There were ohs and ahs and screams of delight (that would be Dr. Webb!) as several Executive Board members and school leaders toured our new campus recently. They enjoyed visualizing the rooms which will grow around the steel studs already in place and climbed the stairs for beautiful views of the huge outdoor classroom.

The construction is on schedule and the building is now sealed from the outside and inside work is proceeding. Completion is scheduled for late April and the move-in for late May. The summer educational program will occur at the new campus!

We’re grateful to generous Houston foundations for their support as well as to corporations, parents, grandparents and friends who have already pledged their support.

Visit our website for more details.

Question: My child has Asperger and Tourette syndromes. The school tells me that his work avoidance is not related to his disorders but instead due to his emotional disturbance.

They say that he verbally tells the teacher to do things for him (when she asks him to get out his textbook he'll say, "you do it") and they say that they do not see tics, etc.

They also say they do not see sensory issues and that his problems with turning in homework is similar to others his age so it is normal behavior and not related to his disorders.

Any suggestions?

Visit our website for the answer to this question and other “Ask Monarch” questions from previous newsletters.

We at Monarch have a long tradition of using the MLK national holiday as one of reflection, education, and community service. Long ago, we chose to honor the holiday by focusing our minds and hearts on the day and shaping that day’s curriculum toward advancing the vision and contribution of Martin Luther King, Jr. Visit our website to see how we did this in our Apprentice Program and Challenger Program!

Recently, Monarch Challenger Teacher Frank Singer and his literacy class, along with John Barone, Monarch Director of Communications, enjoyed a phone conference with John Elder Robison, friend and honorary graduate of Monarch, to celebrate and review the work that they did reading and developing a Teacher’s Guide for Mr. Robison’s bestseller, “Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s.”

The class has been working for several months, reading and discussing the book, identifying the themes from each chapter and carefully developing summaries, discussion questions and activities to be included in a teacher’s guide, to be published this spring for Random House. After reading the manuscript, Mr. Robison wrote, “I think you and the kids have done a great piece of work here.”

Visit our website to read more about this exciting project!