Academic Resource Center & the Learning Initiative

Mission of the Learning Initiative Program

The mission of the Regents School of Austin Learning Initiative (LI) Program is to foster an awareness that celebrates our personal gifts and also embraces the challenges of life which form our entire person.

Creating Independent Learners

Regents Learning Initiative is designed to foster an awareness that celebrates our personal gifts and also embraces the challenges of life which form our entire person. Through the application of systematic approaches to learning utilizing a student’s personal strengths, students with diagnosed areas of need quickly begin to understand that their choices in managing the day to day task of learning are critical to their overall success. Reasonable accommodations for students with diagnosed areas of need are also offered.

Students with diagnoses often bring diverse and unique strengths and experiences to the campus. Although some of them learn in different ways, these differences do not mean that they have inferior capacities. While there is no need to dilute curriculum, lower standards, or fundamentally alter a course for them, the following factors may need to be considered:

How to provide physical accessibility
How to provide access to information
How to provide opportunity for meaningful participation in certain activities such as labs, and
How to evaluate fairly on the basis of achievement rather than diagnosis.

Not all students with diagnoses need special academic considerations, but appropriate accommodations are crucial to the education opportunity of those who do. It must be understood that a medical concern or disability, in and of itself does not qualify a student for an accommodation plan or service; the condition must substantially limit one or more major life activities. A diagnosis does not automatically make a student eligible for accommodation services at Regents.

If you would like to know more about our Learning Initiative, please contact our Learning Specialist or Admissions for further information.

List of 1 members.

Mrs Susan Maher

Learning Specialist

smaher@regentsaustin.org
Bio
Education is my passion and creating solutions as a change agent is my goal in every position I have held. I am a founding board member of one of the largest private schools in Houston, Texas and founding director of the Learning Center at a private high school in Austin, Texas which was published as a model program in the journal Momentum. I also founded the Entrepreneurship Center of Social and Economic Innovation at a local high school and co-published the Youth Entrepreneurship Solutions program curriculum for students ages K through adults while working with National Educational & Technological Services Inc. (NETS, Inc.). I have global experience as an entrepreneur educator which involved working in the area of social and youth entrepreneurship.

In 2012, I worked to establish a NETS franchise model in Cedar Park, Texas. This NETS franchise provided specialized services designed to accelerate individual growth in the areas of learning, personal development, language, and academic performance. We provided a dynamic environment which promoted an entrepreneurial approach to life through the use of critical thinking, problem solving, and innovating. We also had a community of professionals that promoted leadership which embraced change, hardship, and risk through the lens of opportunity and possibilities. I continue to consult with the parent company of the franchise, National Educational & Technological Services, NETS, Inc.

I am so happy to have joined the Regents School of Austin as the founding Learning Specialist at Regents School of Austin. I have served students with learning challenges at the elementary, middle school, high school, community college and university levels. I have shared their tears, their joys, their challenges, their achievements, and their successes. I am here at Regents to now join your community and walk with you in your discussions as this program develops and grows to reflect the mission and vision of the Regents School of Austin.

During my first week as I reflected on the history of Regents, I have come to understand that a classical Christian education is not simply a methodology of teaching. Classical Christian education is committed to the “art of learning”. The students at Regents learn “how to learn” so that they are equipped in both mind and heart as they seek God’s Truth and Wisdom. These tools of learning are exactly what my students need because the world is full of false truths of success designed to bring doubt to those who don’t fit the mold! Learning new knowledge can be hard work, but given the right tools, every student can experience the joy accomplishment just as an athlete, musician, or artist experience. These students with special talents work hard for their growth and they reap the rewards of hard work found in their improved performance at all levels. There is no better confidence builder than setting a personal goal, working hard, and achieving improvement! I look forward to serving this community as we all work hard to ensure that all students at Regents are equipped to know, love, and practice that which is true, good, and beautiful so that they may reason prayerfully in seeking knowledge of God himself.

Finally, I come from a long history of educators in my family. My great-grandmother was one of the first Kindergarten teachers on the border in Laredo, Texas. My mother taught middle school for over 17 years, my son is an English teacher here in Austin, my niece is an elementary school teacher and my nephew is a high school chemistry teacher! You can see why I love teachers!! I am the proud parent of three amazing young men, two beautiful daughters-in-law, and grandmother to two wonderful grandsons! I am hopeful there will be a granddaughter somewhere in my future as well!

Testing Accommodations

Testing accommodations can be provided for a student with a diagnosis for standard time exams, final course exams, and national achievement testing such as the SAT/AP/PSAT or ACT tests. In order to request accommodations for an established LI student for an in-class exam please fill out the following form:

RSA Testing Accommodation Request Form

Regents School of Austin

Classical. Christian. Community.
3230 Travis Country Circle | Austin, TX 78735
P (512) 899-8095 | F (512) 899-8623

Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATORY POLICY
Regents School of Austin admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.