In March 2022, The Hill School of Wilmington will celebrate a decade of educating and empowering students with LD and/or ADHD, by holding an “Oyster Roast and Ten Year Toast” anniversary event at the Watson College of Education at UNC Wilmington.*
When the school's doors first opened at St. James Parish on August 19, 2010, only six students were enrolled in the academic program. Since then the school has grown substantially, with current enrollment at 52 students and growing. This number is in addition to students enrolled in the summer and two tutoring programs. Furthermore, the Hill School serves as a beacon to the community through its outreach program by offering workshops to parents, teachers, and administrators who need more information and resources on learning differences.
While the school itself has grown, the heart of the mission remains to educate and empower students with learning differences so they can thrive not only academically, but emotionally and socially. When students first come to the Hill School of Wilmington, they often have experienced many challenges in their previous classroom settings, impacting their self-esteem and confidence. Through research-based, multisensory structured language methodology based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, students learn reading, written language, and math with a 4:1 student/faculty ratio which allows close student-teacher interaction. In this intimate academic setting, students are able to learn the strategies they need to succeed while growing in confidence.
Hill School Executive Director, Susan Mixon Harrell, is excited to commemorate the many ways the school has impacted the lives of students these past ten years. She also looks forward to possibly expanding the school so more students can be reached, “We know that the direct, multisensory, explicit instruction and the encouraging ‘growth mindset’ atmosphere here changes our students into more confident learners. We are delighted to have experienced successes both for individual students as well as institutionally in the last decade.”
The public is welcome to attend the Hill School of Wilmington’s 10-year anniversary celebration which will include live music from Wilmington's own Masonboro Sound, as well as a silent auction. The event is scheduled for Friday, March 11, 2022, from 6:30-10:00 PM.
For more information on the event, as well as ticket sales, please visit the EVENT PAGE on our website. Individuals or businesses who are interested in sponsoring the celebration may contact Susan Mixon Harrell at director@hillschoolofwilmington.org.
*This event was originally planned for October 2020 and postponed twice due to community concerns and COVID.