For Reading’s Austin Prep, an independent co-ed Catholic school serving grades 6-12, delivering a high-quality educational experience means constant innovation.
“Catholic schools historically have not been known for meeting kids where they are, who are outside of traditional mainstream instructional environments, learning environments. So, recognizing that there are a whole lot of kids and a whole lot of parents out there who want their children to have a Catholic education, we felt it was important to offer a program to meet those students where they are. We specifically and deliberately created a program to meet the 20 percent of the student population who have learning differences,” says Austin Prep. Head of School James Hickey, Ph.D.
The Richard J. Meelia ’67 Center for Integrated Learning empowers those students to thrive both academically and personally throughout their time at the school. The Center that opened for the 2025-2026 school year came from renovated existing instructional space that the school reconfigured with rooms that are appropriate for students with learning differences. There is a small classroom, administrative office space, and individual testing rooms.
“Recognizing that there were kids with executive function challenges, we wanted to make sure we’re meeting their needs. We trained about 25 staff members, faculty members who could work with students, both in an individual setting and small group setting. We’re finding that what’s more popular is the one-on-one,” says Hickey, “We partnered with some professional development providers to give our faculty and staff the training that they need to appropriately support students with executive function challenges. We call them St. Ambrose Fellows, and we chose that name specifically. These faculty have agreed to take on additional responsibility, workload where they are meeting, depending on the student, everybody’s needs vary a little bit, over regular intervals over our two-week rotating block schedule, so it could be three times over two weeks or five times.”
The Center is staffed with three full-time positions: the center director, a general learning specialist, and a literacy-focused learning specialist. “We all can learn, all of us, but we all don’t learn in the same way on the same day. Recognizing that is the overriding mission of the Center. In addition to working with students, the Center’s staff also supports the entire faculty. You could be a faculty member who has a degree in education, but you don’t necessarily have specialized training in special education or special needs, but you have a student in front of you who has ADHD. You want to be supportive and successful, but you don’t always know the best way to go about it. So, in addition to the Center staff supporting students, the Center’s staff also supports faculty members so that they are deploying best practices in their instructional environments,” explains Hickey. Every student who is associated with the Center has a regular class schedule, and there is frequent home-school communication and coordination.
Another dynamic initiative at Austin Prep is its relationship with Harvard University. “We engaged in a partnership with Harvard University where they were essentially conducting their own research on how to effectively and better teach students physics. So, we engaged in this partnership with them where our faculty and students would travel to Harvard for field trips at regular intervals where our students are going there to engage with college professors and college students about the study of science. That program morphed a little bit into using science and math in more of an emergency room setting,” says Hickey. The Austin Prep–Harvard Medical School MEDscience connects hands-on learning with real-world impact. Students do not simply study science. They perform surgical procedures, diagnose patient cases, and apply scientific principles to solve authentic medical challenges. The program is included in tuition and carries no additional cost to families.
Most recently, Austin Prep unveiled a renovated classroom that is dedicated to Stephen Williams, a beloved longtime faculty member who passed away last year. The Stephen Williams Classroom is a redesigned learning space featuring modern, modular furniture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, and student engagement.
Austin Prep will host its annual Middle and Upper School Open House on Sunday, October 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Families are invited to tour the 55-acre campus, meet faculty and students, and learn more about academics, athletics, the arts, student life, and the admissions process.
For more information or to register, visit austinprep.org or contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@austinprep.org