Learning Services

The Learning Services program at Redwood Day recognizes that students have diverse learning profiles. The Learning Specialists partner with students, teachers, and families to support learners’ growth and development.

Learning Services may include the following:

Providing direct instruction in small groups in core classrooms, targeting specific academic skills
Collaboration with teachers around differentiation and assessment
Leading team meetings for individual students
Screening students for skills progress
Consulting with parents about learning concerns
Providing referrals for outside professionals as appropriate, including but not limited to: educational therapists, evaluators, speech therapists, mental health providers, social skills groups, and occupational therapists
Parent education about neurodiversity and learning differences
Facilitating Student Support Meetings with core teachers and specialists
Creating and tracking Learning Plans and accommodations for students with diagnosed learning differences
Acting as a liaison between the school and outside support professionals
Ensuring that information about students’ learning profiles is passed from teacher to teacher

Our Learning Services Team

List of 3 members.

Jeff Morton

Middle School Learning Specialist

Bio
Jeff Morton comes to Redwood Day from Alta Vista School in SF, where he taught 5th grade science for one year. Before that, he spent seven years at Chartwell School, where he donned many hats: Learning Specialist, Interim Head of the High School, HS science, MS Language Arts & Humanities, and lower school science. He continues to serve as a contracted 2e Learning Specialist for Chartwell. Additional teaching experience includes 2nd, 3rd/4th, 5th, and 6th-grade homeroom as well as college lecturer in Biology. He began his career in education as a Talented and Gifted Education Coordinator and reading teacher in the Boulder Valley School District (CO).

Prior to teaching, Jeff spent over a decade as a forest and woodland ecologist. He’s worked in academia and nonprofits and for Tribal Government. This work took him to ecosystems in the Southwestern US High Desert, West Africa, and Central and South America. He has master's degrees in education (University of Colorado, Denver) and forestry (Yale University) and doctoral level work in ecology. His current focus of inquiry is around neurodiversity and Universal Design for Learning.
Sarah Porzig

Lower School Learning Specialist

Bio
Sarah joined the Redwood Day staff after serving as the Interim Special Education Director at Francophone Charter School of Oakland. Prior to this role, Sarah served in numerous capacities in Learning Specialist type roles at the Academy of Alameda Middle School and at Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Massachusetts.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Studio Art from the University of Rhode Island, an M.Ed. in Creative Arts and Learning from Lesley University, and an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Phoenix.
Lauren Rhizor

Lower School Learning and Reading Specialist

3245 Sheffield Ave
Oakland, CA 94602
510.534.0800

Learning Services

Learning Services

Learning Services may include the following:

Our Learning Services Team

List of 3 members.

Jeff Morton

Sarah Porzig

Lauren Rhizor