Valley Breeze

2 Pawtucket NOVEMBER 13-19, 2013 | valley breeze | pawtucket edition Local mother: Don't be afraid to fight for your child's education that he had won the "Fabulous Freshman" award for academic achievement in the Freshman Academy at Tolman High School. A year younger than his sister, Nicholas had never won awards and accolades like Emerald. The freshman award was validation of her long-held belief that all her son needed was the right kind of help, said his mother. Jack-Clarke once said that Tolman High School was the last school she would ever send her children. But today, with Nicholas flourishing in the academy run by Assistant Principal Debra Westgate-Silva, she says her previous perception is nothing like reality. The teachers and staff at Tolman, much like those at St. Teresa School before, have taken Nicholas under their wing and educated him in the ways he learns best, said JackClarke. They've done nothing but provide reassurance that her decision to send him there instead of a private high school was the right one. A student in today's schools often has to have the "whole gamut" of problems, from attention deficit disorder to speech problems, to get the help he really needs, said JackClarke. "Borderline" kids like Nicholas all too often are left to fend for themselves unless their parents spend "thousands of dollars out of their own pocket." "If a parent is struggling and By ETHAN SHOREY Valley Breeze Staff Writer ethan@valleybreeze.com PAWTUCKET – Cindie Jack-Clarke remembers crying in frustration, wondering why the people who were supposed to be helping her son kept coming up short. School has never been easy for Nicholas Clarke. While his older sister Emerald has found that success in academics and athletics come pretty naturally, he's struggled to keep up. During his early years in school, Nicholas was one of those students who was always "falling through the cracks," says his mother. Every school official she talked to wanted to blame something for his issues, from social or behavioral problems to not being smart, but she knew better. Nicholas, now 15, was not only smarter and a harder worker than anyone was giving him credit for, said Jack-Clarke, but he had his priorities straight from early on, helping others with their problems even as he struggled with his own. "Since he was little, he just got it, he got the big picture," she said. "He was frustrated through life because of education, but he gets life." The pain and disappointment of repeated failure was all but forgotten last month when Nicholas and his family learned Valley Breeze photo by ethan shorey Cindie Jack-Clarke, of Pawtucket, left, says her son Nicholas, sitting here with her at their kitchen table, is finally on the right track academically thanks to some caring teachers and staff and her persistence in getting him the help he needed. She encourages other parents to fight for their children and not just trust what education experts are telling them. giving up and thinking the system has failed them, just go to another system," said JackClarke. "Just jump through another hoop." After many years of trying to get a diagnosis for what was wrong with Nicholas, Jack-Clarke said her son has officially been diagnosed with dyslexia, confirming "what I had known for so long." "Professionals need to listen to parents more," she said. "Some of us really know our kids." 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Both Nicholas and Emerald first attended a local private school. Though they were only a year apart in age, the academic gap between them kept growing. Jack-Clarke voiced her concerns but said she was told that boys are just slower learners and Nicholas was simply strug- gling like others with phonics due to some missed time in school. The excuses "went on," she said, but she couldn't wrap her mind around any of them. The grades continued to go down for Nicholas, so his mom took him out of that school and placed him at a public elementary school. The transition "was horrible," said Nicholas and his mother, as he struggled both with making friends and making the grade. Three years later, after a "bad experience" in grade 4, "with too many substitute teachers," Jack-Clarke moved her son to St. Teresa Catholic School in Pawtucket. "That is when I finally got some validation," she said. Fifth grade is such a "crucial grade," as students "are growing older and the workload is harder," said Jack-Clarke. The class was so big that three teachers were hired to help, a move that proved to be "the blessing of a lifetime for Nicholas." Teachers Jane Knowles and Pearl Cartier were veteran educators who understood Nicholas better than anyone before, and he "thrived with their help," said his mother. In grade 6, Knowles and Jack-Clarke approached Pawtucket school officials to ask for extensive testing. After months of "run-around and several meetings," school officials' findings "were inconclusive and they rejected any help for Nicholas," she said. Frustrated again, Jack-Clarke said she drew comfort from St. Teresa Principal Mary Carney, who assured her that she and Continues on next page

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