Ryan Babbush (Class of  )
(Excerpts from Ryan’s 9th-grade application essay)

Up until 3rd grade, I never thought of myself as a very intelligent person.  In fact, it often seemed as if the older I got, the more stupid I became.  My mom was once a teacher and tried very hard to teach me how to read and write, but I never seemed to quite grasp it.  Until Prentice, that is.  Prentice is a private school that focuses on teaching children with dyslexia.  I was found to be dyslexic in 2nd grade, when my mother took me to be tested.  When my results came in, my family decided it would be best to continue my education at Prentice.  I wasn’t failing, but my parents wanted me to be the best student I could possibly be.  I was very much opposed to it at first.  I was afraid of leaving my friends at my old school to go to this unknown place where I knew no one.  However, I was motivated to finally go to Prentice by the idea that I would learn to read and write with other kinds who had the same problems I did.

Prentice was definitely different.  In public school, we had class sizes of up to 30 students, and I would sometimes go a full year without even knowing everybody’s name.  At prentice, the biggest class was 16.  Immediately, I began to like this set-up.  The small class sizes gave me a sense of security I could never get in public school.  It was also very comfortable knowing we all shared the same problem, dyslexia.

After 6th grade, my family thought it would be best for me to return to public school for 7th and 8th grades and that I had collected all the tools I needed to be successful.  This time, I return to [school] to become an honors student, taking classes like science, honors humanities, algebra, and Spanish.  I am a confident reader and a good writer – when spell-check in on!

I have missed my small classes and passionate teachers ever since I left Prentice.  I will always be dyslexic, but because of Prentice, I will always be equipped with the tools necessary to succeed.

Chase Huante (Left in 2006)

It’s been a few months since Chase has been mainstreamed and I just wanted to check in and offer one more thank-you for everything Prentice did for Chase. I truly believe that he would not be where he is today without the help, discipline and superior education that he received at Prentice. Slingerland was, by far, the best thing for him. I don’t know where he would have been without it.

It’s easy to forget the road we’ve traveled with the natural progression of things. For instance, Chase is mainstreamed now, doing well academically and socially and overall in the best “place” I’ve ever seen him. When I meet someone who is just finding out that their child might have dyslexia or some other form of learning difficulty, I think back to that time when I, too, felt numb and paralyzed with worry about the future development of my son. It’s then that I realize how far we’ve come and how much road we’ve covered.

I remember Chase being only 4 years old when we met for the first time. I remember how relieved I was to have the guidance of someone like yourself. But most of all, I remember how good it felt to know that my son would be attending pre-kindergarten in an environment that would nurture his unique learning style.

I never hesitate to sing the praises of Prentice. My warmest thanks to you and The Prentice School.  –  Jamie Huante
         
Christopher Morris, Class of 2007

Thank you so much for everything you have done over the past eight years.

I remember the first day we arrived and, from Christopher’s test scores, you weren’t sure if Prentice was the right place. Thank you for testing him and accepting him.  Our lives are forever blessed from our experience at Prentice.

I truly will miss all of you.  It feels as though I’m losing family members.  You all will be in my prayers always. --  Fondly, Dawn Morris

Candice Palacios (Class of 2002)

My life after Prentice was shocking and exciting, all in one interesting and diversified LAUSD high school, called San Pedro High.  In high school I told no one of my diagnosis of Dyslexia, except for my teachers, not out of fear of how they would react towards my personal information, but I told no one of my Sight Dyslexia because I didn’t want any help.  I wanted to be treated the same among my peers and successes without any assistance, which I did.

In high school I competed with other teenagers across the nation for the opportunity to go to the Democratic Convention by the Junior Statesmen of America.  This contest consisted of a recommendation from a teacher and written essay of who you are and why you should be chosen.  Only 160 students were chosen out of 2,000 applicants.  I was also elected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum Defense and diplomacy Program in Washington, D.C.  During this program we went to the Pentagon, Senate Assembly, and Supreme Court.  During this exciting program I was elected to play the roll as Speaker of the House during our simulation of a terrorist attack, and my essay was chosen out of 400 students for the honor of the wreathing of the Unknown Soldier.

I have been involved in three AP classes in high school; one was AP History in the 11th grade, and the other two are in my current senior year – AP Environmental Science and AP Government.  I have participated in many school activities and have held leadership roles in about every one of them.  I am current President of Knights & Knightettes, which serve as the ambassadors of the high school, Fundraiser for Key Club, President of Earth Club, President and founder of the Relief Club.  I was also Presiding Justice in 2003, part of the NIC in 2004, and was Sergeant of Arms in 2005 for Youth and Government, and I have been a part of the high school’s Vocal Ensemble since 2004 until now.  In Vocal Ensemble I have served as fundraiser coordinator in my sophomore year.  Vice President in my junior year, and I now serve as President.  We performed at Carnegie Hall, New York in May of 2005 and at the Hollywood Bowl in June 2005.  Between all these activities I played rugby, volunteered at Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s office, and sang in church for the elderly.  I have been on the Dean’s honor roll each semester and have been awarded 14 Student of the Month awards.  I am 26th in a class of 550 and hold a GPA of 3.75.

Prentice has prepared me for high school, and I believe college as well.  It taught me how to advocate for myself and how to overcome my struggles with Sight Dyslexia.  With the skills and knowledge I possess and will carry out with me through life, I plan to attend a four-year college and major in Psychology, Political Science, and minor in Religion/Cultural Studies.  I have applied to 15 colleges and have been rejected by only one, UUCLA.  I was accepted to Long Beach State, Chico, Cal Poly Pomona, San Diego State, UC Riverside, RC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, and UC San Diego in California.  I have been accepted also to University of Oregon and Indiana University, but I am still waiting to hear from UC Irvine and UC Berkeley.  If I do not get accepted to my dream college, Berkeley, then I am planning to attend Indiana University.

The drive you have been able to see in my leadership roles at school and active involvement with government programs and events have been instilled in me by an excellent former US History teacher named Mrs. Lerner.  Her riveting lectures on history and how the government has worked throughout the ages have placed a drive in me to make the world a better place and to make an impact on the world.  Her words of wisdom and grace without even noticing it has placed an idea, an image, of me doing something I the spotlight in the political field that could make education better for children everywhere and the country a better place to live.  Her intelligence has shown me what is wrong in the world I live in today.  Every child across the nation with Dyslexia should have the ability to go to a school like Prentice to get the skills needed for success.  A child should not have to fight a school district to get the proper education for a better future, like I did.  I should be supplied to a student, not held aside as a last resort if nothing else works.  Mrs. Lerner’s understanding of what was going on around her made me become active in watching CNN, CSPAN, and trying to find the solutions of the problems facing the American people today, by coming to my own conclusion and not latching on to the thoughts of people around me.  She has helped me become an independent, intelligent woman, so whenever I hear a teacher from high school comment on how articulate and headstrong I am in the classroom, I think to myself “if you only know me 8th grade History teacher” and “thank you, Mrs. Lerner.”

I don’t believe I could make you understand or even comprehend the slightest bit of what this school has done for me, and has allowed me to accomplish.  Prentice was more than a school for me, it was a safe-haven, an oasis you can call it, a place where I was able to grow, a helping hand that pushed me towards my greatest fears and helped me overcome them, and finally Prentice was like a second mother with its warm inviting environment and ability to understand personal difficulties in my life.  I say this because during the 4th grade I lost a very important person in my life, my father.  This devastated me to the point of feeling life is just too hard, and thoughts of I cannot overcome the struggles ahead in life with Dyslexia, and the absence of a wonderful father.  Prentice changed my attitude and helped me through this difficult time by providing one of the most brilliant, caring, and understanding people I know still to this day, Dr. Bonnie Simon.  During a time when I felt like my life was over and the world was just too demanding of a 10-year-old. She helped me through the dark and gave me the drive for a better tomorrow.  I still possess this equality she gave me today.  This is one of the reasons why I plan to major in Psychology as well as Political Science.  I would like to help other people in the same way or degree that she helped me.  Dr. Bonnie Simon, I am not a couch as you once told me was one of my problems, and I never will be, thanks to you.

Prentice has helped me through more than just a diagnosis, but with and through my life.  It has been my rock and has shown me that the difficulties in completing a task make you a strong person, and that there is always another method in learning to make the success of an A+ possible.

Josh Wilson (Class of 1989)
(Josh Wilson was one of only 25 students in the Prentice School’s first class in 1986.)

At some point in grade school or early junior high, I was taking a walk with my mother, and we were talking about where I saw myself after I finished high school.  Instead of giving a place where I thought I would be, I remember answering by saying where I would not be – college.  Viewing school as an institution designed to foster frustration, I felt no desire to continue with it beyond the point to which I was committed.  Looking at how I now summarize my life after Prentice, I see how wrong I was when I was taking that walk.

After leaving Prentice in 1989 and later graduating from Foothill High School, I moved to Berkeley to begin my undergraduate education at the University of California.  Four year later, I had met my future wife and had graduated with high honors and two bachelor’s degrees – one in Interdisciplinary Studies and another in American Literature.  Apparently not having gotten my fill of school, I decided to go back after being away for less than a year.  As a result, I am not finishing my Ph.D. in Jurisprudence & Social Policy at UC Berkeley, and I am actively searching for an assistant professor position in Political Science.

While there are multiple factors that contribute to my transition from planning on avoiding high education to making it my goal not to leave it, Prentice is one undeniably significant factor.  Without its commitment to individual student attention, unique teaching techniques, and the engraining of various learning strategies, I doubt that my opinion of school (not to mention my life) would have changed so much.

 

Read Testimonial Letters from our current parents.