Le Sallay:
Thank you for agreeing to talk to us, Anna. We felt that many parents can relate to your journey. How did you first learn about Le Sallay?

Anna Margolis:

This was the summer of the pandemic and the school year ended with everyone attempting to learn online. Daniel was already homeschooling, so we’ve had online classes before and were pretty open to the idea of e-earning. Ron was attending a regular school that like many other schools in America was ill-prepared to transition to online. For me, it was a choice between homeschooling both of my kids or finding a school that could teach online in the right way. Then I saw this post on a friend’s Facebook and it led me to watch the recording of the Le Sallay Academy’s open house. I remember thinking that a lot of what was said at the open house was very much in line with how I felt about education.

I, myself, am a math teacher. I taught online at the time and I knew what it takes to teach. Here I was listening to these people and it seemed like they were putting my thoughts into words. They were just like me, only instead of teaching math, they taught many different subjects.

I wanted my kids to enjoy their classes, to have stimulating conversations, to be in a safe space, but also to feel challenged and motivated. Your open house and your website promised all of that.

Le Sallay:
What was the biggest selling point?

Anna:
Both Ron and Daniel had room for improvement in terms of reading. They were amazing in many other areas, but reading was not it. Ron loved audiobooks and knew how to read well, but reading and writing at the level needed for advanced reasoning did not come easy. Daniel couldn’t read as well as the kids in his grade level. Because of this, it was very important for me that Le Sallay had a way of accommodating the diverse learning abilities that my kids have. You, as a school, see these kids’ potential, you encourage them, and you know how to do it. This, for me, made it a perfect fit.

Le Sallay:
Speaking about diverse learners, when you first came to us, you said that both of them had dyslexia and it made it difficult for them to read. It’s been almost three years. Have you noticed the progress they’ve made?

Anna:
When Ron came to Le Sallay, he was already reading, but he wasn't yet writing independently. Now he writes pretty well. He applied to a private school where we live and was given a writing assignment. It went well, the preparation paid off. He got in and we are happy with the results. He even helps me write emails and checks my grammar. I feel like we are at a stage where we don’t need to do anything extra to develop his writing. Just being at school is enough. He actually enjoys reading now. Sometimes he reads late into the night and I catch him with a book and a flashlight at three in the morning, but I don’t really care much, because I am really happy to see him read.

As for Daniel, he does read better than he used to. I wouldn’t say that he is interested in reading books on his own. This is our goal for next year. He is staying at Le Sallay, so we hope for him to start reading more. Daniel has a lot of interests, he enjoys learning how things work. If we go off his interests, I am sure he’ll be ready to do reading on that.