Camp Stanislaus has joined with a group of teachers and parents to expand its array of offerings to include a multi-sensory, structured language therapy program designed for students who are identified as dyslexic.

 

Camp Stanislaus operates on the 32-acre waterfront campus of St. Stanislaus College-Preparatory, 304 S. Beach Boulevard, Bay Saint Louis, MS 39520. Facilities include a 1,000 foot pier on the bay, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two fully-equipped gymnasiums, a ski-boat launch installation on the nearby Jourdan River, and a fleet of boats for fishing, water sports, and sailing. 

 

In order to help ensure that children who struggle with dyslexia don’t lose precious academic ground during the summer months, the camp will offer, between its morning and afternoon activities, language classes using the Orton-Gillingham method of teaching reading and writing skills. We believe this method will provide dyslexic children with a new opportunity for learning. We are confident that summer learning can be most successful within our outdoor water-sports camp, which thousands of children have enjoyed during its eighty-three year history.

 

A nationally recognized professional in the field, Billie H. Hill, M.Ed., Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators and founder of Oak Hill Educational Center, will be the camp’s Dyslexia Specialization program director. She has put together a team of specialists who are knowledgeable about the challenges and exceptions of students with Dyslexia, are trained to teach these different learners in a positive environment, and have a passion for helping these bright students unlock the English language so they can demonstrate their true abilities. 

 

 The DS program will last three weeks, from June 17 to July 7, 2012.

 

Fourth Week Options:  During the week of July 8-14, Camp Stanislaus will continue for a fourth week, but there will be no DS Elective. Campers participating in the DS elective during the first three weeks will have the following options for the fourth week:

 

 

1.      Dyslexia Specialization Elective   Camp Stanislaus will admit into its new dyslexia specialization (DS) elective boys ages 8-15 as day campers or as residents. As part of their application, campers must provide documentation indicating educational dyslexia based on a psycho-linguistic educational assessment made within the last three years. DS qualified campers must be registered for at least the first three weeks of Camp Stanislaus (June 17-July 7).

 

2.      Application The deadline for application is April 20, 2012. Due to the need for individualized attention, there will be a limit of 20 campers admitted to the DS program. The Camp Director makes final admissions decisions after consultation with Billie Hill, M.Ed., program supervisor.Camp Stanislaus admits children of any race, color, religion and of any national and ethnic origin. The campus meets ADA norms, but the Camp Director may judge that certain activities may be counter-indicated for children with certain physical disabilities.

 

Application forms can be found at www.campstanislaus.com by clicking the heading Camper & Staff Forms.

 

3.      Organization Camp Stanislaus offers its campers and “Elective Period” between 12:30 and 3:30 PM daily. Traditionally, campers sign up for two or three elective activities during this period. Elective activities give the campers the opportunity to participate in a structured program to accomplish goals by the end of their stay at Camp. Elective activities also serve to get campers out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day.

 

Qualified campers will attend a Structured Language Elective as their elective activity. The structured language lessons will be directed by Karla Richards, Orton-Gillingham Language Therapist, Director of Oak Hill Educational Center, and Leslie Daley, Orton-Gillingham trained teacher from St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School.