Learning Support

English Language Learner Program (ELL)

Students new to the school who have had little to no experience with English receive support from the ELL Department. This support can take a variety of forms: individual or small group pull-out during French class, time in the base/subject classroom with an ELL Specialist working in collaboration with the base/subject teacher and/or the ELL Specialist can work with the base teacher to differentiate his/her teaching in order to support the ELL student in the classroom.

The goal of the ELL program is to enhance students’ English language skills in order to help them integrate socially within the school community as well as perform effectively in the classroom. The program begins with social language acquisition and builds to content area support.

Program for Ability Centered Education (PACE)

The goal of the PACE program is to help students who are not achieving at grade level or students who are performing above grade level.

There are three ways a child can qualify for PACE support:

• Demonstrate a significant need for both decoding skills and increased comprehension in reading
• Be diagnosed with a learning disability
• Demonstrate exceptional academic abilities in one or more subject areas. (This is usually inclusive rather than pull-out.)

In order to receive PACE services, children must go through a referral process within the school or have had outside psycho-educational testing. If a teacher is concerned about a particular child, s/he must fill out a referral form (found on the server at //).This form is given to the PACE Department Head. The Child Study Team or Student Study Team then reviews the referral to determine what course of action should be taken.

Focused Instructional Time (FIT) Reading

Students who have demonstrated the need for extra help in reading may be pulled out of class for one-on-one or small group-work with a FIT reading teacher. In addition, a FIT reading teacher may go into the classroom to work with small groups or the whole class in specific areas of need. Eligibility for this program is based on teacher recommendation, performance on the Gates-MacGinitie test of a year or more below grade level, and assessment through an Individual Reading Inventory (IRI). FIT is a part of our PACE program.

Child & Student Study Teams

Lower School Child Study Team (CST)
The CST is comprised of:

• PACE department member(s)
• ELL department member(s)
• Lower School Principal (chair) .
• School Psychologist
• School Nurse (as needed)

The Child Study Team is designed to review situations in which students are not performing successfully in the classroom. Teachers may refer students to this group whom they suspect may have a learning disability or some other challenge that hinders them in the classroom. The teacher may also:

• Recommend further PACE testing (see description of PACE) of the student and to meet at a later date to review the results
• Recommend additional strategies for use in the regular classroom. This information will be conveyed in writing to all of the student’s teachers by the CST team recorder.
• Recommend that the student be referred for an outside evaluation in Morocco
• Recommend that a student be referred for testing outside of Morocco
• Refer the student to the School Psychologist, Nurse or Administration
• Take no immediate action and monitor the students for review at a future date
• Recommend that a student receive PACE instruction (specific skills remediation) in lieu of a foreign language. This action would take place after receipt of documentation of need from an outside testing facility.
• Place students in reading/writing clinics (FIT)
• Recommend students for observations by specialists
• Ask the ELL department for further screening

Upper School Student Study Team (SST)
The US SST is comprised of:

• PACE Department member(s)
• ELL department member(s)
• US Principal (chair)
• School Psychologist
• School Nurse (as needed)

The Student Study Team is designed to review situations in which students are not performing successfully in the classroom. Teachers may refer students to this group whom they suspect may have a learning disability or some other challenge that hinders them in the classroom, which may:

• Recommend additional strategies for use in the regular classroom. This information will be conveyed in writing to all of the student’s teachers by the SST team recorder.
• Recommend further PACE testing (see description of PACE) of the student and to meet at a later date to review the results
• Refer the student to the School Psychologist, Nurse or Administration
• Recommend that the student be referred for an outside evaluation in Morocco
• Recommend that a student be referred for testing outside of Morocco
• Take no immediate action and monitor the students for review at a future date
• Recommend that a student receive PACE instruction (specific skills remediation) in lieu of a foreign language. This action would take place after receipt of documentation of need from an outside testing facility.
• Recommend students for observations by specialists
• Ask the ELL department for further screening
• Recommend tutoring

Extra Help & Tutoring

Teachers regularly make themselves available to students outside of class for extra help when needed. Students who are motivated and who wish to improve their performance will readily take advantage of these opportunities, either at the request of the teacher or on their own initiative. However, there may be cases when more intensive intervention is needed in order to help ensure a student’s success in the classroom. In these cases, teacher may initiate a request for private tutoring for the student (this service is compensated for by the parent). When a CAS employee is not available for tutoring, parents may have to contact qualified individuals outside the school, in which case is it of the utmost importance that the tutor meet with the teacher to discuss the student’s strengths and weaknesses and to decide upon appropriate intervention measures. The tutor and parents must remain in regular contact with the teacher to gauge a student’s progress.

Student Counselor

The Counselor/School Psychologist collaborates with parents and teachers of students in all grade levels who have social or emotional learning difficulties, or who exhibit any other behavior that is a cause for concern. It is the job of the Counselor to help prevent, evaluate and work on these problems through observations, individual and group counseling, workshops and if necessary, outside referrals. The overall goal of the Counseling office is :

• To provide teachers with guidelines to deal with students whose difficulties may be interfering with their ability to perform well in class, such as attention deficits, hyperactivity, dyslexia, or emotional disorders;
• To provide students with support through workshops (ex: anxiety test, eating disorders…);
• To offer parents the opportunity to discuss parenting skills, learning difficulties and adolescence challenges…

The Counselor, whose office is located on the upper floor of the Lower School building, can contacted by email at moukacha@cas.ac.ma . This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by leaving a message at reception.

College Preparation

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