Brehm Preparatory School

Helping learning-disabled students achieve their full potential

Brehm Preparatory School is a private, coeducational, non-for-profit boarding school for students with learning disabilities in grades six through 12. Located on an 80-acre campus in Carbondale, Ill., this fully accredited school has been successfully teaching students with language-based and complex learning disabilities to “learn how to learn” since 1982. With a staff of 150 serving 90 students per year, the Brehm School offers a “family-style,” 24/7 environment uniquely designed to foster independence and responsibility. Brehm students go on to college, find fulfilling careers and become successful entrepreneurs.

Private schools for LD students are often the only way that children with learning disabilities get a chance to discover what they are truly capable of doing with their lives. The truth is that most public and private schools are unable to give students with learning disabilities the help they need. Schools for learning disability students are set up with small classes and a great deal of individual attention. At Brehm School, each student receives individualized instruction, providing the strategies and techniques to overcome his or her specific challenges.

Brehm Preparatory School’s mission is to empower students with language-based and complex learning disabilities and differences to recognize and optimize their potential throughout their lifetime. To accomplish this goal, Brehm employs a holistic approach, evaluating the individual needs of each student throughout the academic year, and fostering a family environment where the educational, social, and emotional needs of each student are addressed.

Students enrolled at Brehm School have various learning disabilities (LD), including dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aphasia, Asperger’s, nonverbal learning disorder (NLD), visual processing, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, anxiety disorder, auditory processing disorder, speed of processing disorders, and dysphasia. Brehm School uses the term “complex” learning disabilities in recognition that students experience difficulties in multiple areas of functioning. Brehm’s holistic program focuses on the combined academic, social and emotional effects of having a learning disability.

Brehm School boasts 30 years of experience in learning disabilities education. This experience has shown that a boarding school environment is the most effective way for students with learning disabilities to achieve their full potential. Brehm School offers extensive individualized support to monitor and care for students after their academic day is finished. After-school tutoring is available if needed or requested by parents, and an assortment of activities is scheduled for students after their school day. In recognition of this specialized program, the U.S. Department of Education named Brehm School a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Brehm was the only boarding school to be so honored.

Brehm’s diverse staff customizes a program for each student’s needs, which makes Brehm a leading innovator among schools for learning disabilities. Administration manages student enrollment so that faculty and staff have the time and resources to give students individualized support. Classroom sizes range from just one to eight students per class. Brehm’s administration team also continuously researches student learning disabilities, which is a primary reason that so many of Brehm’s graduating LD students continue their education after graduation.

Brehm Preparatory School is located at 1245 E. Grand Avenue, Carbondale, Ill., 62901. For more information, contact the admissions department at 618-457-0371 or visit www.brehm.org.