Greenhills' Orton - Gillingham Outreach

Greenhills has formalized its teacher training and language therapy outreach programs by establishing a Center and naming it the Marcus Davis Teacher Training and Language Therapy Center. The Center is named for the son of benefactor Frank Davis in honor of his son, Marcus Davis, who was killed in a tragic automobile accident. Mark's younger brother, Chris, attended Greenhills for five years.

Orton-Gillingham is the Gold Standard for dyslexic students. Greenhills' Orton-Gillingham Outreach includes

● Teachers training institutes for teachers across the state

● One-to-one after school Orton-Gillingham lessons for children in the community, and

● For the second levels Certified (AOGPE), and Instructor of Teaching (IMSLEC.)

The institute (workshop/practicum) presents the knowledge required by The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE) and The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) as course work for the first level of membership. The institute consists of 70 hours over 2 weeks and includes hands-on practice.

After school one-to-one classic Orton-Gillingham reading, writing, and spelling lessons are offered 3 days weekly. These lessons are for 45 minutes and are available from 1:15-2:00 PM; 2:15 - 3:00 PM; 3:30 PM - 4:15 p.m. and from 4:15 PM until 5:00 PM at Greenhills School.

A fee of $50.00 is charged for each lesson and is to be paid at the beginning of each month for that month. Three days weekly are required to ensure good progress. Any lessons missed will be charged unless due to illness. Arrangements to make up any missed lesson must be made at a mutually convenient time for the teacher and parents.

In 1995 two international non-profit organizations were founded to set professional standards for Orton-Gillingham teachers and tutors. The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators was incorporated under the New York state Board of Regents. In Texas The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council was incorporated. Greenhills School's teacher training program for teaching multisensory, structured language (Orton-Gillingham) to remediate reading, writing, and spelling for dyslexics is accredited by IMSLEC and is a accredited by AOGPE. The leadership to establish these originated with the International Dyslexia Association's president at that time, Wilson Anderson. He had the inspiration and leadership to bring together the individuals who could begin to formulate the structure of setting professional standards for this field of education. Mr. Anderson currently serves on the Professional Advisory Board of Greenhills School.

Both organizations were incorporated to set standards for professional teacher training for teachers and tutors of dyslexic individuals through course work and a thorough internship extending over 3 years. To establish a model for this training, the preparation of psychologists, speech and language professionals, and Montessori teachers were studied as models for developing this profession. As in other professions, a strong ethical component is intrinsic to the training and certification.

Several factors spurred the emergence of these organizations. First, there has been no quality control of individuals who offer to tutor dyslexic individuals. Parents had no way to ascertain the quality of teaching offered. This resulted in uneven quality with no objective standard for the individuals offering to tutor or teach the Orton-Gillingham approach. Secondly, Dr. Samuel Torry Orton and Mrs. June Lyday Orton devised this teaching approach in the 1930's and Miss Gillingham first published it in the 1950's. Those who are the pioneers in the field of dyslexia, and those who trained directly under these pioneers are aging. The desire to pass on this knowledge to the next generation by establishing a profession became the choice of these practitioners who had trained under the masters.