The Learning Center

We've Got Your Back.

The McCallie Learning Center intends to be a place where students can come to get assistance with any curricular matter within the whole range of courses offered at McCallie.

The help may be focused on specific content (genetics, calculus, Egyptian civilization) or more broadly on study skills: reading for the main idea, taking effective notes, reviewing for a multiple choice or essay test, or memorizing foreign language vocabulary.

We are at our best when a student walks in with a question, and leaves with an understanding of what he was doing, how he was doing it, and what he might do the next time he encounters a similar challenge.

At McCallie, there is no stigma in asking for help. We have students using the resources in the Learning Center to support them with courses from beginning Math 1 and Ancient History to AP Physics and AP Calculus. We will meet each student wherever he is, and attempt to help him move to the next appropriate learning level.

We stay in close contact with teachers, letting them know of the difficulties that a class or an individual student may be having, and supporting them in finding ways that can overcome these challenges. There is significant exchange of teaching ideas and techniques between the Learning Center staff and teachers. Such contact helps provide for individual attention and accountability. We also provide teacher support for make-up work when a student has been absent; for instance, we are a venue where students can take missed quizzes or tests.

We recognize there are times when a student may need more help than just an intermittent drop-in will allow. To that end, we have a terrific network of tutors in all subjects and can make arrangements for students to hire an appropriate tutor on a regular basis. These sessions occur in the Learning Center, typically during a free period or in the early evening.

Some students may have additional education testing which we can interpret and use to help him with his studies. The specific accommodations we support are listed in Appendix C of our student handbook.

We know many students want to spend extra time preparing for some of the national standardized tests. In addition to coordinating PSAT prep sessions for interested juniors, we also maintain a subscription to an SAT test prep program that has been very useful to past students. We can arrange tutors specific to test prep as desired.

The Learning Center intends to be a friendly atmosphere that balances focused learning with a more relaxed interchange of ideas and daily experiences. It is not a "library quiet" place, but we do expect the students to spend their time with us being productive. We encourage, even count on, students engaging with us to help them find academic success.