Academic Support Programs

Introduction to the Language Support Program

The Language Support Program at Cathedral High School guides students with language-processing disorders of various types to learn and succeed in high school, college, and life. Our unique approach for expanding reading, written expression, and metacognition skills includes a combination of offerings only Cathedral provides:

• Trained teachers and small classes—English course requirements are taught by specially trained teachers to develop reading comprehension skills for all course work and life learning needs, with class sizes of only 12-14 students.
• Focused Composition course—A second, specialized course, Composition, is taught each semester in 9th and 10th grade to build written expression skills that are critical for success in all courses and assessments. Extensive formal writing practice is provided to improve fluency for high school level quality and quantity of written products.
• Latin within the program—Latin I, II, III and IV courses are offered within Language Support to fulfill the World Language requirement and expand vocabulary for word-level comprehension of content such as the sciences and standardized tests.
• Benefits of Learning Resource Center—In addition to these direct instruction components, participation in the Learning Resource Center offers academic coaching for study approaches and executive function supports such as organization and coursework management.
• Testing center—Our Testing Center provides extended time testing for all course and high-stakes testing. Small group testing and a carefully managed testing environment aim to reduce test anxiety and distractions, as well as the additional testing time that students qualify to receive.

The Director of Language Support creates a formal, written Accommodation Plan based upon a current (less than four years old) psychoeducational evaluation which diagnoses a language-processing difference (with or without attention challenges) and identifies a discrepancy between reading and/or writing skills and present grade level. This testing establishes the need for our specialized instructional approaches.

For more information on the ways in which Cathedral High School's Language Support Program embraces and enhances learning for our students, please contact Brian Gross, Director of Language Support, at (317) 968-7491 or bgross@gocathedral.com.

Cathedral High School, consistent with the school’s Holy Cross mission of educating hearts and minds, offers the Learning Resource Center.

Designed to meet the needs of students with diagnosed learning differences, the Learning Resource Center and a full-time director work with students and parents to develop an individualized education plan based upon the student’s needs. Physical space—a true Learning Resource Center home—includes areas for testing accommodations, academic coaching, meetings with parents, case conference meetings, and more—all designed to ensure student success and academic growth in Cathedral’s college preparatory curriculum.

Academic coaching and skills building

• Organization, planning, note taking, and time management
• Strategy instruction and study skills
• Grade monitoring and goal setting
• Other executive function skills as needed

Collaboration/communication

• Parent conferences and coaching
• Communication with and support for students’ teachers
• Ongoing professional development of teachers for specific disabilities such as Autism Spectrum, ADHD, etc. to ensure best practices for student learning and parental engagement
• Collaboration with guidance and college counselors for Cathedral and higher education
• Coordination for case conferences

Testing accommodations

• Extended time and small group testing for Cathedral quizzes and tests
• Development of student self-advocacy through accommodations process

Assistive technology

• Paper alternatives to online tests
• Voice to print technology
• Instruction in the use of note taking software and apps to develop student note taking skills
• Multisensory reading apps on devices

The Learning Resource Center builds on Cathedral’s renowned Language Support Program that provides direct instruction for students with language-based learning differences, and that program continues meet the needs of such students with direct instruction. The Learning Resource Center expands, and refines, the services offered to students within the Language Support Program while also offering all of the services above to students not enrolled in the Language Support Program who have diagnosed needs for accommodations.

For more information about this exciting program, please contact Sheila Roberts, Director of the Learning Resource Center, at sroberts@gocathedral.com.