Welcome from the Executive Director

Welcome to The Southport School, an independent day school where children with language-based learning differences and ADHD experience school the way it should be.

At The Southport School, we don’t make exceptions – we celebrate the exceptional. We see cerebrodiversity not as a challenge, but as a strength. By embracing each student’s unique way of thinking and learning, we empower them to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Neuroscience and cognitive science have transformed how we understand learning and guide everything we do. And the possibilities are endless! Through The Southport CoLAB, our research arm, we work with leading scientists and educators to bring the most effective, evidence-based strategies into our classrooms, often well before they reach other schools. These approaches are tested, refined, and applied immediately to benefit your child while equipping families with tools to support learning at home.

Here, there are no PPTs or pullouts. With a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio, students learn in inclusive classrooms alongside peers with similar profiles, fostering belonging, bravery, curiosity, and the confidence to take risks. We are a transition school. From day one, we partner with parents, whose insights are essential, to plan for each child’s success here and on the next stop in their learning journey.

For more than 40 years, our compassionate, highly trained educators have delivered the latest science-backed teaching to our students. Our approach is proven. The progress students make here lasts a lifetime.

We invite you to visit and see what’s possible when difference is seen not as a deficit, but as a direction.

Executive Director, The Southport School 
Founder & Executive Director, The Southport CoLAB
President, The Dyslexia Foundation
Senior Scientist, Haskins Laboratories
Director, Yale and UCONN Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Lecturer, Yale School of Medicine; University of Connecticut

Associate Research Professor Psychology and Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut