Starting out in 1961 as a tutorial service with a single teacher and a single student, Hill School has grown into a multi-campus, independent, nonsectarian, co-ed school in Fort Worth and Grapevine, Texas, with 215 students in grades 2-12. Hill School primarily serves students who are of average to above average intelligence, but who have faced challenges in traditional schools due to learning differences. Hill School focuses individual attention on each child in order to transform learning obstacles and weaknesses into strengths and opportunities.
Greg Owens, Executive Director of Hill School, states, “Our vision blends seamlessly with the mission and work of All Kinds of Minds.” He has made it a priority for administrators and teachers at Hill School to participate in programs from All Kinds of Minds, and to date more than 80 percent of the faculty have been trained. Several faculty members also serve as national facilitators and deliver All Kinds of Minds programs to other educators and schools in the region.
“Embracing All Kinds of Minds’ approach at Hill School has given our faculty, students, and parents a common vocabulary for discussing our students’ learning profiles,” said Helen Ann Gray, a Hill School educator who has been integrating All Kinds of Minds’ methodology into her teaching practice since 2000. Using the Attuning a Student process, teachers at Hill School work with each child to better understand his or her learning profile, create individualized instructional plans, and implement strategies that help all students fully engage in learning.
Resources from All Kinds of Minds have supported the faculty’s efforts to fully integrate the neurodevelopmental framework into Hill School’s curriculum and programs. “Using lesson plans available on the All Kinds of Minds website has helped us teach students about learning and help them understand their and their classmates’ learning styles. It has been an incredible experience and has fostered an atmosphere of tolerance, acceptance, and optimism in our classrooms,” says Ms. Gray.
Mr. Owens adds, “For ours students, the outcome is not only improved academic performance, but higher self-esteem, greater confidence, and a renewed joy in learning.”
