Press Releases

Leading East Coast Dyslexia Academician to be introduced at Achievement Night

MONTEREY, Calif.- Douglas Atkins, founder of the prestigious Janus School for dyslexic children in Lancaster, PA, has been appointed Executive Director of the Chartwell School, announced today by Bruce Michels, president of the Chartwell Board of Trustees. Atkins will be introduced to the Chartwell School community tonight at the institution's 19th Annual Achievement Night taking place at the Santa Catalina Performing Arts Center in Monterey. The event honors all of the school's 83 students with special recognition accorded those 24 students who will reintegrate into mainstream education in the fall. Michels said, "The staff, faculty and Board could not be more thrilled that a candidate of Atkins' caliber has accepted this appointment. It clearly positions Chartwell to expand its mission not only to serve the immediate needs of dyslexic school children, but to provide significant outreach services to other members of the community." Douglas is a rare breed of student who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, but chose to fulfill his five-year military commitment with the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant in the process. He subsequently set his sights on a career in education and earned a Master's of Education degree in Reading and Language from Harvard University. He became Academic Supervisor and Dean of Students at the Landmark Schools in Beverly, MA, and helped found Landmark College in Putney, VT, which remains today, the only institution of higher education to serve learning disabled students in North America. In 1991, he founded the Janus School, a K-12 school for children with dyslexia and related learning difficulties. He considered his mission completed last year and took a sabbatical year to decide upon his future in special education. Atkins, his wife, Kristen - also an learning disability educator - and their three children, will relocate to the area in July. Chartwell students, ages 7-13, hail in equal numbers from the Monterey Peninsula, Salinas and the Santa Cruz areas.

This year's 2002 'graduates' are:

Monterey Peninsula

Natalie Chambers, Chris de Dampierre, Kari Fjugstad, Kayla Naylor, Elisa Outzen, Matt Sysak and Jena Geach

Salinas Valley

Natalie Chappell, Kristina Goldstein, Danielle Johnston, Jason Herrier, Rob Kutz, Matt Mason, Brent McKinsey, Alex Mendiola, Shelby Sturvist, Justin Zetterlund

The mission of Chartwell School is to educate children with dyslexia and related language learning disabilities in a way that provides them with the learning skills and self-esteem necessary to return successfully to mainstream education.