The Shelton School and Evaluation Center, a nearly half-a-century-old private school nestled in far north Dallas, has built a reputation around meeting the...
In Far North Dallas, the Shelton School and Evaluation Center serves students with dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD. Finn Dillinger, 9, and Urban Padilla, 10, try to make a car out of rubber bands at the Shelton School and Evaluation Center in Dallas on Wednesday, Aug.
23, 2023. Shelton, a nearly half-a-century-old private school nestled in far north Dallas, has built a reputation around meeting the needs of students with learning differences.While in preschool, Sahil Sundaram’s parents noticed he struggled to pay attention and engage with his teacher. He’d look up at the ceiling while the other children tuned in to the day’s lesson.His mother, Anila Sundaram, knew she had to stay on top of his education, requesting individualized education plans and pushing for accommodations, such as for him to sit at the front of the classroom so that he wouldn’t fall behind.But at the Shelton School and Evaluation Center, nestled in far north Dallas, the Sundarams found a nearly half-a-century-old private school that’s built a reputation around meeting the needs of students such as Sahil.Shelton is exclusive in that it solely serves students with learning differences — such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or ADHD — that can complicate their ability to read, write and spell. “Shelton does such a good job of building up these kids … of making these kids feel accepted and welcome,” Anila Sundaram said. “It doesn’t feel like you’re different.”It’s also expensive. Tuition for the 2023-24 school year ranges between $19,000 and $38,000, depending on students’ age or grade. About 15% of students receive financial aid. Texas legislators spent much of last year fighting over school choice with some advancing voucherlike efforts that would have helped families pay for a private education. Public school advocates, meanwhile, worried about the lack of accountability for such initiatives and the financial impact they’d face if they lost more students to private schools.As the debate over school choice continues, some families who’ve opted for private, specialized campuses such as Shelton say the move has made a difference for their children. After enrolling Sahil in 2016, his parents were able to take a step back as Shelton already provided all of the accommodations students like him need. Sahil said he’s gotten “pretty good at focusing.” With the help of his teachers, the 15-year-old realized that he’s a “really great writer” who’s interested in becoming an author.“It’s a full program,” Anila Sundaram said. “It’s great to be able to send your kid to school and know that they’re getting what they need.”The educators at Shelton are trained to teach students with learning differences and help them overcome challenges that come up when processing lessons. To keep students engaged, early-childhood through fourth-grade classes have a focus on multi-sensory or hands-on learning. The techniques used engage students by involving different senses, which helps them stay focused, provides different ways for them to process information and makes learning more enjoyable.For example, children might trace their fingers along letters made with sandpaper and repeat the sound they make. This helps work on their motor skill development and lays a foundation as they learn to read, write and spell. In one class, for example, third- and fourth-graders sat on a rug and listened intently as one of their two teachers read Mary Norton’s children’s fantasy novel,, out loud. The children then discussed what rolling a potato would look like if they were tiny — like the family featured in the book — and drew scenes after visualizing them. Up to fourth grade, classrooms have two teachers for every 12 students. Starting in fifth grade, most classes are made up of about 10 students and one teacher. Overall, school has a 6-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Classroom sizes are designed to be small so that each student receives appropriate attention, officials said. Fourth-grade teacher Carrie Jones read from the children’s book “The Borrowers” at the Shelton School and Evaluation Center in Dallas on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023.The school also emphasizes student participation in leadership, fine arts, athletics and other extracurriculars. Such activities weren’t always an option for some students before Shelton because they had to devote their free time to catching up on lessons, executive director Suzanne Stell said. “Many of our students have been with tutors until 9 and 10 at night . They’ve not gotten to experience life,” Stell said. “ build the whole child, and they miss all that because they had to be surviving instead of thriving.”Unlike public schools that must accept all students, private schools can be selective about enrollment and don’t have to accept those who need accommodations. Texas only has about four dozen private schools that focus on serving students with learning differences or disabilities, according to the Texas Private Schools Association. For comparison, of the state’s nearly 5.5 million public school students, about 5.5% — or 302,409 — have dyslexia, according to the Texas Education Agency. For the 92 Shelton seniors who graduated this year, the school’s focus on their needs paid off, students say. Collectively, they were accepted into more than 160 different colleges and universities and received roughly $9.6 million in merit scholarships. “We have learned to work harder than the average student at other schools. We have learned to overcome challenges that others could never imagine. We have learned to adapt to whatever life brings us,” class valedictorian Callie Wakefield said in May during her graduation speech.Shelton’s efforts to help students with learning differences don’t stop on campus. For more than 30 years, the school has touched the lives of others through community outreach. The school was founded in 1976 to help students with learning differences in North Texas. Its leaders wanted to reach those outside of Shelton.In 1991, Joyce Pickering, Shelton’s executive director emerita, founded the school’s outreach and training division, which organizes workshops, speaker presentations, post-graduate courses and other offerings. Much of the focus is teaching other educators how to better help kids with learning differences. The department has trained more than 3,500 educators across the country and the world, including some from China, Spain, Australia and Brazil. Christine Bedenbaugh, Shelton’s director of outreach and teacher training, said the department trained about 350 educators last summer. The school offers three courses for teachers serving students with dyslexia. “We felt it was our duty,” she said. “We could never reach the hundreds of thousands of students who need the types of programs that we offer in Shelton.”Resources are available to area families as well, who can visit Shelton’s evaluation center to identify whether their children possess learning differences and receive guidance on how to request accommodations at their own schools., students who do not attend the school can take advantage of the curriculum used in its classrooms. The program was created to help students ages 6 and up in reading, spelling, handwriting, distinguish the sounds of similar words and memorization.Shelton “is life-changing, it’s amazing,” Anila Sundaram said. “As a parent, all you want is for your child to be able to go to school and learn.” The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism., Education Lab Reporting Fellow. Valeria is an engagement reporter for The Dallas Morning News Education Lab. She was born in El Paso and raised across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She has previously interned at The San Antonio Express-News and The Texas Tribune.
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