On Centre

An increasing number of Milton students are visiting the Academic Skills Center and encouraging their classmates to do the same.

Story by Andrea Dawson
Photos by John Gillooly

Semester exams were looming. Armed with their study materials, students stretched out on plush chairs, filled three quiet study rooms, and gathered around tables with built-in whiteboards. Contrary to appearances, they were not in the library. They were nestled in the Academic Skills Center (ASC), Milton’s welcoming hub of learning support.

Before the 2023–24 school year, the ASC (known by students as the Skills Center) was tucked in the basement of the old library. But its new location and look—a light-filled space on the second floor of Wigglesworth Hall, smack in the middle of campus—is both a symbolic reflection and a practical response to its increasing use among students.

When she became director of academic support in 2020, mere months into the pandemic, Lainey Sloman recalls, students were reluctant to visit. That changed dramatically in the past school year. “Nearly one of every three Upper Schoolers met with us,” she says. “I’m excited by that cultural shift, that students no longer feel stigmatized coming to us for help.”

That help comes in many forms. Sloman and the Upper School learning specialist, Kelsey Mumford, manage an impressive array of programs and resources in the ASC, from 1:1 academic support, workshops, and drop-in help to peer tutoring (an initiative known as TutorMilton), teacher training, and campus advocacy. What’s more, help is available to any Milton student.

While they work with those who have diagnosed learning differences, such as ADHD and dyslexia, and develop individual accommodation plans for them, Sloman and Mumford support plenty of other students, too. Often just a handful of visits can get them back on track.

“Over half the students we meet with do not have a documented learning profile or receive any formal accommodations,” Sloman explains. “Our work, which complements the classroom support teachers already provide, is in service to the goals and needs of individual students.”

Some benefit from essay-writing tips and test prep, for example, while others get a primer on executive functioning skills, such as time- and task-management and procrastination-busting strategies. Sloman and Mumford frequently share paper planners and digital planning tools.

Central to the ASC’s work is a close partnership with Milton’s counselors, advisors, and classroom teachers, who often refer students and help identify what types of support will be most beneficial. (Several Milton faculty staff the center during its popular drop-in hours.) The goal: Helping students uncover what they need to learn best, and coaching them to use those strategies on their own. “We’re always nudging them towards independence,” Sloman says. “And that independence often comes from greater confidence utilizing the resources on campus.”

Upper School faculty members (L–R) Peter Kahn, Sarah Jacobs, and Eric Idsvoog work in the Academic Skills Center. Teachers partner with the ASC to provide support for students.

Supporting students new to Milton—freshmen, yes, but also transfer students in any Upper School grade—is another priority area. Sloman and Mumford meet with them during orientation and throughout the first several weeks of school. A series of fall workshops they host cover all the basics: Locating the printers on campus, using Google Calendar to set up teacher meetings, composing effective emails, and building healthy homework habits, for example.

Including upperclassmen in their workshops is essential, Sloman notes. “For new students, the ASC is as much a social-emotional support as an academic one. Destigmatizing asking for help is a significant part of our efforts with them, and it’s compelling to hear from fellow students who have been in their shoes.”

Molly Sheehan ’25 is a prime example. “My cross-country teammates and other friends and classmates know I use the Skills Center, so I get a lot of questions,” she says. “Being able to tell them about it and how essential a resource it has been for me has been gratifying.”

Together, she and Oliver Sin ’25 serve as two of the coheads of the Advocates for Diverse Abilities affinity group, which partners with the ASC on campus advocacy efforts. Every spring, they proudly take eighth-graders through the space. “It’s really nice to be able to connect with younger students and offer them some advice,” Sin says. “We let them know it’s OK to have learning struggles; the ASC is here to help.”

This kind of student outreach—combined with the improved visibility and accessibility of the ASC on campus—has increased not only its demand, but its impact on students.

It’s really nice to be able to connect with younger students and offer them some advice. We let them know it’s OK to have learning struggles; the ASC is here to help.

Sloman estimates that just four years ago, when she arrived on campus, 30 percent of students referred themselves. Today, thanks to the buzz, that number is closer to 60 percent. Stretched thin keeping pace, she and Mumford are nevertheless proud of their efforts.

“A big part of a Milton education is self-reflection and learning how to use your voice for what you need and what you see others around you needing,” she says. “If the ASC can help students in that way, we’ve been successful.”

Andrea Dawson is a freelance writer for K–12 schools, institutions of higher education, and adjacent organizations.

Sixth-grader Sidney Lamousnery ’31, who has been dancing since she was two, recently added choreography to her list of dance pursuits.

Story by Sarah Abrams
Photos by John Gillooly and Kjeld Mahoney

At the beginning of the school year, sixth-grader Sidney Lamousnery ’31 was asked if she might be interested in putting together a step-dance routine for the upcoming Winter Assembly—a festive all-school get-together that takes place in December before students leave for winter break. It would also be performed at the MLK Day Assembly in January.

At 12, Lamousnery had been dancing since she was 2, but step dance—a rhythmic series of percussive claps and footwork—was still a relatively new dance form for her, and she remembers feeling a little hesitant. She thought about asking a few friends for help, she recalls, but then it all just started coming together.

“That weekend I got home and began testing out beats, trying to find a rhythm, something that might work,” she says. “I stood there in front of my iPad recording different possibilities, because if it was good and I didn’t catch it on camera, I might forget.” It wasn’t long before she had put together something that she liked—a lot.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to share what I had created,” she remembers. “I knew they were going to like it.” The following Monday, Lamousnery showed what she had come up with to JoAnn Brown, the Lower School’s dean of teaching and learning, and Kim Alston, the Lower School learning specialist. Brown and Alston are the founders of the Lil’ Steppers, the school’s step team for students of color in grades three through five, which was recently expanded to include students in grades six through eight.

Brown and Alston couldn’t have been happier when they saw what Lamousnery had created. “It was beautifully choreographed,” says Brown. “The fact that she created a step routine within a couple of days was just so impressive. We shared it with the Upper School’s step-team leaders, Shaleka Maddix ’26 and Christina King ’27, and they said, ‘We don’t need to create a routine for you all; let’s just use Sidney’s. Hers is phenomenal.’ So we went with it.”

I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to share what I had created.

Step dance was something both Brown and Alston knew a lot about, having participated as step dancers in college and high school. “Stepping is a passion for both of us,” Brown says, “as an African American representation of music, rhythm, stomp, and dance that we wanted to share with the community.” From the beginning, the Lil’ Steppers have partnered with members of the Upper School’s step team, 898, Trinity Hartridge ’23, Jaiden Delva ’24, and Oluwatamilore Adewumi ’24, who help introduce step to the young dancers.

Performing arts and cocurricular activities—such as dance, robotics, and math competitions—provide opportunities for Milton students to work together across grades and academic divisions, often providing meaningful and lasting mentorship connections among older and younger students.

“They really were wonderful mentors to the students, teaching them all the components of the steps,” says Brown, who is delighted that the program recently grew to include Middle School students.

“We’d wanted to grow the program beyond the Lil’ Steppers in the Lower School and our partnership with the Upper School 898 Step Team. Including the Middle School was the way to do it, and we now have a K–12 step team,” she says.

“For some of our third-graders,” Brown says, “step was new, so we would help them. It’s about eye/hand coordination and keeping to the beat and rhythm. For some, it was really challenging, but they got it.”

The Lil’ Steppers’ performances—at both the Winter Assembly and the MLK Day Assembly—were great successes. “We stole the show,” says Brown, “and Ms. Alston and I are incredibly proud that Sidney’s talent got to be showcased.”

In addition to her participation in step dance at Milton, Lamousnery explores dance outside school, studying tap, ballet, and jazz twice a week at a studio near her home and entering dance competitions around Boston. The hours she devotes to dance are long, but “it’s not a sacrifice,” she says, “if it’s your passion.”

And now choreography can be added to her résumé. “It is so much fun when you’ve created something you like,” she says about her venture into choreographing. “I surprised myself that I created something amazing. I thought I would need help, but then I just started stomping, trying to make sounds with a beat and ended up putting together something really cool.”

The Lower School team performs throughout the year, including at MLK Day and during Black History Month. It has also performed at Beatstock, an annual spring event, and, last year, the Lil’ Steppers were invited to perform as part of Jason Delva’s ’24 senior project about step. “These have all been really wonderful opportunities for the kids,” Brown says.

“When I got the call to have the Lil’ Steppers perform at the Winter Assembly, I immediately thought of Sidney and her enthusiasm and talent as a Lil’ Stepper,” Brown says. “Sidney was excited back then about stepping and was creating step routines of her own.”

Thirty-four students volunteered to participate in the December production, which was open to all Milton students in grades three through five. Because of the number of dancers, the group was split in two, with one group performing at the Winter Assembly and the other at the MLK Assembly in January. Starting in early October, students rehearsed the routine weekly. A recording of the dance was sent to the students and their families so that they could practice at home.

A few former Lil’ Steppers, in addition to Lamousnery, also helped out. “The amount of time, effort, and energy that a few of the students put in—including Sidney, C.J. Cafferty ’31, and Annie Prudent ’31—was remarkable,” Brown says. “They would come over during morning recess or lunch and teach the kids how to step, giving them feedback about the rhythm of the step and their arm positioning, making sure we were stepping as one voice and in sync.”