WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE
The Aseltine School Program succeeds at helping students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders because of our innovative approach:
• Conflict resolution is at the heart of the Aseltine experience since it is the necessary first step if students are to learn.
• Aseltine’s rigorous Academic Program complies with the California State standards of the Department of Education. We use themes from students’ lives and interests as well as intensive conflict resolution and problem-solving activities to reignite students’ interest in learning – and confidence in their own abilities.
• We treat our students as unique individuals who have both common and distinctive aspirations, abilities, and challenges. We tailor students’ academic program to best serve them based on the needs and goals determined by the students and their parents/guardians. This ensures that all involved have a vested interest in making these goals a reality, and gives students accountability for and control over their own lives – often for the first time. This level of cooperation, partnership, and respect between staff and students guides every interaction at Aseltine every day.
• Aseltine creates community, a sense of belonging for children who have amazing gifts – and who face tremendous obstacles. It is a community where children who are seemingly powerless, those who have had no voice, those who have uncommon abilities and challenges, are respected and listened to – where each student is valued.
• We do not ask for compliance or conformity from our students, but radical self-discipline – the ability to control themselves when they least feel like it. We do not view our students as victims of forces or disabling conditions over which they have no control – they always have the potential to make better choices to overcome their challenges.
• The most important work we do is in our day-to-day interaction with students. It is here that we either recreate the old paradigm – with which Aseltine students have been unable to succeed – or we invent a new one.