Stowell Learning Center recently opened its doors in Thousand Oaks with the mission to help smart students who struggle in school.
As an eighth grader, Michael was failing all his classes in private school. If you talked to him, you’d recognize immediately that he was smart. He didn’t seem lazy, but he wasn’t passing his classes.
Derek, an extremely bright, charismatic third grader, had an IEP at school. His annual reading goal was to learn 10 “survival words”—that’s hardly learning to read!
Every day at Stowell Learning Center, you’ll find parents who are trying to help their kids survive, and hopefully thrive, in school. It can be extremely frustrating and lonely trying to find answers when you KNOW your child is smart, but you see their struggle.
As a public school Learning Disabilities Specialist many years ago, founder Jill Stowell knew there had to be more that could be done for students who struggle in school. Despite being a very dedicated teacher with a master’s degree in education, Jill observed that there were always students who weren’t learning as easily as they should.
And so, in 1984, she quit her job in the public school and opened a learning center that focused on unlocking the intelligence and competence that lay hidden in these bright but struggling students.
She began an intensive search for real and permanent answers, finding and studying with experts from around the world doing research on the brain, learning and attention.
She discovered three important things:
1. About 30% of students have some degree of difficulty in school and it’s not because they’re lazy or unmotivated. It’s not because of bad parenting or because teachers don’t know how to teach.
2. There are underlying skills (memory, attention, auditory and visual processing, processing speed and executive functions) that need to be in place to learn academics and do well in school. When bright children or adults struggle, it is most often because some of these underlying skills are not supporting them well enough.
3. Despite the common belief that you just have to learn to live with learning challenges, there are ways to develop these skills so that they no longer get in the way of school or life. And the solution is permanent.
Jill synthesized everything she learned into a comprehensive, proprietary system that builds the underlying skills students need in order to become comfortable, independent learners.
Students can build those skills by attending a few sessions each week.
This system isn’t used in schools or traditional tutoring. Schools try their best to support students, but the root of the problem is rarely addressed. Even specialized facilities usually have only one piece of the puzzle.
Parents see potential that others don’t. When their child struggles or doesn’t achieve, moms and dads want answers… real solutions.
Stowell Learning Center focuses on building the skills that make learning easy. During the past 35 years, they’ve changed the lives of thousands of students and their families.
And those two students mentioned previously? After attending the learning center…
Michael graduated from high school with honors (and as senior class president) and eventually made it to Brown University Medical School.
Derek graduated with honors and became a successful theater major in college.
Stowell Learning Center has recently added a fourth location in Thousand Oaks, along with its existing centers in Chino, Irvine and Pasadena. Local parents are already seeing the results of building those weak or missing skills as students start achieving more and more success in both school and life.
Stowell Learning Center is located at 275 E. Hillcrest Drive Suite 145 in Thousand Oaks. Contact them at 805.601.6633 or learn more at StowellCenter.com. Phone consultations, personalized tours and evening information sessions are available for parents who want answers.