Susan Santora

Learning House History

Susan Santora, founder and director of Learning House, is a graduate of Connecticut College, received her master’s in Special Education from Southern Connecticut State University, and advanced training in Supervision and Administration from the University of Connecticut. Her early career included teaching special education students and administration, as well as working for the Yale Child Study Center and Elmcrest Psychiatric Hospital. Over time her interest gravitated to the students who were having difficulty reading and she began intensive training in the Orton-Gillingham approach with nationally known educators Sally Childs and Alice Koontz. In 1983, Susan began offering specialized instruction in her Guilford home. Another teacher and a clinical psychologist joined her to provide instruction and diagnostic services to individuals with dyslexia and other learning disabilities and Learning House was born.

Additional teachers joined Learning House to receive supervision and experience in Orton-Gillingham. The approach is consistent with the criteria for research based reading instruction as outlined in the National Reading Panel (2000) directed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Over time Learning House out grew Susan’s home office and relocated to the Church Street facility. Learning House now has a professional faculty of 12. The mission to provide quality literacy services in a supportive home-like environment has not changed.

OUR STAFF

Our staff is comprised of a facility director, certified and licensed educators, psychologists, and speech and language therapists. They comply with the standards set forth by their professions.

Susan Santora, founder and director of Learning House, is responsible for the overall business and clinical management of Learning House.

Our educators are trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach and are required to become certified by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE). We adhere to the professional and ethical standards of the Academy and the Association of Educational Therapists (AET).

Our licensed clinical psychologists are PhDs with testing and clinical experience, and have a focus on learning disabilities.
Our speech and language therapists have CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competence – Speech-Language Pathology) certification and may have Orton-Gillingham Training.