GROWTH
FINDING success through SCHOLARSHIPs For some students, an early diagnosis of a learning difference is the key to finding support and strategies that can impact their lives forever, but the journey can sometimes feel like a roller coaster filled with unexpected twists and turns.
25 Marburn Magazine 2021
Rachel was enrolled at Marburn Academy in first grade, and this spring she’ll be one of Marburn’s Class of 2022 graduates. Rachel has found success, but her path was anything but typical. Here, Rachel’s mother Lisa Sereyka shares the challenges faced along the way and how Marburn was there for them when they needed it most. Tell US about Rachel’s diagnosis and the start of her educational journey. Rachel attended kindergarten at Columbus School for Girls (CSG) and was diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia at age five. Because CSG didn’t offer a specialized Orton-Gillingham reading program for kindergarten, I drove Rachel back and forth to Marburn for tutoring in phonemic awareness throughout the week. Rachel was beautifully accommodated at CSG with things like a seat that wiggled, a weighted blanket, occupational therapy, and a special hammock that allowed her to spin, however, all of these things set her apart from her peers in the classroom. What was your experience like when you enrolled Rachel at Marburn for first grade? I remember the very first time Rachel and I entered the doors at Marburn Academy, then on Walden Drive. There was a unique, beautiful, polychromatic saltwater aquarium. The fish seemed to greet us and invite Rachel in to be like them—a fish in water. It was evident from the first few moments at Marburn Academy, she was ‘home’. At Marburn, her new friends and classmates used many of the same tools she did, and it was normal—almost everyone used tools and accommodations to support learning. All of the specialized devices that once separated her from her peers, she
