Okay I admit it I am not your average parent. I did not spend the last five years promoting Dr. Levine's work and Schools Attuned in my community just so my kids would have a better education. I did it because I want every teacher to have the tools to make it possible for every student to achieve some measure of success in school and in life. I am a former teacher and active parent in my children's schools. I dabble (which means mostly volunteer work) in a lot of different fields, but all for the same purpose, to promote the healthy development of kids. I have been the PTO president and program chair and volunteered so many hours, that out of embarrassment or maybe from fear of being labeled a nutcase;), I have never let anyone know. Those many hours I have put in getting to know teachers in all the schools (not only my children's), working with the administrators in my PTO capacity, and serving on various committees across the district, have enabled me to get the perspective and knowledge to see the big picture and gain the respect I needed if I was going to keep Schools Attuned a lasting initiative.

Up until 1998 Dr. Mel Levine and Schools Attuned were names really only familiar to special education staff in our district. In March of 1998 all that changed when Dr. Levine was brought to the district, at district and Ray School PTO expense, to present at its March professional development day and to make an additional presentation to district special educators. Dr. Levine also made two presentations to over 650 interested community members (in a town of 9000). Ever since then I have been hooked. During the summer of 1998 I attended the course on neurodevelopmental variations in North Carolina and in 1999 returned with 13 teachers from our area to take the Schools Attuned training.

Sometimes you have to move slow to go fast. The Schools Attuned initiative in Hanover started off small, but best of all it was teacher initiated. My role has been mostly that of cheerleader and communicator. There was a small cadre of teachers from the middle school who had been following Dr. Levine's work and taking courses in North Carolina since 1992. Their interest led to Dr. Levine's visit to the district in 1998. Since 1992 the possibility of integrating Dr. Levine's philosophy with the curriculum has steadily gained interest and respect.

But good things take time and encouragement, and a little money doesn't hurt either. The time comes into play not in just the amount of time teachers are asked to commit to Schools Attuned training and follow-up work, but the time that our administrators have given their staff to pursue this work. Not to mention the time it takes for an initiative to prove its worth. Many great initiatives have come and gone, but very few start at the grass roots level, grow and are integrated as well as Schools Attuned has so far.

Teachers and administrators are busy people, whose daily focus often lies with the immediate task of dealing with lesson plans and little emergencies. My role in keeping the Schools Attuned initiative moving forward has largely been to help staff see the connections between the excellent things they and the school are already doing and how well it dovetails with the Schools Attuned philosophy. Mostly what we are missing is the shared vocabulary between parents, students and staff and way of looking at student work objectively to ferret out strengths and weaknesses. But probably the most important thing that Schools Attuned has contributed to our schools is demystification. It provides teachers with a way to help a child unlock the mystery behind his learning difficulties and to share with him the tools that can make him a more successful learner.

In many cases without support (a.k.a. money), a perfectly good initiative can easily be undermined. The Hanover schools have been very lucky in being awarded grant funding from state and local sources to pursue Schools Attuned training and follow-up work. The cost of the course is undeniably a major factor in being able to train large numbers of staff at one time. I realized this from the beginning and connected with the assistant superintendent right after Dr. Levine's visit to write a grant to pay for district teachers to attend Schools Attuned training in 1999. Since then I have continued to write grants to subsidize more trainings and have co-facilitated the course and follow-up for the past two years. To date we have over 50 teachers in our district trained. Of course I couldn't just let our teachers reap the benefits of Schools Attuned. I reached out to other local districts to see if they would be interested in co-writing a grant to include their teachers as well. An additional 50 teachers have been trained from other local districts over the past two years since we have been able to offer an on demand training here in Hanover. It has been wonderful to bring teachers from different districts together to learn and share their knowledge.

So there has to be some ulterior motive for me to spend so much time writing grants, organizing and co-facilitating the Schools Attuned course and initiative in Hanover. Well, my goal has become to create a Student Success Center in our region. The twist is that when children come to be evaluated, they will leave the center knowing that there are teachers in their schools who will understand their learning differences. There will also be teachers in each school that we will employ to follow-up with students' who have management plans created by the success center. Someone who the student can talk to about strategies that are working or not, who can come and observe the student in his/her classroom. Having so many teachers Schools Attuned trained in our local schools will facilitate the process of helping those children who receive evaluations. Not only those kids though, every student who walks a classroom door.

In Hanover the Schools Attuned initiative is still in existence because of teacher and administrative buy in. Those who have already been Schools Attuned trained showed colleagues how it can be immediately applicable to classroom practice. Regular meetings and support have helped participants be more comfortable incorporating Schools Attuned terminology, accommodations and interventions with their regular teaching practices. Their willingness to share their knowledge with untrained colleagues has created a domino effect. Just last year a veteran teacher, who had shown no interest in Schools Attuned for five years, asked a trained teacher to help him “attune” a student. And parents are starting to request Schools Attuned trained teachers for their children.

Ultimately the Schools Attuned initiative in my children's school district would not be as strong and coordinated as it is today without the perseverance of a few people. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of effort and money to pull together a school-wide, not to mention district-wide initiative. Without the continual push from those “zealots,” the support of the administration and interest of the teachers and parents, Schools Attuned would not have otherwise flourished in Hanover.

Leslie Williamson
Hanover, NH
August 2002