Cottonwood Day School

AT COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL, OUR MISSION IS TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH LEARNING CHALLENGES AND PARTNER WITH FAMILIES, SO STUDENTS CAN REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL ACADEMICALLY, SOCIALLY, AND THERAPEUTICALLY IN A SUPPORTIVE AND INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT.

COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL IN BOZEMAN, MT IS THE FIRST AND ONLY PRIVATE, NON PROFIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN THE STATE OF MONTANA. STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES NEED A SPECIFIC LEARNING APPROACH TO ACHIEVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS. COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL PROVIDES A UNIQUE AND EXCEPTIONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT TO STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES. COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL'S SPECIALIZED APPROACH TO INSTRUCTION TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION THAT EACH STUDENT'S LEARNING STYLE IS UNIQUE. OUR COMPREHENSIVE TEAM OF READING, ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS ALONG WITH OCCUPATIONAL AND SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPISTS WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO ENSURE THAT THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF EACH CHILD'S LEARNING PLAN ARE MET. STUDENTS WITH LANGUAGE BASED DISABILITIES LIKE DYSLEXIA AND OTHER LEARNING DISABILITIES TYPICALLY HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH WORD RECOGNITION, DECODING AND SPELLING. THESE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFICULTIES IMPACT READING COMPREHENSION. RESEARCH INDICATES THAT SCAFFOLDED, MULTI-SENSORY PROGRAMS ARE SUCCESSFUL IN TEACHING STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LANGUAGE AND READING. AT COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL, WE INTEGRATE A MULTI-SENSORY APPROACH ACROSS ALL ACADEMIC CONTENT AREA SUBJECTS. INCORPORATING THESE APPROACHES INVOLVES PRESENTING NEW MATERIAL AND REVIEWING PREVIOUSLY LEARNED MATERIAL USING VISUAL, AUDITORY AND KINESTHETIC METHODS. NOT EVERY CHILD ENCODES INFORMATION THE SAME WAY, SOME ARE MORE VISUAL, SOME MORE AUDITORY AND OTHERS ARE KINESTHETIC LEARNERS. ENCODING AND PROCESSING LANGUAGE ARE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF LEARNING TO READ. LEARNING ACADEMIC CONTENT THIS WAY ENSURES RETENTION OF PRESENTED INFORMATION. OUR LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM INCORPORATES THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM METHOD AND LINDAMOOD-BELL PROGRAMS. THE FOUNDATION FOR COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL'S MATH PROGRAM IS TOUCH MATH.AN EMPHASIS ON DEVELOPING AND STRENGTHENING STUDENTS' EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS IS ANOTHER KEY COMPONENT OF THE COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL PROGRAM. EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IS DEFINED AS A SET OF MENTAL PROCESSES THAT HELPS CONNECT PAST EXPERIENCE WITH PRESENT ACTION. THESE MENTAL PROCESSES ARE USED TO PERFORM ACTIVITIES SUCH AS PLANNING, ORGANIZING, STRATEGIZING, PAYING ATTENTION TO AND REMEMBERING DETAILS, AND MANAGING TIME AND SPACE. IF A STUDENT'S EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS ARE COMPROMISED, TASKS SUCH AS ORGANIZING HOMEWORK, TIME MANAGEMENT, MULTI-TASKING, RECALLING PAST INFORMATION AND ASKING FOR HELP CAN ALL BE IMPACTED, FURTHER COMPLICATING A STUDENT'S ABILITY TO PERFORM SUCCESSFULLY. WE DEVOTE TIME THROUGHOUT THE DAY TO WORK ON STRENGTHENING THESE SKILLS.AT COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL WE TEACH TO THE WHOLE CHILD. IN ORDER FOR STUDENTS TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL IN SCHOOL AND IN LIFE, SCHOOLS MUST PROVIDE INSTRUCTION ON ACADEMICS AND SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS. PROVIDING INSTRUCTION IN SEL HELPS CHILDREN RESOLVE CONFLICTS PEACEFULLY, HANDLE EMOTIONS POSITIVELY, EMPATHIZE, AND MAKE RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS. AT CDS, WE USE THE PATHS SEL PROGRAM. RESEARCH ON THIS PROGRAM HAS REVEALED THAT THE PATHS PROGRAM HAS BEEN PROVEN TO HELP BUILD EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS (EFS) IN CHILDREN'S DEVELOPING BRAINS. EFS INCLUDE: IMPULSE CONTROL, PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING, PLANNING, AND WORKING MEMORY. OUR SCHOOL CALENDAR BASED ON A MONDAY-THURSDAY SCHOOL WEEK, STARTED ON AUGUST 15TH, 2021 AND WILL END ON JUNE 13TH, 2022, WE HAVE OPTED TO DO THIS TO HELP PREVENT REGRESSION IN STUDENT SKILLS. STUDENTS IN GRADE 1-8 WILL ATTEND FROM 8:30-3:15 MONDAY THRU THURSDAY. WE CURRENTLY HAVE A TOTAL OF 28 STUDENTS ENROLLED FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR WITH POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL STUDENTS ENROLLING OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. WE ASSESS STUDENTS THREE TIMES A YEAR IN AUGUST, JANUARY AND JUNE IN AREAS OF READING AND MATH WITH STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS THAT ALIGN TO COMMON CORE. THIS PROVIDES US WITH A BASELINE OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE ALLOWING US TO INDIVIDUALIZE INSTRUCTION BASED ON STUDENT'S NEEDS. STUDENTS RECEIVE 2 REPORTS CARDS EACH TRIMESTER. ONE REPORT FOCUSES SOLELY ON MATH SKILLS AND THE OTHER REPORT CARD REPORTS ON OTHER SUBJECT AREAS. THESE REPORT CARDS ARE UPDATED THREE TIMES A YEAR. WE MEET WITH PARENTS TWICE A YEAR TO DISCUSS PROGRESS. WE HAVE ALSO DEVELOPED AN IN-HOUSE ISP FOR EACH STUDENT THAT REPORTS LEVELS OF FUNCTIONS, SPECIFIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT RESULTS. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SEEKING NATIONAL ACCREDITATION WITH NCASES, NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE ACCREDITATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES. WE HAVE A FULL TIME S/L THERAPIST AND HAVE HIRED A COUNSELOR PART TIME TO HELP SUPPORT OUR STUDENT'S EMOTIONAL NEEDS. WE HAVE ALSO HIRED AN ADDITIONAL FULL TIME UPPER ELEMENTARY TEACHER TO ACCOMMODATE GROWTH AS WELL.ON JUNE 22, 2021, COTTONWOOD DAY SCHOOL RECEIVED ITS ACCREDITATION BY NCASES FOR A PERIOD OF FOUR YEARS.