Programs

Academic Skills Center

Our Academic Skills Center offers relevant and timely educational support for all students. The center is a welcoming hub, central to campus, and easily accessible to both students and faculty.

The Academic Skills Center staff works with students and faculty members to provide a platform for academic success, accommodating them within the program’s guidelines. Students supported by the Learning Center are expected to have the capability to fully engage with the Fountain Valley curriculum. Additionally, the staff works with graduating students in the spring of their senior year to teach them how to self-advocate, become independent and navigate resources available at their chosen colleges.

The School also provides more structured, regular and long-term academic support through our Academic Skills Instructional Program (ASIP). This program is available to a limited number of students each year and requires an additional fee.

This page is designed to help families determine if the School can accommodate their child’s academic and instructional needs.

Independent Evaluation Documentation Guidelines

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Academic Accommodations

Fountain Valley School offers reasonable and appropriate accommodations to students who have professional, current and formal diagnostic evaluations, and will consider recommendations from professional clinical psychologists’ reports. A letter from a physician stating a diagnosis and recommendations for accommodations is not considered a formal diagnostic evaluation.

Fountain Valley School is ABLE to offer the following in-class accommodations:

Audiobooks and access to other audio-based materials
Computer use for note-taking
4-function calculator use

Additional accommodation:

Foreign language waiver for specific language-based learning differences

We also offer the following accommodations on tests and quizzes:

50% extended time (time and a half) with a small group in a separate setting
Computer use
4-function calculator use

Fountain Valley School is UNABLE to provide the following accommodations and/or modifications (the following list includes but is not limited to) :

Reduced and/or modified assignments or tests
Modifications to academic schedule and/or requirements for graduation
100% extended time
Untimed Tests
Oral tests unless given to the whole class
Tests are written differently than for other students in the class
Substitution of American Sign Language for a foreign language requirement
Faculty lecture notes or lecture outlines

Academic Skills Instructional Program

The goal of ASIP is to help students develop the skills needed to become self-directed learners. Working closely with content-area teachers, the Learning Center staff aligns the ASIP curriculum with core academic coursework and expectations. ASIP is not a tutoring service, but rather it is designed to complement and support students as they acquire the necessary skills to be successful, independent learners. With this objective in mind, we expect our students to acquire the necessary skill set after two full academic years, including self-advocacy.

The Academic Skills Instructional Program (ASIP) provides specialized academic guidance to a limited number of students annually for an additional fee. Please see the Tuition and Fees page of this website for cost information. Students who are enrolled in ASIP meet every other day for 75 minutes, which includes one to two students per teaching block with a member of the Learning Center staff.

Additional Support

Students are encouraged to meet with teachers for extra help as needed. Faculty may also direct individual students to attend extra-help sessions. Teachers have individual guidelines about the times and places they are available for extra help both during and outside the academic day, so students are encouraged to keep a list of these times for each teacher. Students may also seek help in the evenings when their teachers are on duty.

Evening Study Hall

All boarding students participate in evening study hall on Sunday through Thursday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. From 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., all students are expected to study independently or study with teachers on duty. Some students are assigned to supervised evening study hall during this time period, including all new freshmen and new sophomores throughout the first quarter, and any students who need support in getting their work done satisfactorily. From 9 to 10 p.m., students are able to work independently, collaborate with their peers on group projects, study together for a test or quiz, or get extra help from their teachers. Students have access to the John B. Hawley Jr. Library, William Thayer Tutt Arts Center, the Learning Center, and music practice rooms during evening study hall.

Peer Tutoring

Students in the Froelicher Society, Fountain Valley School’s academic honor society, offer tutoring in specific subjects to their peers. In addition, members of the Hispanic Honor Society can provide tutoring in Spanish.

Professional Tutoring

When a student needs academic assistance beyond the resources available at the School in a particular subject, FVS can facilitate connections with recommended, outside professional tutoring. Once the School has put the student and tutor in touch, the parents and the tutor handle financial arrangements and scheduling. All tutors on our recommended list have passed background checks and are required to carry liability insurance.