The Forman School is a coed, college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9-12, with diagnosed language-based learning differences, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, as well as students with issues around executive functioning and ADD/ADHD.  Our program does not support students with a diagnosis of Autism or Aspergers nor does it support students with behavioral or emotional difficulties. Our community is comprised of 175 students from 28 states and 9 countries.
 

A Forman education is based on the knowledge that students learn differently. An average class size of 6 and student-faculty ratio of 3:1 makes it possible to prepare each student for college and beyond. Forman's teachers and learning specialists are guided by the study of attention, memory, language development, and higher order cognition. Forman seeks to provide an optimal learning environment for each individual student and in doing so, utilizes a variety of instructional methods.

All students work daily with a learning specialist to receive direct, strategic instruction–as opposed to content tutoring–in reading, writing, and study skills. Strategic instruction encompasses sentence, paragraph, and essay structure; vocabulary building, decoding, and reading comprehension; memorization, test taking, and note taking; and time management, materials organization, and assignment completion. In addition, content tutoring is available during the evening study hall hours.

Resources for Forman's students include a variety of technological tools and a universal design for instruction. Smartboards, laptops that allow teachers to continually view student work during class, Kurzweil systems, and E-text that allows reader-literature interaction are just a few of the tools Forman uses to support students.

 

Forman students are not spectators. The school's 18 competitive athletic offerings, as well as its extensive visual and performing arts programs, give students an opportunity to explore new and existing areas of interest. Through hands-on, collaborative learning students are active participants in their own education in the classroom and beyond. The school offers a number of experiential learning opportunities, such as boat building, sign language, rock and jazz band, theater, videography and photography, and the Costa Rican Rain Forest project.

Each year 90 percent of the graduating class matriculates at a four-year college or university. The additional 10 percent attend a two-year college or participate in a gap-year program. All juniors and seniors are required to take Thinking and Writing for College, a course that focuses on critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration as components of the writing process. In addition, the required Post-Secondary Transitions course helps students to fully understand what services they will need in college and how to advocate for themselves after Forman.

Forman's academic, residential, weekend, and community life programs foster knowledge and acceptance of the nature of learning differences. Students enroll at Forman because they have a diagnosed learning difference; more importantly, they stay at Forman because it's a place where their learning difference is understood and celebrated. Forman's faculty members teach, coach, advise, and supervise dorms. Forman concepts are consistently applied in the classroom, on the athletic fields, in the dorms, and on the stage with the understanding that the students are bright and intelligent, but process information differently.

Outside the classroom, Forman uses a non-academic community curriculum to teach students values, leadership, and responsibility. Student leaders supervise dorms, captain teams, and take part in discipline committees, while class officers lead their peers in fundraising activities, community service, and event planning.
 

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