Tolatr Academy

Public Transportation : Bus
Language(s) Spoken : American Sign Language English Spanish
Part Time / Full Time : Full Time Part Time

Dissatisfied with her older daughter’s progress in school and recognizing the needs of her own children to receive and possess the basic skills necessary to function in our complex society Dr. Taylor developed a successful reading and language program for them. She primarily developed the learning program to teach her younger daughter Yvette age two to read before she started school. This program enabled both her children to read well or better and when used in the public school system enabled other elementary children to make remarkable progress.

Dr. Taylor then used her position as a public school teacher to introduce her reading program to her second-grade class. She first taught them an expanded version of the alphabet song that included each letter and all of its sound variations. Then she incorporated basic language techniques into daily oral drills. By the end of the school term each student’s reading level had improved by at least one grade. Parents impressed with their children’s rapid progress persuaded Carole to open her own school. Serving as executive director Carole hired three teachers for the school’s first students and held classes at a local Methodist church. In 1981 parents and teachers raised enough money for the down payment on the stately 23-room mansion that now houses T.O.L.A.T.R. Academy . The success exhibited by the students of the program enabled it to grow from a tutorial program to a summer school to a full-time licensed academy. The academy is named after Dr. Taylor’s reading program entitled Taylor ’s Oral Language Approach to Reading (T.O.L.A.T.R.).

Preparatory School

The school is funded by private donations and tuition fees which pay teachers’ salaries and fund supply purchases. The school is structured in multi-grade levels and programs are individualized to meet the needs of each child. When students leave here they’re ready for college.

The staff at the Academy possess a commitment and dedication to excellence in education and have numerous years of teaching experience. All are multi-degree bearing staff and are certified by the State of Pennsylvania Department of Education. The Academy’s support staff along with its volunteers is crucial to the Academy’s success.

Programs in Art Music Chess Computer Science Spanish and physical education are incorporated into the daily learning experience.
T.O.L.A.T.R. is fully licensed by the State of Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Daycare and Latchkey

T.O.L.A.T.R. offers daycare services for children ages one to five years and also offers latchkey services to students in Nursery school through Sixth grade.

Both staff and children work together as a team. The older children who attend the Academy have many opportunities to interact with daycare children. The older children forge a bond with the younger children by reading them stories and playing educational games with them.

• Story time
• Free Play
• Nursery Rhymes
• Recognition of Facial Features
• Music – Free Expression
• Socialization
• Water Play
• Magic Circle – oral activities – colors alphabet numbers shapes etc. (15 minutes)
• Painting
• Crayon (supervised) Drawing
• Animal Observation
• Educational Programming (Sesame Street Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood etc.)
• Videos: animated stories (periodically)

Child Ages:

6 weeks - 12 years

Licenses & Accreditations:

Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare

Vouchers:

This provider accepts vouchers

Preschool:

Yes

Hours of Operation:

Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.