The Transcend Program
The Transcend Program at Villa Joseph Marie serves students who face academic challenges because of documented mild learning differences or attention difficulties. Students in the Transcend Program receive individualized daily academic support from a teacher specialized in alternative learning strategies. Academic coaching sessions take place in a 1:1 to 2:1 setting to best meet the unique needs of each learner. Enhancing core math, reading, and writing skills, as well as engendering key study, time-management, and organizational skills, are fundamental objectives of the daily curriculum.
Customized Accommodations
For every student in the Transcend Program, a specific accommodation plan is developed by the Transcend Program Coordinator, in conjunction with Villa’s Guidance Office, based on documentation and recommendations provided by educational psychologists or related diagnosticians and/or previous educators. Accommodations alter the location or manner in which instruction or assessment take place in order to maximize student success. Examples of accommodations include allowing students extended time to complete a test or quiz, or administering a test or quiz in a quiet environment.
Eyes on the Prize
The goal for every student in the Transcend Program is for her to graduate with a strong sense of self-worth and independence. She will have a greater awareness of her own learning needs, and feel empowered to advocate for herself in and out of the classroom, in college and beyond. To achieve these goals, the program focuses on the development of students’ metacognitive skills. Through scaffolding activities, students learn strategies that lead to personal growth. With an emphasis on self-regulation, repetition, and a sequential approach to instruction, students reach their academic goals—often well beyond their expectations.
Personality Is Important
For students in Transcend, attitude is everything! Because these students have often had to work twice as hard as their peers, they are resilient and conscientious. The program taps into students’ innate strengths, such as adaptability and perseverance, to enable them to reach new heights of accomplishment. As executive functioning skills are sharpened, confidence soars, and success follows.
Checking Her Progress
Students work with the Transcend Program Coordinator to prioritize assignments, set goals, evaluate progress, and write reflections to ensure success in all academic courses. Students review their grades weekly and update goals as needed. Parents are critical to their daughters’ progress, and are kept in the loop every step of the way. Regular conferences with parents, students, teachers, guidance counselors, and the Transcend Program Coordinator ensure that everyone is on the same page. Informal ongoing communication through email or by phone occurs throughout the year.
Please click here for Parent Testimonials about the Transcend Program.
Joining the Transcend Program
Students in the Transcend Program are Villa students first. One of the best aspects of the Transcend Program is that girls who participate have the same Villa experience as any other Jem. In fact, students report that their friends sometimes don’t even realize they’re in the program, because the daily academic strategies session is so seamlessly integrated into their day.
The Transcend Program does not modify the Villa Joseph Marie curriculum, nor does it create a distinctly separate class of learners. Thus, the young women enrolled in the Transcend Program must meet the entrance criteria of a Villa student, and must complete the prescribed general course of study* in order to graduate.
Having completed the standard process for admission to Villa, students who apply for the Transcend Program will supply recent (within the past two years) documentation of psycho-educational testing conducted by a school or private psychologist. Qualified students will be interviewed by the Transcend Program Coordinator.
The cost of enrollment in the Transcend Program is $5,000 per student, per year, in addition to the standard tuition rate. Limited financial aid is available to those who qualify.
Please click here to inquire about the Transcend Program.
* Some accommodations dictate a change to the World Language requirement.
