The Vancouver Learning Centre

About

For more than 30 years we have offered assessment and rehabilitation services to children, youth and young adults that have led to improvements in learning well beyond expectations.

Story

In September 1980 Dr. Schwartz began her private clinical practice out of the offices of pediatricians, Drs. Krivel, Shuman and Yue in Vancouver. She hired and trained her first teacher, Cathy McLatchy, who visited children in their homes using materials they had stacked in the trunk of her car. Within a year they had moved to an office on Cambie Street in Vancouver. After several years of developing and expanding their program, finally, in 1997 the VLC bought and developed our current space at 1628 West 1st Avenue, in Vancouver.

During the mid 1990s, parents lobbying me to start a school proposed a full year of full time learning for young adolescents who were failing at school and were refusing to return to the classroom.

In a first experiment four students were accepted and the BOOST (Buying Out Of School Temporarily) Program was born. The idea was to provide temporary intensive teaching and rehabilitation to help the student transition back to school, or complete high school leaving and return to the mainstream in work or by going on to college or university. From the beginning the BOOST Program has been an outstanding success. Today up to ten students at a time might participate in the BOOST Program. More than 50 students are graduates of this program.

Young people at risk of not completing their high school programs or who had dropped out of school and were in “dead end” situations were accepted as another category of students. In these cases credentialed high school leaving courses were included in their programs to allow these students to complete high school. Many of these students have now completed four year university programs. Some have even proceeded to graduate school and professional training.

All these programs including special programs for autistic children, youth with Asperger’s Syndrome, and children with ADD and ADHD as well as all forms of learning and developmental disorders have been individually designed for clients.

The Vancouver Learning Centre Story is one of success based on solid evidence-based research on brain function and on the best possible practices in rehabilitation and teaching. As we move to deliver our services more widely, we would like to assure all of our past, present and future clients that the quality of our services will be maintained and as always continuously improved by a first class faculty of teachers and psychologists dedicated to offering the very best service to each client.

We believe more strongly than ever that each person’s potential can be stretched to achieve a personal best with a full service and targetted program delivered by a faculty dedicated to achieving the very best they can for and with every individual Vancouver Learning Centre student.

Mission

The Vancouver Learning Centre is a unique learning place because of the way we provide and combine services specifically focused on achieving the best possible outcome for our students.

Products

There are two parts to this service:

1. A comprehensive Neuropsychological and Educational Assessment.

-This is a comprehensive service that provides experienced test administration of both cognitive and academic skills by Registered Psychologists, using a neuropsychological lens to interpret data. From this a personalized targeted teaching program that emerges from the assessment is provided that fits each client like a glove.

2. Educational services that include the following:

-Academic teaching in all academic subjects
-Neurocognitive training
-Learning-to-learn skills
-Mentoring, support and development of behavioural and emotional maturity.
-One-to-one teaching


If you would like to have answers as to what can be done, you can book a complimentary interview with Vancouver Learning Centre Vice Principal Andrew Taylor by telephone at 604-738-2277 or by e-mail.