SHELTON ALUMNI ACHIEVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS

As Shelton finishes celebrating our 2024 graduating seniors, we like to look across the country and honor Shelton alumni who are adding another graduation under their belts. Our students continue to strive for greatness even after they leave our walls. We are proud of what these young adults have accomplished and who they have become! View the slideshow.

Shelton, the largest independent school for students with learning differences, honored the Class of 2024 at graduation on Saturday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. on the Shelton football field. 

Shelton Executive Director Suzanne Stell told the graduates, "We celebrate you, your commitment, the community you have built, your resilience and your persistence." Graduation speaker Chase Miller (Shelton Class of 2014), a Principal at NAI Robert Lynn, told the graduates to "embrace the adventure, have a strong work ethic and work through adversity."

Valedictorian Charles Mitts, who started at Shelton School in the sixth grade, spoke at the graduation about the passion and joy of learning. Charles will major in Business at Indiana University in Bloomington. “Shelton, please accept my gratitude,” Charles said in the graduation program. “The teachers, classmates and friends helped me grow into a more authentic version of myself during my time in high school and always maintained a positive, enjoyable atmosphere both inside and outside the classroom."

Salutatorian Nicole Seale, who attended Shelton since the sixth grade, delivered the benediction. Nicole will attend Texas Christian University, where she is considering majoring in Finance. “Attending Shelton, which is tailored for learning differences, benefitted me and my family," she said in the graduation program. "From the small classrooms that allow for more personalized attention from teachers and the strong sense of community to the inclusive learning environment, Shelton has allowed me to embrace my unique learning style, empowered me to excel academically and confidently and pursue leadership roles."

Students are overcoming the odds and accomplishing great things at Shelton. The 79 members of the Shelton Class of 2024 received 377 acceptances to 114 different colleges and universities and $7,230,196 in merit scholarships. They are headed to 43 different colleges across 18 states and one country. 

Here are some of the accomplishments of the students in the Class of 2024:

• Two of Shelton’s seniors scored a perfect score of 36 on the ACT Reading. 

• Seven scored 30 or higher on the ACT composite, and many scored 30 or higher on the ACT English, Reading, Math, Science and STEM sections.  

• Maya Kamen received two prestigious and competitive scholarships, including the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Levine Scholars Program and the Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholars Program. Maya accepted the UNCC opportunity, which provides full tuition, an $8,000 service grant and four summer experiences, including study abroad and internships.

• Lane McCranie signed to play lacrosse at Southwestern University.

• Four seniors were accepted into competitive Fine Arts programs at the collegiate level: 

• Kathryn Brockette was accepted into the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting program at New York University.

• Addison Peacock accepted a position in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts program at Southern Methodist University.

• Max Innes committed to the five-year Bachelor of Architecture program at Tulane University.

• Jordan Johnson will study in the Visual Art program at Austin College.

Here are Shelton’s Top 10 graduates: 

• Charles Mitts, Valedictorian; college plans: Indiana University at Bloomington, majoring in Business

• Nicole Seale, Salutatorian; college plans: Texas Christian University, considering majoring in Finance

• Lilly Barnett, college plans: Texas A&M, majoring in Engineering

• Ryan Cuzalina, college plans: Texas Christian University, majoring in Biology

• Zoey Degani, college plans: Iowa State University, majoring in Astrophysics

• Sophia Dorward, College plans: Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, majoring in English or History

• Kylie Gingold, college plans: Texas A&M, majoring in Business

• Lauren Johnston, college plans: Austin College, undecided major

• Jesi Roberts, college plans: University of Oklahoma, majoring in Business

• Sam Rubin, college plans: University of Denver, majoring in Engineering

Stell praised the graduates, saying, "You have demonstrated amazing resiliency. You learned that having a learning difference can also be a gift."

Shelton Teachers, staff and representatives of NASA's Neurodiversity Network helped make the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse meaningful for Shelton students on April 8.

Upper School and Middle School students viewed the eclipse on the football field, and Lower School students viewed the eclipse outside the Lower School entrance. Students and staff shouted, "Five, four, three, two, one!" as the total eclipse became visible. Upper School and Middle School students started the day by attending a lecture by Ellen Torres Thompson, the Planetarium Lead Educator at The Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California, and Spyros Kasapis, a postdoctoral fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center. Thompson spoke about the science behind the eclipse, and Kasapis spoke about "NASA Heliophysics' Big Year." Shelton Physics teacher Dr. Samantha Cason and Shelton Upper School Earth and Space Science teacher Meredith Moody presented eclipse questions from Shelton students, which were answered by Thompson and Kasapis. Students also viewed a video, "Shelton Eclipsing Expectations." 

In preparation for the eclipse, students benefited from curriculum from NASA's Neurodiversity Network.

• Lower School students studied what causes an eclipse, how something small can cover up something larger, eclipse safety and how to make pinhole eclipse viewers.
• Middle School students learned eclipse safety, used 3D and 2D models to describe what happened to cause an eclipse and made pinhole viewers. In addition, some classes made simple sundials and looked at the magnetic properties of the sun and Earth. 
• In twelfth-grade Earth & Space Science, twelfth-grade Physics II and eleventh-grade Physics, students learned how the Earth, moon and sun interact and how those interactions can cause a solar eclipse. The concept of a solar eclipse was also reinforced with videos, an app on the cell phone that follows the eclipse and activities supplied by NASA. 

Visitors from NASA Neurodiversity Network spoke to Middle School and Upper School students and visited Shelton science classes for eclipse activities on Monday.

• Spyros Kasapis completed his Aerospace Engineering Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he focused on controls and autonomous aircraft path planning. He moved to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor for his second Master’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. His Ph.D. was focused on Machine Learning applications in visual recognition. He has worked as an intern at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where he helped by characterizing the Van Allen radiation belt using the SDO satellite data. Additionally, he was a member of the NASA JPL 2022 Planetary Science Summer School cohort, where he worked on the Gelatto asteroid sample return mission proposal. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center. His research interests include the use of Machine Learning for Detection of Solar Active Region Emergence and SEP Prediction.

• Ellen Torres Thompson is the Planetarium Lead Educator at The Lawrence Hall of Science, a children’s museum in Berkeley, California. She develops and presents live, interactive astronomy programs for K-12 students and families. She graduated in 2021 with majors in Astrophysics and South and Southeast Asian Studies from UC Berkeley. 

• Ariana Riccio is collaborating on NASA’s Neurodiversity Network, which is working to create pathways to NASA participation and STEM careers for neurodiverse learners. Riccio holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Graduate Center of The City University of New York and a BS in Biology and Community Health from Tufts University. 

One hundred and ten Shelton students, parents, teachers, coaches and staff worked with the Dallas Sports Commission and CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) to take part in the pregame banner ceremonies at the CONCACAF Nations League Finals on Sunday, March 24, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Shelton was the only school selected to assist on the field during the Final Center Banner Ceremony. Shelton participants were involved in the flag ceremony before the third-place match on Sunday, March 24, at 5:00 p.m. and before the final game at 8:15 p.m.  Thanks to Shelton parent Stacey Segal, Director of Operations for the Dallas Sports Commission, and Shelton Athletics Director Alan Burt for making this opportunity happen for Shelton students, parents and teachers. Leading up to the final ceremony, participants took time to participate in two rehearsals at Shelton. People traveled from all over the world to help run the practices with our Shelton community.  

By Amy Cushner

Associate Head of Shelton School

Educator Elizabeth Stone once wrote that having a child is “to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” When children are hurt, parental emotions trigger a call to action. But what if the hurt is invisible? What if the struggle is not seen or the effects are not felt until years later? This is the path of a child with a learning difference.

A constitutional learning difference is a person with average to above average intelligence, who is at risk for failing when exposed to standard methods of education, due to neurological processing difficulties. This is not related to effort. Common learning differences are dyslexia (decoding, spelling), ADHD, oral language disorders, dysgraphia (handwriting) and dyscalculia (math). Learning Differences affect approximately 20 percent of the population or one in five children and adults. A learning difference is not overt or transparent like a skinned knee — unless the soft signs are present and the eye is trained to see them. 

Early Signs

Dr. Sylvia Richardson, pediatrician, speech pathologist, Montessorian, former president of the International Dyslexia Association and advocate for early intervention of learning differences, said, “If you would identify children who are high risk for failure in academic learning tasks, with the goal of providing early intervention, evaluate: coordination, language, attention, perception, social-emotional.” 

Delays in these areas during the critical developmental stage of birth to 6 are the early signs of a potential learning difference. Simply remember C-L-A-P-S. Delays, no matter the level of severity in any or all of these areas, can be acted on with early intervention. This is not new information. In 1902, James Hinchelwood was the first advocate of record to give the clarion call of action for early intervention. He said, “The sooner the nature of the child’s deficit is recognized, the better the chances of the child’s improvement.”

Time to Act

The conduit for a parent to understand and get help for these areas of child development can be a pediatrician, speech pathologist or early childhood educator. We can also build awareness and understanding of typical versus atypical child development through the use of online developmental charts and checklists or websites such as Understood.org. Podcasts from researchers like Dr. Sally Shaywitz address early signs of dyslexia. Intervention includes work with a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist and attending a school that specializes in working with children at risk prior to kindergarten, such as Shelton’s Early Childhood. 

Katrina De Hirsch, a pioneer in early learning disabilities, once wrote, "Our present-day knowledge is sufficient to clear the way for preventive work. We are undoubtedly able to pick out those youngsters in kindergarten who are liable to turn into dyslexic children. Exposing these particular youngsters to a different educational approach would eliminate much of the later-developing frustrations and disabilities." 

We are stewards of our children’s future, for they cannot make decisions regarding intervention. Our children cannot afford for us to “wait and see.”

Amy Cushner is Associate Head of Shelton School, Early Childhood-Sixth Grades at the Shelton School in Dallas, Texas. She holds an M. Ed., is a CALT, Qualified Instructor in MSLE programs for written language disorders and is Montessori certified, Elementary 1. Most important to Amy, she has 30 years of joyful experience in working with children with learning differences and their families.