MLA’s Post-Secondary Program

Has your child completed high school?

Is he or she not yet ready to enter a college program?

Has he or she aged-out of most school programs?

Would he or she benefit from an opportunity to upgrade their skills in preparation to enter the workplace or a college program?

Then MLA’s innovative post-secondary program may be the opportunity your student needs to boost their basic academic skills, practice essential life and social skills, and ease the transition to adulthood. Our innovative program is designed for young men and women with a developmental disability (including those on the autism spectrum) who have completed between 7 and 14 credits but do not yet have the skills necessary to function independently in a college or workplace environment.

We offer young adults aged 19 - 22 with an encouraging environment in which to acquire important life skills including cooking, grocery shopping, banking and budgeting, and using public transportation. Students also work on improving basic academic skills including literacy, reading comprehension, and numeracy with a focus on content that directly transfers to work environments and vocational college programs. Because many of our students experience a high level of anxiety, stress-reduction techniques are incorporated into the daily program with each day starting off with a yoga session. Our program is rooted in an understanding of each student as an individual and incorporates practical, hands-on, and incidental teaching to prepare students for independent living and the transition to a less supported setting.

If you are struggling to find the right program for your post-secondary aged student, we encourage you to contact us.

Peer Mentor Breakfast!

This morning, MLA was filled with the sounds of happy students, clinking cutlery, and the smell of fresh pancakes! The Peer Mentor Program officially kicked off with the first Pancake Breakfast. Senior students could be seen helping their younger buddies cut pancakes and pour maple syrup, while also getting an opportunity to spend some quality time with their buddies! It goes without saying that our junior students were more than thrilled to spend time with their mentors for the first time this year.

MLA’s unique peer mentoring program pairs senior students with a junior student buddy in a safe and encouraging environment. The program serves to bring students of different ages, needs, and abilities together while simultaneously fostering positive peer interaction and mutual learning.  

Senior students have the opportunity to develop crucial leadership skills, give back to the school community, earn community service hours, and develop a better understanding of both their own and other people’s unique ways of experiencing the world. Of course, the younger students look forward to the time they spend socializing with their older buddies! In the process, both junior and senior students gain self-confidence and a greater sense of self-esteem.

The program nurtures a greater sense of community within the school, encourages students to learn from and accept one another, and promotes an interdependent school community that strives to meet the social and emotional needs of all kinds of learners.

We look forward to a wonderful semester of mutual learning and will keep you apprised of the progress and successes of our students.

Parent's Glowing Review

I always thought it was my job as a parent to make sure my daughter went to school well fed, rested and clean. I taught her good manners, to be kind to others and to listen to her teacher. When did it become my job to teach my daughter mathematics, science, how to read and essay writing?

Although my daughter loved to go to school, she wasn’t keeping up. In grade 5, her teacher called me at home one evening to tell me her concerns. She could read beautifully but couldn’t answer questions of what had just been read. It was as though it was going in one ear and out the other. She could not keep up with homework and really didn’t care that it wasn’t handed in. I was terrified she would be a high school drop out. Frantic, I called Merle Levine Academy and spoke of my daughter’s problems.  Merle and I had an extensive conversation about my daughter’s learning difficulties; and she made some recommendations that changed not only my life, but my daughter’s as well.

One was to have my daughter tested by an educational psychologist  to determine if she had learning disabilities. It was discovered that my daughter is a non verbal learner. Once my daughter was diagnosed, I enrolled her in Merle Levine Academy. WOW, it was no longer my job to teach her academics anymore! I was told not to help her with her homework. Finally, a school was doing its job. Through a highly individualized education plan, my daughter soared academically.

I am proud to say she got her high school diploma. She went to college for hair and makeup. She has her own business and works for a variety of free lance photographers and often works on set for television productions. If it wasn’t for Merle Levine Academy, I am convinced she would have been a high school dropout!