: RCS student, Hazel Joiner, learning to spell through hands-on, multisensory instructionRadcliffe Creek School (RCS) was recently awarded a generous grant from the Kathy and Jerry Wood Foundation to support needs-based scholarships for deserving students. The $100k grant award will remove significant financial barriers for area families who struggle to access the school’s individualized educational services, ensuring area children—who have learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD—can receive the academic interventions they rely upon to be successful in the classroom.
Each year, more than half of Radcliffe Creek’s student body receives some form of financial aid to attend the School. This year alone, over $526,000 in assistance has been committed to help families in need whose children learn differently. Head of School, Peter Thayer, explained, “Many of our students haven’t succeeded in traditional learning environments and need the small class sizes, daily interventions and customized instruction we provide here at RCS every day. However, accessing our services can be an enormous challenge for area families, who never expected to send their children to a private school. The generosity of the Kathy and Jerry Wood Foundation to provide this substantial support for scholarships will be a life-changing gift for many families. We are profoundly grateful to the Wood Foundation for making a Radcliffe education possible for these children.”
The Kathy and Jerry Wood Foundation, established in 2006, supports youth in attending nonprofit and educational institutions that aid in the intellectual, physical and moral development of American students. Through scholarship support, the foundation works to advance learning throughout the United States.
The foundation, based in Annapolis, Maryland, was also the area Kathy and Jerry Wood called “home.” Before their deaths, Jerry founded the Annapolis Sailing School and together, the couple transformed the school into the largest commercial sailing school in the United States. Later, the Woods established the sailboat show and the powerboat show, revolutionizing the boat show industry. For this work, the couple was credited with helping to shape the modern recreational boating industry and build broad recognition for the City of Annapolis as the “Sailing Capital of America.”
As the only K-8 school on Maryland’s Eastern Shore specialized in educating children with learning differences, Radcliffe Creek School (RCS) continues to stand out as a critical resource for area families. RCS students hail from eight counties, from Prince George’s County in Maryland to Sussex County in Delaware. To learn more about the immersive, individualized education program offered at Radcliffe Creek School, visit www.radcliffecreekschool.org or call 410-778-8150.
