Parents of Students in Riordan's Resource Specialist Program share their perspective ::

ALL AROUND SUCCESS

Archbishop Riordan High School's RSP is amazing. My son, Gabe, is what his college advisor calls an "all a rounder." He is classically dyslexic, spells everything phonetically, and has dyscalculia, memory deficits, and processing speed issues.

The support Gabe received from the RSP was incredible. They helped him advocate for himself and taught him new strategies to be successful in a academically rigorous, mainstream high school. Riordan does not modify the work for our boys, but they do support all kinds of accommodations that help students achieve academic success. It is up to the boys to share that they are part of the RSP, and there is no stigma attached.

For the first time in his life, Gabe made the honor roll while at Riordan. The RSP encourages the boys to continue their education and the college counselors are very good. After four wonderful and supportive years at Riordan, my son graduated and was accepted to six of the eight colleges he applied to.

Gabe still quotes RSP Director, Nate Simon, when speaking about school work, and he credits Ms. Ahearn, Ms. "A" with getting him through Algebra I and II, Geometry and Statistics.

I cannot praise Riordan and the RSP highly enough for guiding my son to be the wonderful young man he is today - a happy, healthy, college junior. An education at this institution is the greatest gift your can give your son.

~Janet Sahagun

ON HIS WAY TO HEAD OF THE CLASS

Discovering that our son, Coby, had a significant learning discrepancy and attention deficit when he was in the 1st grade was painful, disconcerting and the cause of much anxiety for our family. However, with early testing, a lot of remediation, and the remarkable work ethic of our son, he is now a successful student at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. How did he get there? Not without Archbishop Riordan's Resource Specialist Program.

Coby came to Riordan from a very small school for kids with learning differences. We had no idea if he was going to sink or swim. His ability to navigate a "main-stream" high school was facilitated by the RSP faculty. The program provided RSP students a variety of accommodations, which included, at a minimum, extra time on exams, the use of laptops to take class notes and write papers, after- school tutoring, emotional support, and encouragement. Most important, the RSP faculty taught students how to advocate for themselves among non-RSP teachers and classmates who perhaps did not fully understand those who learn differently.

Our son also put in the time and effort required to do the job. He knew early in his life that he had to work harder and spend more time learning than other students. But because of his competitive nature and inherent intelligence, he just "bucked up" and did the job.

Subsequently, Coby earned straight A's while at Riordan and was honored by giving the valedictorian speech to his graduating class. A large part of his speech expressed gratitude to the RSP faculty and Director Nate Simon for making his academic dreams come true. Riordan's RSP is a life-line to students with learning differences who want to succeed.

~Mary Pat Hough & Gary Moss

 

TO COLLEGE, WITH HONORS

Our son is an honors student in computer science and history at Benedictine College in Kansas, where he received a partial academic scholarship. He is also sophomore class vice president and has acted in Julius Caesar.

Riordan's RSP and Nate Simon in particular as well as all the great teachers at Riordan are a big part of his success today. We learned he was dyslexic when he was in kindergarten and our once quiet and happy little boy stood in the middle of the classroom and cried because he couldn't read and he couldn't manage the kindergarten chaos around him. That began a rocky elementary school ride that was often interesting but always included consultations with teachers! Thinking out of the box is great when you get to college and to adulthood, but it makes grammar school tough. Riordan was such a relief because with the RSP Program he finally got the consistent support that nourished his strengths as a person and as a student.

Our son graduated as a member of the National Honor Society, with solid SAT and ACT scores and several 5's in AP exams. He was a good tutor to struggling students which helped him complete his National Honor Society tutoring hours. But he was no grind - despite hours late at night studying, he also had numerous roles in the school plays and musicals, worked on the daily telecast, belonged to the Fantasy Club, wrote for the newspaper, and made great lifelong friends. He also found time to run World of Warcraft guilds and play video games.

We cannot say enough about how great Riordan is at nourishing each boy's individual strengths, academically and personally. Our son is well on his way to success as a happy, well-adjusted person largely because of Riordan, which lives its heart-felt Catholicity in faith rituals, curriculum and in the way teachers, staff and administrators treat each boy.

Because of our experience with Riordan, we transferred another son to Riordan part way through high school, a second is now a freshman and our fourth son's favorite color is purple-with gold highlights - as he plans to attend Riordan too. Without the RSP, which is why we initially enrolled son at Riordan, we would never have learned how wonderful it is in all its other aspects.

~Riordan Parents