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our cohort ADHD dyslexia & reading difficulties twice exceptional / 2e complex medical conditions complex learners sensory processing disorder dyspraxia / dysgraphia EDS / Connective Tissue Disorders high school / college prep
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Empowering kids to optimize their own learning, social & emotional outcomes

We transform social learners into social leaders

Many gifted learners experience social-emotional challenges, from perfectionism and anxiety on the one hand to idiosyncratic social understandings and sensory hypersensitivites on the other—and a host of other needs in between. Our comprehensive, exclusive social-emotional approach starts with giving kids a powerful lens for understanding their own social-emotional experiences and personalized strategies they can use to gain agency over those experiences in real time. This is coupled with community-centered social learning that gives kids a 21st century toolbox for fostering truly inclusive, neurodivergent communities, turning social skills learners into powerful social leaders within our school and in the community beyond. These principles are engineered into the DNA of our program, from our collaborative project-based learning to our impacts-driven behavioral approach.

 

Social Growth Starts with a Deep Dive Into the Data in Each Child’s Profile

Our research-backed, Neuro- and Trauma-Informed Approach drives all aspects of a child’s programming—especially when it comes to social skills development. Guided by published research in the fields of neuropsychology and neurophysiology, we understand each child’s social functioning as the product of their then-current skill level with respect to the myriad neurocognitive and neurophysio skills that are essential to social success. We use this information to guide our responses to their behaviors—but far more powerful, we give this information to our students, through personalized strategies and Growth Mindset and Agency Coaching, in a carefully-scaffolded manner that is proving successful at bringing cross-setting change often reported by parents within a few months of a child joining the program.

Use these links to learn more about the data-driven, analytical process behind this approach to social-emotional growth.

 

Personalized Social-Emotional Programs

The first step to increase students’ social experiences is to understand their overall social-emotional profile. We create a personalized social-emotional program for each of our students, using the data in their neuropsychological and neurophysiological profiles to understand the drivers that influence their social and emotional experiences. These are then addressed through a research-backed approach that builds up deficient skills and gives them agency over their own experiences through highly-personalized strategies and a scientific understanding of it all.

personalized social-emotional learning
 

We get into the nitty-gritty of each child’s social skills to identify which granular-level skills interfere with their social experiences—& then build them up

Social interactions are far more complicated than pop culture (or parenting books) would have you believe. We break down the social process, setting aside the reductionist (and for our students, typically false) assumption that we can presume someone’s intent by watching their actions. We help kids to understand the inner workings of their own profiles, and partner with them to move each of the component skills forward.

assessing social strengths & needs
 

A Community-Centered Social Curriculum

Many intellectually gifted and twice exceptional kids struggle socially even as they may excel in other areas. For some, it may be challenging to connect with other kids their own age who don’t share their same interests. Others may not pick up social rules intuitively as their peers do, or difficulties processing sensory input or maintaining regulation might impair their ability to act in accordance with those rules. We learned early on that taking a traditional, “here are the school rules” kind of approach with a bunch of highly intelligent kids who have a wide array of learning, neurophysio and social-emotional differences requires doesn’t go well for the grown up left to negotiate the ins, outs and split hairs of those rules with a pack of future litigators. However, when we switched focus from “what are the rules” to “what is your goal” coupled with instruction in the precepts behind our Neuro- and Trauma-Informed Approach, the pieces fell into place. The net result is an extraordinary culture of shared progress within Cajal, with our students are increasingly being recognized outside Cajal for the leadership and inclusion skills they bring to after school pursuits in the community.

Use these links to find out more about our approach.

 
 

We foster empathy by teaching kids how to understand each others’ actions through the lens of their “Not Yet Skills”

Social interactions engage a complex array of neurocognitive and neurophysiological skills, so having uneven neuropsychological profiles can have profound impacts on how they communicate, interpret social communications and develop emotional resilience. Our exclusive, “Human 101” curriculum incorporates elements of neurology, psychology, sociology and immunology, leveraging our students’ high analytical abilities to demystify the great diversity of being human. Curriculum is tailored to the need of each cohort, building a bridge between each student’s unique challenges and communication patterns and those of their peers. This helps them to develop better compassion towards themselves for their areas of challenge, empathy towards peers who have their own unique challenges and a growth mindset as they come to understand how the human brain can change.

human 101
 

We turn moments of social-emotional learning into tools and understandings kids can use to foster truly-inclusive neurodiverse communities

Our approach to social challenges and “behaviors” focuses on helping students connect their behaviors to their own social goals, and identify alternative choices that would better achieve their pro-social goals. This is embodied in our exclusive, “4 Columns” school-wide code for understanding behaviors and bringing social reconciliation and growth.

 
 

Building community starts in our admissions process

Through this unique approach, we have been able to develop a community in which students are able to find common ground despite a wide range of learning, social-emotional and neurophysiological differences. This allows them to extend empathy towards one another, forgiveness for atypical patterns of communication and investment in their own growth processes. It is, we have come to realize, our most valuable therapeutic asset, as students are motivated to to gain self-direction over their actions by the pull and encouragement of the group.

And, it won’t be effective for all students.

In order for our unique approach to be effective, students don’t have to know how to build connections to or foster a sense of community, but they do have to be motivated to try. They don’t need to understand social interactions or how to interpret others’ behaviors, but they must be able to feel the empathy that is required to convert that information into compassion and kindness towards others as we work to develop those understandings.

Thus, ours is not an appropriate program for students who do not feel a desire for social connection, or who lack the ability to experience empathy for others, are physically assaultive towards staff or peers, have a history of bullying, are intentionally emotionally hurtful or show sadistic tendencies, as these tendencies are destructive to the emotionally safe environment that is essential for a trauma-informed program, and to the community itself. Students who repeatedly engage in bullying behavior towards staff or students may be asked to leave.

 
 
 
 

Cajal Academy is an avowedly inclusive community, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical disability or any other protected class.

A truly inclusive community with a culture of shared progress—by design!

Every aspect of our program is designed around and fosters the premise that the purpose of social-emotional learning within an educational environment is to help each student develop the skills, awareness and priorities they need to become a positive member of their social communities—in friendships, within the school and as a local and global citizen. This includes our academic program, which brings together all students, regardless of age or profile, to collaborate with one another as a cohesive community to solve real world problems. This is fostered through our social-emotional curriculum, proprietary Human 101 course on the neurophysiology of human interactions and project-based learning curriculum —all of which develop essential 21st century skills in how to build and foster relationships and empathy towards others whose talents and needs differ from our own.

Here are some of the ways our program is structured that fosters and elevates the experience of community:

 
 

Our collaborative, community-wide project-based learning provides a shared purpose that brings our community together

Our students collaborate with one another to solve real world problems, while developing the scaffolded social collaboration skills that are essential to 21st century success. This process forms the backbone of our academic curriculum, bringing all students together to contribute to one community-wide project. This process starts by creating bespoke, project-based learning units that integrate Next Generation Science and Connecticut-approved curriculum standards into real world, “driving questions” the students must work together to solve. Students attend a traditional schedule of ability-based academic classes, in which students are grouped with same-age peers and instruction is differentiated using the data in their neuropsychological and physio profiles. There, curriculum is sequenced and aligned to the community-wide project-based learning units, so that even those students who require 1:1 academic instruction share a common curriculum and purpose across the broader community of peers.

our project-based learning curriculum
 

Our small school environment helps students build the social skills they need to thrive in mainstream environments and in the community at large

Many parents assume that their kids need a large social environment to overcome social difficulties—but our work demonstrates that the opposite may be true. Our focus on developing the foundational skills for social-emotional success translate into sustained transformations that open up the settings our students care about most, like going from complete retreat to sleep away camp; from severe social challenges to the captain of a premier-league athletic team; and from extreme social anxiety to professional internships and a socially-rich college experience.

 

Our mixed age cohort offers mentors, leadership opportunities & natural kinship for gifted learners

Cajal Academy is an inclusive and nurturing, mixed age community of children in grades K-12. Our program is mixed age by design, because twice exceptional kids tend to feel more comfortable with kids who are older or younger than themselves than they do with kids around the same age. And, many 2e kids may be 2 years ahead in one academic subject while they falter behind in another. Thus, this approach provides natural learning and social partnerships. Each student participates in ability-based classes, and collaborate together through our school-wide project-based learning classes.

 

Our fluid programming levels allow students to come for our transformational approach, and stay for the gifted educational opportunities!

We feel so strongly about the benefits of diverse and inclusive communities that we did something unheard of among special education schools: we introduced new programming levels ranging from a mainstream private school tuition to bespoke therapeutic programming, to foster a diverse and inclusive community. Each child’s programming level is tailored to their needs, and adjusted each year as challenges are addressed or new ones arise—so no one has to lose their curriculum or community as they develop. Meanwhile, intellectually-gifted kids with no special education needs benefit from the small class sizes, project-based learning and neuroscience-driven pedagogy at the core of our school.

programming levels
 
 

Building community starts in our admissions process

Through this unique approach, we have been able to develop a community in which students are able to find common ground despite a wide range of learning, social-emotional and neurophysiological differences. This allows them to extend empathy towards one another, forgiveness for atypical patterns of communication and investment in their own growth processes. It is, we have come to realize, our most valuable therapeutic asset, as students are motivated to to gain self-direction over their actions by the pull and encouragement of the group.

And, it won’t be effective for all students. In order for our unique approach to be effective, students don’t have to know how to build connections to or foster a sense of community, but they do have to be motivated by the desire to learn how to do so. They don’t need to understand social interactions or how to interpret others’ behaviors, but they must be able to feel the empathy that is required to convert that information into compassion and kindness towards others as we work to develop those understandings.

Thus, ours is not an appropriate program for students who do not feel a desire for social connection, lack the ability to experience empathy for others, are physically assaultive towards staff or peers or show sadistic tendencies. Students who repeatedly engage in bullying behavior towards staff or students may be asked to leave.

 
 
 
 

Cajal Academy is an avowedly inclusive community, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical disability or any other protected class.