This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

The Howard School Graduation

Eight students graduated Friday from the Howard School, which teaches students with learning differences and disabilities.

With just eight graduates, you'd expect The Howard School commencement to be brief.

But each graduate was feted with a long speech detailing their personal and academic history, complete with charming anecdotes and the graduates’ future plans.

The Howard School is an independent k-12 school for children with language learning disabilities and learning differences, including personalized instruction to match individual learning styles and to help each student understand his or her learning process. 

Find out what's happening in Midtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A.J. Britt of Stone Mountain is passionate about politics, worked with Habitat for Humanity and the Lawrenceville Cooperative Ministry, and will attend Georgia State in hopes of becoming a criminal defense lawyer.

Jeremy Dwayne Brown of Lithonia once sold popsicles from an ice chest bungeed to his bicycle's handlebars, build an Apple computer from scratch and wants to become an audio engineer.

Find out what's happening in Midtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tracy R. Cole of Atlanta was known as the school's snappiest dresser, served on the school's honor council and golf team, and hopes to eventually attend Morehouse College.

Thomas Matthew Griscom of Atlanta has edited an e-newsletter since 2006, will attend college to study film and was called a respectful student, naturally attuned to other's feelings.

Taylor Lawrence Heffner of Lawrenceville once injured his wrist playibng Wii tennis, will attend Andrew College on an athletic training scholarship and was described as an affable, dependable, kind loving and compassionate student.

Kevin Nicklies Reynaud of Palmetto-- who picked Howard because the school had no uniforms--has an amazing memory, is persistent and will take a gap year before studying to become an electrician.

Carson Mackenzie Smith of Atlanta once drove a golf card into a tree, but was so tough, she dismissed the resulting stitches as nothing. A member of the yearbook staff and honor roll, she plans to study cosmetology because she loves to make people beautiful.

Katherine Ruth Williams, an artistically creative and gifted student, used to pretend she was a queen and her younger brother was an elephant and ride him around her home in unincorporated Decatur.  She’ll take a gap year after studying art in California this summer.

Friday’s commencement also included honors day exercises for the school. Shayla Rumely of the Board of Trustees noted that next year’s graduating class is expected to have 20 students.

The school was founded in 1950 by Marian Howard, a young teacher and graduate of Agnes Scott College, who poured her life savings into starting her own school. The Howard School is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Midtown