The Gow School Blog
Our teachers and admissions team write for parents who are where you may be now: trying to understand a diagnosis, support a child at home, or decide whether a specialized school is the right step.
4 Tips for a Productive School Year for Parents of Children with Learning Differences
Practical ways to stay organized and keep your footing this year, from keeping your child's records in order to asking for help yourself.
How to Encourage Independence in Children with Learning Differences
Ways parents and teachers can build a child's independence, from routines and realistic expectations to self-advocacy and life skills.
Communication Strategies for Children with Learning Differences
Simple, practical ways to help a child with a learning difference understand you and be understood, from cutting distractions to giving them time to respond.
5 Ways to Keep Skills Strong During School Breaks
Why students with learning differences can lose ground over long breaks, and five ways to keep their skills and confidence growing.
Preparing for College and Beyond
How a boarding school for students with learning differences prepares them for college: real academic challenge, independence, executive function skills, counseling, and community.
What People Should Know About Learning Differences
Gow students and faculty share what they wish every teacher, student, and friend understood about dyslexia and learning differences.
4 People You Might Not Know Had Dyslexia
Thomas Edison, Whoopi Goldberg, Walt Disney, and George Washington are among the well-known people whose stories are linked to dyslexia.
Is Starting Midyear Right for My Child?
Two families share what it was like for their sons to start at Gow in January, and why they believe it was the right choice.
Traveling 2,500 Miles to Find the Right School
A family from Washington State shares what they learned sending their son across the country to Gow, from reading the handbook to shipping early.
A Day in the Life of a Gow Student
Follow Caroline, an eleven-year-old boarding student from Portland, Oregon, from wake-up to lights out on an ordinary day at Gow.
Understanding the Language of Gow
A quick guide to the words you'll hear around campus, from tutorial and study hall to dorm parents, dress codes, and the Honor Scroll.
How We Coach Students Through Exams
How Gow teachers and Executive Function coaches prepare students for exams, by showing them how to study instead of just telling them to.
Exam Study Tips from Our Department Heads
Subject-by-subject exam advice from Gow's department heads, and the one tip that works in every class.
Study Tips for Students Who Find Executive Function Hard
Five study tips from Gow students who find organization and planning hard, from making a plan to building your own review packet.
The Benefits of an Academic Summer Program
How the Gow School Summer Program blends morning classes with afternoon fun to build skills, confidence, independence, and friendships.
The Dos and Don'ts of Packing for Boarding School
A Gow parent who has packed two sons for boarding school shares seven lessons learned, so your move-in day goes smoothly.
How to Pack for Boarding School
Five tips from Gow parents who have been through move-in day, from packing less to reviewing school rules together before you arrive.
Why We Dress for Success
Headmaster Brad Rogers explains why Gow students wear a uniform, and how the blazer, the tie, and the senior crest build unity, pride, and purpose.
Gow Students Make Their Own Music
In Gow's audio engineering program, students write, record, mix, and master original songs, then release them on Spotify and iTunes.
Top 10 Questions About Spring at Gow
Answers to the questions families ask most about the end of the year, from spring testing and the Cresting Ceremony to Commencement weekend and move-out.
College Admissions Q and A
Gow's college counseling office answers the questions juniors and seniors ask most about testing, staying on track, and choosing a college.
Tips for Learning Successfully from Home
Seven habits that help students with learning differences stay focused and on track when school moves online.
Guides for Parents
These longer guides go deeper, from recognizing the signs of dyslexia to choosing the right school. Each one draws on Gow's century of experience teaching bright students who learn differently.
Understanding Dyslexia in Children: Signs and Support
How dyslexia shows up from the early years through high school, how it is diagnosed, and what helps a child with dyslexia at school and at home.
A Guide to Language-Based Learning Disabilities
What language-based learning disabilities are, the most common types, how they are diagnosed, and how specialized schools help.
5 Signs That Can Point to a Learning Difference
Five signs that a child's struggles in school may come from a learning difference, and why an evaluation is worth asking for.
Your Child Has a Language-Based Learning Difference. What Comes Next?
A step-by-step guide for parents after a diagnosis: testing, common learning differences, your legal rights, questions for the IEP meeting, and how to help at home.
How the Right School Helps a Child with ADHD Succeed
How ADHD shows up at school, what a school built for students with ADHD does differently and practical ways to help your teen at home.
A Guide to Executive Function Challenges in Children
What executive function challenges look like, how they are evaluated, and practical strategies, like step-by-step plans and checklists, that help children succeed.
How to Know When It's Time for a Learning Differences School
Two signs that it may be time to consider a school built for your child's learning profile, and how to decide whether your child is ready.
Why a Boarding School Can Be a Smart Choice for Children with Learning Differences
What a boarding school for students with learning differences offers: individual plans, specialized staff, small classes, life skills, and a whole-child approach.
A Guide for Parents: Is a Boarding School for Learning Differences Right for Your Child?
Five reasons a boarding school for learning differences works for so many students: consistency, peers who understand, independence, a smoother road to college, and teaching built for each child.
10 Questions to Ask When Looking at a Boarding School
The ten questions families ask us most often, and our answers, to help you compare the boarding schools on your list.
Gow At A Glance
Our monthly four-page newsletter shares school updates, faculty and alumni profiles, and photos from campus.
