Mission of the School

Mission
The Howard School educates students with language learning disabilities and differences. Instruction is personalized to complement individual learning styles, to address student needs, and to help each student understand his or her learning process. The curriculum focuses on depth of understanding in order to make learning meaningful and therefore, maximize educational success.

Philosophy
Children demonstrate natural variability in their learning, understanding their worlds and demonstrating their understanding in an almost infinite number of ways. Neither the ways that children learn nor the rates at which they learn are uniform within their peer group. Each learner demonstrates a distinct learning profile, a personal "learning fingerprint" that distinguishes each learner from all others and that is revealed if given a broad enough range of learning experiences.

Beliefs
1. Dignity, common decency and respect are the cornerstones of a rich, healthy living and learning environment.

2. Children's intrinsic motivation to learn is realized when they are encouraged to question, explore and take risks.

3. Intelligence can be nurtured and developed: it is not fixed or immutable.

4. Children acquire knowledge and express their understanding of that knowledge in many ways.

5. Deep and enduring understanding occurs when students construct meaning in their own minds and apply knowledge in new ways and across diverse and novel contexts.

6. Understanding one's process of learning is as important as the knowledge itself.

7. Learning is a collaborative endeavor built upon trust, respect and communication among student, family, school and community.

8. Teachers continue to learn by weaving together research and practice through self-reflection and dialogue with their peers.

9. For learning to be accessible to all learners, teachers must be prepared to respond to the natural variability in students' learning in a dynamic way by constantly listening, observing, analyzing, reflecting and designing curriculum accordingly.

Established in Atlanta in 1950, The Howard School is an independent day school for students ages five through high school. Our students are bright, talented individuals who typically have not thrived in traditional school settings because of their learning differences.