Parent Education Programs

Three parents looking at worksheets while seated at a table.

Westmark School families are our vital partners! This partnership is strengthened by learning opportunities that empower parents and guardians to support academic progress, life skill development, and social-emotional well-being at home.

As a learning community, we are pleased to offer a newly revitalized series of free virtual and in-person parent education programs throughout the year. These "Westmark Essentials" are open to families of all currently enrolled Westmark students. Led by Westmark educators and guest experts, the programs provide practical information and key insights on developmentally appropriate topics related to students with language-based learning differences (LD)—just another benefit of investing in a Westmark education for your LD child!

Learn more about Westmark Essentials below.

Westmark Essentials: A Learning Series to Empower Westmark Families

Westmark Essentials

Launched during the 2024–2025 school year, Westmark Essentials: A Learning Series to Empower Families is a robust line-up of talks and workshops designed to communicate the essentials of our practice. Together Westmark families, faculty, and staff build a shared understanding and a common language about what distinguishes a Westmark education so that we can partner successfully and pursue the best outcomes for our LD students.

The Westmark Essentials schedule for 2025–2026 has been announced to currently enrolled Westmark families. Topics to be covered include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • OG Approach and the Science of Reading with UDL
  • ADHD: Motivation and Task Initiation
  • College and Career Knowledge—Sessions specifically designed for parents of various grade levels
  • Upper School Preview
  • Middle School Preview

Westmark parents and guardians, check your inbox for e-vites to each program in the series.

Other Past Parent Ed Programs

  • Left Behind—Film screening of the award-winning documentary about the founding of the first public school designed for students with dyslexia, presented in collaboration with the International Dyslexia Association–Los Angeles
     
  • Reading Fluency: Origins, Instruction, and Future Directions—Scholar-educator and literacy advocate Maryanne Wolf and developmental psychologist Melissa Orkin
     
  • Understanding the Brain Bases of Motivation—UCSF professor Christa Watson Pereira, Psy.D., Co-Director of the Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Clinic
     
  • Strengths of the Dyslexic Mind—Brock Eide, M.D., and Fernette Eide, M.D., co-authors of The Dyslexic Advantage (revised and updated, 2023)
     
  • Dyslexia and the Learning Brain—Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and co-director of the UCSF Dyslexia Center
     
  • Executive Function: Translating from Research to Practice—Manju Banerjee, Ph.D., Joanna A. Christodoulou, Ed.D., and Katharine Gibson, Ed.D.
     
  • Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines—Speaker, activist, and entrepreneur Jonathan Mooney
     
  • Changing Lives with Text to Speech—Founder of the Speechify app, Cliff Weitzman
     
  • Cyber Education—Educator, mother, and internet safety expert Lori Getz
     
  • Positive Strategies for Supporting Adopted Children—Tracy Carlis, L.C.P., a member of the “adoption constellation"
     
  • Kids’ Emotional Well-Being and When Should I Worry?—Westmark parent Stephanie Murray, L.E.P.
     
  • Maintaining a Supportive and Inclusive Environment for all Children at Home and in the Community—Calista Termini, A.M.F.T., and Mel Brown, L.M.F.T., from the Los Angeles Gender Center

Experience DyslexiaTM

“Inside the Dyslexic Brain: A Dyslexia Simulation for Parents and Guardians” is a recurring Westmark Essentials program featuring the Experience DyslexiaTM simulation, designed by the International Dyslexia Association–Northern California. The simulation enables attendees to experience how it feels to read, write, and process language when living with a language-based learning difference (LD).

When space permits, Westmark is pleased to open the program to non-Westmark families, healthcare practitioners, and educational professionals who work with pre-college LD students. We invite you to join the e-list for future presentations of the simulation.

JOIN THE E-LIST

Every parent with a child who has dyslexia should attend this presentation. It really helped me to understand what my child goes through at school. It's so much more than what I thought dyslexia was.

Pany
Westmark Parent

The simulation was an incredibly effective experiential opportunity to understand the frustrations that students with dyslexia face in school settings every day. I learned more in one hour than I did in years trying to comprehend what my own son was trying to communicate with me.

Stacy Lieberman
President and CEO, Library Foundation of Los Angeles

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