be an excellent option.
We are a private school.
We are tuition driven.
We offer significant financial aid.
We don't want finances to be thereason why a. Qualified student can't
(31:56):
attend, go, and we do our best tomeet the difference between what they
can afford and what our tuition is.
So certainly reaching out to ourenrollment office, they're the
first line of contact and, those,that, that contact information is
certainly available on our website.
But would always encourage families, tofind time to visit campus, walk campus.
You learn a lot by walking througha school and sitting down and
(32:19):
having lunch and you get a feelfor the culture of the school.
And I would say something we haven'tdiscussed much but as important
to our commitment to academicsuccess is the work we do around
our four character based values.
Our four pillars, which is.
Honesty, hard work, respect and kindness.
And though we don't haveseparate courses in those areas.
(32:45):
It's transmitted througheverything we do here.
Whether it's on the stage, on theathletic field, we have assembly, all
school assembly three days a week.
I like to design lessons for the wholeschool community that are centered
around those four values so thatthose character elements and those
those qualities are very important.
And when we think of the Ideal GOWgraduate, it's someone who espouses
(33:08):
those values as they go onto there.
Next stage in life as wellas of course their growth in
academic confidence and success.
What's the website?
Www.gow.org.
It's pretty simple.
And you'll be, you'll have the opportunityto, to navigate that and surf that.
And but stay tuned.
(33:28):
We've got some really cool, but.
Current family and current studentand alumni testimonials and terrific
videos that we're starting to unrolland roll out for the for the website.
We're making a big effortto get the word out.
We've been we've been a secret fortoo long, so hopefully we can engage
some families and give them theopportunity to learn more about cow.
(33:51):
Fantastic.
Thank you for your time today.
I appreciate you giving me a littlebit more understanding about what
GOW is, and I'm sure that thelisteners found it interesting.
Most people, like you said,don't know that GOW exists.
I ran into GA at the InternationalDyslexia Association Conference
(34:11):
last year, and then again atthe, everybody reads in Illinois.
And then out of the blue I had gottena an email from your assistant.
I'm like, okay, we're supposed to talk.
And so I wanna thank you for your time.
Head of School is a busy place tobe, so thank you for your time.
(34:33):
Ah, you're very welcome, Cheri.
I appreciate you thinking of GOW andthere's a lot of synergy between
the work that you're doing and thework that we're doing here at GOW.
So I, I certainly look forward to.
Continuing our conversations.
Thank you.
And listeners, remember you were put herefor such a time as this go be awesome.
Go be brilliant.
(34:53):
Teach those struggling students withthe strategies that you learn here.
Thank you for being here.
. Welcome to the Writing Glitch.
I'm Cheri Dotterer your classroom coach.
Today we have John Monroe.
He is the head of the GOWSchool in Buffalo, New York.
The GOW is a primary, no, it's not.
It's a premier.
The GOW is a premier boardingand day school for students
with learning disabilities ingrades five through postgraduate.
(00:25):
Just about 20 miles outside Buffalo, NewYork, and I've gotta say it's a little
on the envious side of me because Iabsolutely fell in love with Niagara when
I was there, and you're not that far away.
So welcome to the show.
Great.
Thank you Cheri.
I appreciate you taking time thisafternoon to have this conversation.
(00:45):
It's a terrific school and I knowit's in your wheelhouse in terms of
the work that you're doing, so I lookforward to a productive conversation
and hope to share more detailswith you about the GOW School, it's
mission and the work that we're doingto transform the life trajectories
of so many wonderful children.
Fantastic.
Before we get started, I'm gonna.
(01:08):
Read a word from our sponsor atDisability Labs, we are committed
to impact the journey of.
200,000 teachers by 2030 so they canreignite their passion for learning.
Our professional development seriesfocuses on math and learning strategies
to help all students in your classroom.
(01:29):
These interventions improve studentswith and without disabilities.
All students have access to themathematics and the writing skills.
But now let's find out a littlebit more about the GOW School.
Tell us a little bit about yourselfand what is the GOW School?
Great.
Thank you Cheri.
And I just have to say, I love thephrase in your spot, ignite Learning,
(01:51):
and that's a motto that we use quiteoften here at the Go School because many
of our learners arrive at Go as brokenlearners and have been knocked down
to the mat a number of times in their.
Previous educational settingsand they discover a program with
extremely small classes with expertteachers that, that, that instill
(02:11):
confidence and indeed ignite learning.
So I'm excited to dig intothat topic with you today.
I. A quick background.
Again, my name is John Monroe andthis is my second year serving as
the head of school at the Goo School.
Prior to serving Goo, I led a smallK through nine independent school
in Fairfield, Connecticut calledFairfield Country Day School.
(02:32):
Traditional school very fewstudents with learning differences.
So this is a new, a new mission for meand frankly, one that's very inspiring
nothing against some of those traditionalschools out here, but I think I can
speak for myself and our faculty, thatwe are highly motivated by the work
we do here because it is meaningful.
We're helping underdogs who havebeen knocked down to the mat.
(02:54):
And it's fulfilling and motivating work.
It was really the reason why I came to theGow School and now I'm living that mission
and doing my best to advance that mission.
Fantastic.
Tell us a little bit more about thehistory, because when we were on the
phone a little while ago, you were tellingme it's been around for many years.
(03:16):
So yeah, thank it's avery interesting history.
So we are in our 99th year as aschool and obviously very exciting
about excited about celebratingour centennial next year.
The school was founded in1926 by two individuals Peter
Gow and Dr. Samuel Orton.
Peter Gow in the early 1920s wasteaching English at a private all
(03:42):
boys school in the city of Buffalocalled the Nichols School in.
He began growing more and more frustratedwith a small handful of students
that he was teaching who were clearlyvery bright high intelligent highly
intelligent but struggled mightily withspelling and with reading, and with
(04:03):
writing, and he didn't understand why.
So he took it upon himself to starta small school, as you said, 20 miles
outside of Buffalo in South Wales, NewYork, that would focus on supporting
these students and teaching them theskills necessary for them to be successful
academically in college and beyond.
(04:24):
And so as he was getting this school offthe ground in its infancy in 1926, he had.
Recently startedconversations with a neuro.
Scientist Dr. Samuel Orton, who wasone of the early pioneers in, in,
in understanding the connectionsbetween neurology and learning.
(04:46):
He, at the time, I believe, wasworking at Iowa and then moved to
New York City in the mid 1920s.
And Peter Goo and Dr. Orton, Dr. SammyOrton, got together on numerous occasions
to discuss this conundrum of how do we.
How do we impact and how do weteach these students who are really
struggling with their reading?
(05:07):
Peter Gow provided a school and awonderful pedagogical philosophy.
And in partnership with Dr. Orton, heprovided the neuroscience behind what
was going on, and he was referringstudents to attend the GOW school.
So in 1926, the school got off the ground.
(05:27):
It was the foundation of thework that they did centered
around dyslexic thinking.
It also led to the development ofour signature curricula, which is
still in place right now, known asreconstructive language also known
as RL to all of our students and.
We can dive in.
I can certainly talk to youa little bit about about rl.
(05:48):
But over the last 99 years, theschool has grown to be a globally
recognized boarding school studentsfrom grades five to postgraduate level.
It was an all boys school until about2012 where we admitted the first girls
to Gau, and right now we are about.
(06:08):
Two thirds boys and one third girls, andthe number of female students is growing.
About 85 to 90% of our students areboarding students and another 10 to 15%
live locally here in the Buffalo area.
You said international.
You have students fromoutside the country.
(06:29):
We do.
We were actually a little strongerinternationally before Covid where we were
probably about 20, maybe close to 25% ofour student population was international.
Today we're at about 15%, andfrankly, we're looking to.
Regain that international population.
But we have we have studentsspread out from across the world.
(06:51):
We have students from Oman, we havestudents from just north of US in Canada.
We have students from Ecuador, we'vehad students from Spain, we've had
students from United Arab Emirates.
You name the country almost allof them have been represented
over time here at Goo.
And again, typically small numbers frommultiple comp countries rather than a
(07:14):
large number from one singular country.
Bermuda is an interesting feeder countryfor us and as part of the culture, I think
in that country regarding students lookingat gout to help support their needs.
Very interesting.
I just wanna sit there aminute and just absorb that.
(07:34):
We've had students coming here to theUnited States from all of these outside
areas and they're learning English,but they probably were coming because
they were struggling with their ownlanguage to begin with, I would imagine.
So how did you bridge that?
(07:56):
Gap between their nativelanguage and English.
So that's a good question.
So I would say most, almost all of our.
International studentsare fluent in English.
We do not provide a formal,separate ESL program.
We have support in that area for studentsthat need it, but really the work that
(08:17):
we're doing is on their remediation.
Their strengthening of skills that willallow them to be successful academically.
We are a college preparatory school.
99% of our students go on to collegeand have successful experiences that
lead them into particular careers.
So that is our, that is our primaryfocus, is to build their level.
(08:41):
Of reading and their level ofacademic confidence and their maturity
so that they can have successfulexperiences in college and beyond.
So those two strands of ourmission go hand in hand.
Now, before we get into the rereconstructive language, let's
sit in there on the boardingschool idea for a minute.
(09:02):
What extracurricular program do you have?
Because they're not in school 24 hours aday, they, there's gotta be other things
that are bringing them to your school.
What are some of the other extracurricularactivities that you have provided?
Yeah, good question.
Thank you, Cheri.
Really the number one drawthat is attracting families
(09:23):
and students to our school.
Is our mission to supportdyslexic thinkers and those with
language-based learning differences.
That's our bread and butter.
It's a pretty intensivestructured program.
Our students have classes six daysa week Monday through Saturday.
I. Those classes go from eight 30 in themorning to three o'clock in the afternoon.
(09:44):
There's a tutorial session thatgoes from about three to 3 45.
Then we have our athletic program andour students are involved in sports.
I. Our boys soccer program isa very popular and successful
program in, in, in the fall.
Our girls' volleyball program isgrowing and finding more success Boys
basketball we receive a lot of snow in,in, in Western New York, so we have a
(10:07):
robust skiing and snowboarding program.
Offer lacrosse and flagfootball and tennis and squash.
So the extracurriculars along with.
Theater and performing arts are allcompliment our academic program very well.
But quite honestly, I don't think manyfamilies are drawn to go because we
have a. Successful soccer program.
(10:30):
Many of them love the fact that weoffer sports and we have competitive
inters, inner scholastic programs.
But it really complimentswhat our focus is.
And that's in the area of academicremediation and again, building
their confidence as readers.
But we are fortunate to have a.
Beautiful, 126 acre campuswith lush fields and hills
(10:50):
and a creek that runs through.
So it's a gorgeous setting.
We try to take advantage of ouroutdoors as much as possible.
We do have a very popular outdooreducation program, which is an offering
that, that students can choose if they donot want to choose an athletic team event.
I'm.
That group of, I think a dozenstudents just just got back from
an incredible canoeing trip inAlgonquin Provincial Park in Canada.
(11:13):
We try to find.
Areas where students can find success.
And for a lot of our studentsespecially our new students, the
first few months are, can be bumpy.
Because typically they're comingout of programs where they weren't
finding success, or maybe they'vebeen to two or three schools before
gout and they're a little skeptical.
I went to these otherschools and it didn't work.
By.
(11:33):
By having a program, like ourathletics program or our arts
program, it gives kids some wins.
We want every kid to have atleast a few wins every day.
And some of our new students thosefirst few weeks of, six days a week,
academics, sometimes there's notthat many wins right out of the gate.
Ultimately there is of course.
It's about striking the right balance.
And you said that you have some kids,10% of your kids are day students, right?
(11:58):
Are they also coming six days a week?
They are, yes.
Yes.
And typically they are staying throughour dinner and required study hall.
Our day is a full day.
They, they, whether they arrive asa day student and they're dropped
off at eight o'clock or whether theyget up at seven 30 in the dorms to
get ready for breakfast, they are.
(12:19):
They are structured with a consistent,predictable schedule that really
goes from 8:00 AM 7:30 AM all the waythrough our evening required study hall.
So after a full day of classes,there's an opportunity for a tutorial.
There's then the academic, excuse me,the athletic period, which is about.
(12:40):
Four o'clock to five 15.
Little bit of a window of catch yourbreath dinner at six, and then mandatory
study hall six 30 to eight if you'rein the middle school, six 30 to eight
30 if you're in the upper school.
So it's a very full day.
It by design.
But your staff.
(13:00):
I'm thinking about like a 24 hour step.
You don't have teachers on, do youhave teachers on staff from six
to eight during that study hall,or is that study hall very much
independent with not extra support?
No, there are the studyhalls are proctored.
There are two separate study halls.
There are multiple proctorsin each study hall.
It's opportunities not just to sit downand study independently, but to seek extra
(13:24):
help and support as well from teachers.
Yeah it's, it's an incredible qualitythat I don't think many educators possess
is that, our teachers are going nonstop.
It's one of the strengths of the programis because often a student who has, Mr.
Smith for math might have Mr. Smith forsoccer and might see Mr. Smith again
(13:47):
during tutorial, and Mr. Smith mightbe, and Mrs. Smith might be his dorm.
Parents.
So the relational elementsand the connections that are.
Faculty build with ourstudents are really unique.
And, the boarding, the residentialenvironment really promotes that
increased level of connection andrelational learning, which translates
(14:11):
directly into increased performanceand academic and character metrics.
So it's a, again, we call it thetriple threat because so many of our.
Teachers teach they coach and they'redorm parents and they work extremely hard.
Sounds that way.
It sounds like they have to be devotedto that program to be employed by you.
(14:37):
It doesn't sound like there's muchtime for them to have extracurricular
time during the school year.
It's a challenge.
I don't have the exact statistics,but there's, we have found that if a
teacher stays with us for three years,gets through that, again, 24 7 approach
(14:57):
because, the day just doesn't end at 11.
There are things that, happen between11:00 PM and 7:00 AM someone is ill and
needs to get to the nurse, et cetera.
So if they get throughthose first three years.
They tend to stay till, I thinkthe 10 years, about 16 or 17 years.
So it's remarkable.
But you're right, I, theydon't have a lot of free time.
(15:18):
Our philosophy around our academiccalendar is we have an intense
first six weeks where we startlate August, we get to October.
15th and we take a full week off,not a long weekend, we take a full
week off, and it's intentional toallow those teachers to disconnect.
(15:40):
To reenergize as well as our kids.
Our kids are working hard six daysa week for six weeks, and then
everyone disconnects for about a week.
Then we regroup and go late Octoberto late November, maybe four weeks
until we get that Thanksgiving break.
Take a full week off for Thanksgiving,and then go about another three or
four weeks to our December holiday.
(16:02):
That's typically two weeks full.
Two weeks, and then another sixweeks to the February break.
We take a week off.
Another four weeks to Easter,take two weeks off, and then
we graduate in late May.
So we meet our quota of 170 school days.
That's our goal, but we chop it up ina way where there are those periods
(16:24):
of disconnection and restoration,if you will, for both our faculty
and our students that need it.
And in those periods of.
Of weeks off, is theschool physically closed?
Like when my daughter wentto Penn State, they literally
kicked them out of the dorms.
(16:44):
They kicked them out of off campus, exceptfor a very small group of kids, and then
they had to be in like one dorm becausethere was no way for them to go anywhere.
Is that the case there, that weekbreak, they are kicked off campus And
we don't to, we don't like to usethe word kicked off, but we do.
(17:07):
It is important to separate.
But there are always someissues where that doesn't work.
We, again, having internationalstudents the cost of travel, we
have an expensive tuition and youlayer in, four or five round trip.
Airfare is a year, it adds up.
So if there are students for whatevercircumstances that need to stay on
campus, that during those breaks, wetypically try to partner match them
(17:30):
up with one of our day students.
Or if absolutely necessary,we will, run a, a skip very
much scaled down program here.
But typically it's.
It's, I can probably count on onehand or less the number of students.
And we really do try to separateas most, as po as much as possible.
'cause it's, ideally we don'twant two or three faculty to be
on campus having to use that week.
(17:51):
Supervising kids that couldn't get home.
That is really fantasticthat you are able to do that.
And sorry if I use kicked it off,but that was the thing that was like
in my head as I felt like they wereunder pressure to get off campus
and they were kicking them out.
I have to share a quick movierecommendation holdovers, if
(18:11):
you haven't seen it, is exactlywhat you're talking about.
It's about a group of six or sevenmisfits in a boarding school that
have to stay over Christmas break.
So anyways.
Quick plug for a very funny movie and thattells a lot about boarding school life.
And it was filmed at the boardingschool that I went to, so even better.
Aha.
So you have a history ofboarding schools in your life?
(18:32):
I do.
I attended boarding school andtwo out of my three daughters
attended boarding school.
Even though I haven't worked at a boardingschool before, I, I. I can see it through
the lens of a student and as a parent.
So I think that helps in someof the conversations I have with
prospective families who might notreally feel comfortable about sending
their child to a boarding school.
(18:52):
In some areas, geographic regions,there's a stigma that don't love your
child, you don't love your child.
Is that why you're sendingthem to boarding school?
And that's not the case, especiallywith a specialized school like GOW.
Now let's shift gears and talk alittle bit about this reconstructive
language, because I've notheard it called that before.
(19:13):
But you mentioned that Dr. Orton waspart of the foundation of the school.
Gillingham.
Where did that, yes.
Yeah.
Where did he come in?
Does he later, did he,is he part of it too?
He came in later.
So sometimes our original academicphilosophy is called Orian after
(19:34):
Samuel Orton, but it was really, I.
Samuel Orton, Dr. Samuel Orton'spartnership with Peter GOW, which
led to the development of a reconreconstructive language curricula.
And that is the cornerstone of whatwe do in our work with dyslexic
thinkers and students that haveserious reading impairments.
(19:55):
And it's essentially a systemthat allows students to memorize.
A deck of cards, the RL deck.
If you ask any GOW, alumni, theywill tell you about their RL deck.
It's something that they create.
They take ownership.
(20:15):
And essentially an RL deck is consistsof, I think about 115 or 120 RL
cards, and each card is a phonogram.
It might be a one letter phonogram,it might be a four letter phonogram.
It's complimented by guide words thatrelate to that phonogram, because
(20:39):
dyslexics are unable to make thevisual connection of looking at a
letter, two letters, three letters,and connecting it with a sound.
That is the weakness of the dysfunctionalor the dis dyslexic mind that
was identified early on by by Dr.
Samuel Orton, so that RLdeck enforces memorization.
(21:04):
Of those connections betweenletter combinations and sounds.
Our students receive RL class every day.
RL class is available attutorial RL class is available.
Or support is availableduring our study hall period.
We have class sizes ofthree to five students.
That's small,
(21:25):
right?
And even the RL classes,I think are even smaller.
So in those sessions, students aregoing through reciting those, memorizing
those listening to their other classmateor two that are in that classroom.
And that's reinforcingauditory comprehension.
So it's, again, it's RLreconstructive language.
(21:47):
Orton-Gillingham for that matter.
It doesn't solve dyslexia.
You don't cure dyslexia.
It's something that is part of theneurological wiring of someone who
has that has that brain wiring.
So this is an opportunity tocreate a system that through
the constant memorization.
Implants, that relationship betweena letter sequence and a sound, which
(22:12):
allows them to read and ultimatelystrengthens their reading comprehension.
How does RL bridge over to writing skills?
I.
That's a good question.
There, there are elements ofthe, certainly of the spelling
piece through those RL cardsthat will translate into writing.
But that's, again that's asignificant obstacle that a lot
(22:35):
of our students face as well.
So the, in their, perhaps classesin reconstructive language.
And other of the humanities classes,whether it be an English class, a
journalism class a history class,those writing skills are reinforced
to compliment the work they're doingin in re in reconstructive language.
So the, what they're learning overhere in the be, whether it's a v
(23:01):
consonant v. Consonant vow consonant.
That is reinforced.
Consonant vow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What?
Whatever direction it goes.
That's being, those words are the similarwords are being reinforced in the other
subject matters, so you're creatingscience questions that revolve there.
(23:24):
You're developing history that.
That supports those words.
So they're seeing them across curriculum.
Yeah.
And students are also supported bya number of assistive technology
tools, whether that is text tovoice or voice to text work.
And that's, that can obviously helpreinforce some of those skills that
they frankly, really struggle with.
(23:47):
With three to five students in a class.
What is your max level of studentsthat you can take in a year's time?
So that's a great question.
Our, we find the most successobviously working in small classes,
especially in the RL curriculum.
I think there are opportunities.
(24:08):
For classes to grow slightlylarger in those courses that again,
they're gonna need to be preparedfor at the next level in college.
I would say second to our reconstructivelanguage program our other signature
curricula that a lot of ourstudents are drawn to is robotics.
And there is, yes.
So the dyslexic mind for many.
(24:31):
Aligns well in the fields of science,design, engineering, and we're fortunate
to have a robotics lab that wasfunded primarily through one of our
GOW graduates who was the inventor.
Battle bots.
So you might have be familiar with thebattle bots, which is a competition
(24:53):
for school age children, high schooloutta high school collegiate, where
teams are building weaponized robotsto battle against one another.
And it's a. Highly competitive activity.
We have a team of faculty that aredevoted to this part of our curricula.
(25:14):
And we have boys and girlswho are extremely motivated.
And it's prestigious to be partof the robotics team at Go.
I think last year we had two of ourteams qualify and were invited to the.
National High School championships inBattleBots and, these are teams from
(25:35):
different schools that are, operatingremote controls to basically eliminate
and defeat the competitor robots.
And, don't I think last year ourteams finished out of 60 teams that
qualified for the Nationals as anannual tournament in Pittsburgh.
Our teams.
The two go teams finished infifth and 12th place, I believe.
(25:56):
So congratulations.
And these are against some very highpowered private boarding schools that
have, a very high reputation for academicstrength that are sending majority of
their graduates to very selective high-endcolleges, ivy league colleges, et cetera.
And our group.
Holds their own and then some.
So it's something we're very proud of.
(26:17):
I feel like in our admissions processit's an element of what we offer.
Again, we're trying to get, findkids wins and the success they
have in robotics and the and thecommunity, if you will, around that.
We have the whole school at assemblywatching our, live streaming.
The tournament in Pittsburghcheering our squad on.
(26:38):
That's cool, but you never didanswer how many students you have.
So our capacity Cheri with fullevery room filled, et cetera,
is probably close to 1 40, 1 50.
Our enrollment is lower than that rightnow, so we're making strides to, to
rebuild up to that number partly was hurt.
I think I shared earlier ourinternational population.
(27:00):
Was impacted during Covid andwe're still regrowing from that.
But we're also, we're alsointent on enrolling the students
that are mission appropriate.
The students that have a havea learning profile where they
are gonna find success here.
There are at times students who cometo us that have a much more traditional
learning profile that could be quitesuccessful in mainstreaming public
(27:25):
schools and other private schools.
And sometimes we'd love to havethose students with us, but that
it isn't exactly the right fit.
We are a very academic,college preparatory school.
We're not, and we're not a therapeuticboarding school, so there are schools
that are very well suited to servechildren who have a. Therapeutic needs.
(27:46):
And unfortunately those are our familiesthat we, and students that we can't
serve because that's, we don't havethe, our expertise is in teaching kids
how to read and to be able to masterthe reconstructive language curricula
and deliver that to our students.
And what does summer look like?
Great question.
So we finish in the academic school yearfinishes in late May, mid to late May.
(28:13):
The month of June is a littlebit of time to, to reenergize
for our faculty and staff.
We just started a tradition ofdoing a a June colloquium and
bringing our faculty together to.
Dig in into a a specific topic.
And this past summer we looked intoreally assessing and evaluating our
our day-to-day academic schedule aslong as our as well as our academic
(28:35):
calendar with really through the lensof looking at maximizing the experience
for our students as well as our faculty.
So a lot of good takeaways that willinfluence some of the changes we make
in the future around our schedule.
But the heart of our summer is ourfive week go summer school program.
It typically enrolls a hundred studentsand probably about 75 of those students
(28:57):
are live here on campus for five weeks.
Another 25% or so are local.
It is a camp that has a veryintense morning of academic work.
Centered a lot around our reconstructivelanguage, curricula and other academic
offerings in the morning, lunch,and then afternoon, followed by much
more traditional camp activitiesand performing arts and sports and
(29:24):
field trips and outside activities.
So it's actually the Go Summerschool program is our biggest
feeder into our full year academicprogram, I think this year.
Maybe five or six.
I think six students came from ourGAU summer school program and started
in the fall as a regular studentthrough the full year program.
(29:44):
So what you just said there wasmost of those 75 students were
not year long resident residents?
No.
No.
Very few.
Once in a while, Cheri, we will.
We will, through the admissionsprocess, we'll identify a child
who's a good fit for G, but we wouldsuggest to them or sometimes require.
(30:05):
We really need you to do the fiveweek program to give you a running
start so that you're gonna be verysuccessful on day one at gout.
But most of our summer school programstudents aren't current students,
but many of them become full-timecurrent students through that process.
Sometimes it's a couple yearsafter they do the gau summer.
School program.
(30:25):
But again, I think it's a terrificbalance of academic remediation,
academic support as well as thetraditional fun camp activities.
And we have a lot of students thatattend our summer program that don't
have dyslexia, that might not have alearning difference, but they I would
suggest all learners will benefit, allstyles of learners will benefit from.
(30:49):
The academic work thatwe offer in that program.
Yeah.
Oh yes.
Oh yes.
All students benefit fromstructured literacy education.
Absolutely.
So how do we find outabout the Gow School?
I would always encouragefolks to explore our website.
It's under a little bit of a remakeright now, but it's obviously
accessible and it tells a goodstory of what GOW is all about.
(31:11):
But of course, nothingbeats a visit to GOW.
We are having a in-person open house,I believe on Monday, November 7th.
I don't have my calendar on me.
I think that's Veterans Day.
A lot of schools are off, so we willbe hosting an in-person there, but.
Anytime someone wants to visit, we will,we will individualize an open house
(31:34):
for them that meets their schedule.
But, it's all about finding the right fit.
And so it's a conversationwe have with families.
And for a lot of students who havebeen diagnosed with dyslexia and are
not finding success in their currentschool, this can be an excellent option.
We are a private school.
We are tuition driven.
We offer significant financial aid.
We don't want finances to be thereason why a. Qualified student can't
(31:56):
attend, go, and we do our best tomeet the difference between what they
can afford and what our tuition is.
So certainly reaching out to ourenrollment office, they're the
first line of contact and, those,that, that contact information is
certainly available on our website.
But would always encourage families, tofind time to visit campus, walk campus.
You learn a lot by walking througha school and sitting down and
(32:19):
having lunch and you get a feelfor the culture of the school.
And I would say something we haven'tdiscussed much but as important
to our commitment to academicsuccess is the work we do around
our four character based values.
Our four pillars, which is.
Honesty, hard work, respect and kindness.
And though we don't haveseparate courses in those areas.
(32:45):
It's transmitted througheverything we do here.
Whether it's on the stage, on theathletic field, we have assembly, all
school assembly three days a week.
I like to design lessons for the wholeschool community that are centered
around those four values so thatthose character elements and those
those qualities are very important.
And when we think of the Ideal GOWgraduate, it's someone who espouses
(33:08):
those values as they go onto there.
Next stage in life as wellas of course their growth in
academic confidence and success.
What's the website?
Www.gow.org.
It's pretty simple.
And you'll be, you'll have the opportunityto, to navigate that and surf that.
And but stay tuned.
(33:28):
We've got some really cool, but.
Current family and current studentand alumni testimonials and terrific
videos that we're starting to unrolland roll out for the for the website.
We're making a big effortto get the word out.
We've been we've been a secret fortoo long, so hopefully we can engage
some families and give them theopportunity to learn more about cow.
(33:51):
Fantastic.
Thank you for your time today.
I appreciate you giving me a littlebit more understanding about what
GOW is, and I'm sure that thelisteners found it interesting.
Most people, like you said,don't know that GOW exists.
I ran into GA at the InternationalDyslexia Association Conference
(34:11):
last year, and then again atthe, everybody reads in Illinois.
And then out of the blue I had gottena an email from your assistant.
I'm like, okay, we're supposed to talk.
And so I wanna thank you for your time.
Head of School is a busy place tobe, so thank you for your time.
(34:33):
Ah, you're very welcome, Cheri.
I appreciate you thinking of GOW andthere's a lot of synergy between
the work that you're doing and thework that we're doing here at GOW.
So I, I certainly look forward to.
Continuing our conversations.
Thank you.
And listeners, remember you were put herefor such a time as this go be awesome.
Go be brilliant.
(34:53):
Teach those struggling students withthe strategies that you learn here.
Thank you for being here.
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