Student Success Stories

For more stories, visit the Student Success Stories section.

Richelle Aries

Dyslexic and still unable to read in 8th grade, Richelle Aries had begun to struggle so much that she couldn't go to school. That was five years ago. Today she is a recent graduate of The Winston School and is headed for Humboldt College in the fall. Richelle's parents, Del Mar residents Bonnie Dunnum and Phillip Aries, were relieved and enthused to find the college prep program for students with learning differences in their own community. Looking back, Richelle said, "They would probably tell you that The Winston School saved my life."

Things began turning around for Richelle almost immediately when she enrolled in The Winston School. By taking stock of Richelle's strengths in the classroom and as a person, the school created a customized program that included a new foundation for learning as well as a safe haven in which to flourish...

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Taylor Horowitz

Eighteen-year-old Taylor Horowitz already has a career designing surf boards and is on his way to the California College of the Arts in San Francisco this fall after winning a $35,000 scholarship in a portfolio contest. His future, by all accounts, is very bright. Taylor says none of this would have been possible, however, if he hadn't attended The Winston School, a college preparatory program for students grade four through 12 with learning differences and whose needs are not generally met within traditional school settings.

His teen years had started off a bit rough when he earned the reputation as a trouble-maker in middle school. He said it was just "boy stuff" - talking and playing pranks, nothing serious but nevertheless an issue that threatened his enrollment and opportunity for success in school. His eighth grade teachers not only labeled him a trouble-maker, they couldn't figure out why he was disruptive and why he wouldn't listen even though he was obviously intelligent...

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Joseph Reed

Joseph Reed, an 18-year-old graduate of The Winston School, a college preparatory program for students with learning differences, is headed to Lewis and Clark in Portland to study international relations and political science this fall. While a great achievement for any high school graduate, Joseph's accomplishment is all the more impressive as he has a learning disorder that at one point had threatened to derail his education and possibly his plans for life after graduation.

The trouble started while he was attending a small private school of 15 students near his home in Newport Beach. He said he was expelled for disciplinary issues after the teachers tried to treat symptoms rather than the underlying cause. "I have a nonverbal learning disorder and was frustrated by the environment and not being challenged in the right ways. Nobody understood my learning challenges and pushed me to do things that were extremely difficult for me. For instance, the manual act of writing is very tough for me and while I had a laptop, the teachers didn't make it easy for me to use because it wasn't convenient for them. It was also a generally low-functioning classroom so I wasn't intellectually challenged."

Click to read Joseph's full success story!


For more stories, visit the Parent Testimonials section.