Supporters celebrate opening of Wolcott School
Submitted by Wolcott School
Some 200 supporters of Wolcott School, 524 N. Wolcott in West Town, the Chicago area’s first independent high school for college-bound teens with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences, attended a cocktail reception recently to celebrate the school’s August 2013 opening.
Highlighting the Wolcott School Founders Event was the dedication of the Pearl H. Rieger Scholarship Fund to provide tuition assistance for students who could benefit from a Wolcott education and to help ensure economic and cultural diversity at the school.
“Our success will be measured in how we change lives of students from all backgrounds,” Jennifer Levine of Chicago said. Levine and her husband, Jeff Aeder, are Wolcott School founding board members.
Carol Marin, journalist and TV personality and one of many parents in attendance whose children have struggled with learning differences, praised Rieger for insights and recommendations that enabled her son to achieve educational success.
“Pearl Rieger has been a bridge across troubled waters for us, and now she’s the symbol of this school,” Marin said, introducing the honored guest.
A pioneering psychoeducational diagnostician whose skill in assessing learning differences and recommending educational strategies have made her renowned nationwide, Rieger noted the frustration she felt many times during her 40-year career at having to break the news to Chicago-area parents that the best education for their children was not available locally.
“Now these children can live at home and get the education they need and deserve,” Rieger said. “The opening of Wolcott School is a dream come true.”
Students enrolled at Wolcott School live throughout Chicago and its suburbs, including Aurora, Glencoe, Hinsdale, LaGrange, Lake Forest, River Forest, and Western Springs, according to Wolcott Head of School Dr. Miriam Pike, Ph.D., former chair of special education at Deerfield High School.
The James Tyree Community Resource Center at Wolcott School will sponsor programs and best-practices workshops on learning differences and disabilities for area parents, professionals and students to benefit the educational community beyond the Wolcott student body, Pike added.
Members of the Scholarship Dedication Committee included Nancy and Steve Crown, JoAnn Eisenberg, Harriet Gershman, Lori Gersten, Susan Manilow, Judith Neisser, Abby O’Neill and Carroll Joynes, Margot Pritzker, Marly Robins and Carole Stone.
Applications are being accepted for August admission from entering freshmen and sophomores. For information about Wolcott School, visit www.wolcottschool.org. For application information, contact Rachel Spiro at (312) 610-4900 or rspiro@wolcottschool.org.
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