LearningRX Offers Training, Not Tutoring

If a student is struggling in school, local parents may decide to send them to a tutor to help them do better in class.

But a new learning service in Short Hills is striving to correct the core problems that may cause a student to have trouble in school.

"We are not a tutoring service," said Monica Spence, LearningRX director. "We start at the core."

Children work on core skills, like reading, in kindergarten through second grade. But if there are hiccups and problems in those early grades, they never really are fixed, she said. "They may not reach their full potential," she said.

Spence said her daughter was struggling in school after working with lots of one-on-one tutors, which had minimal results. She took her to the LearningRX center in Chester, and her daughter was in a 12-week program there. Halfway through her program Spence received comments from her daughter's teachers about her attention, completing assignments and an improvement in her grades.

"There's only one in New Jersey," she said of the LearningRX center. "I wanted to bring it to many other families."

Spence used to live in South Orange and knows plenty of parents in the area, who she feels will benefit from the service.

Noel Gussen, LearningRX director of training and assistant director, said the center offers physical training for the brain. "A physical trainer may push you to your limits, and we're doing the same thing," he said. "We push you beyond what you think your level is."

Students take the Woodcock-Johnson test so trainers can learn where they may be deficient and then create a learning program for them.

Students work in a training room with other students working at the same time at the Morris Turnpike center. Gussen said most people work in environments where there are distractions, which is why they have students work in rooms with other students. "It's a natural environment," he said.

Trainers use stopwatches and a metronome to create an intensity and pace for students to work.

Programs vary on length depending on the assessment, but typically they are six to 24 weeks. They also have summer programs that are summer but more intense. Coming in the summer can give a student the edge in the fall, Gussen said. Among the things the training can help with are reading, math, memory retention, ADHD and processing speed.

Students who go through the program have a 98.9 percent retention rate of the skills they learn at LearningRX, Spence said. They are retested a year after they finish the program.

But the program isn't just for students who struggle in school. Students who are acheiving can get an extra boost or edge in the classroom, Gussen said. It's an enrichment for them.

Gussen said the training also can help athletes because they will start processing information faster. "An athlete needs to remember things and make quick choices," he said. "It's training they can carry for the rest of their lives."

But it's also not for students in the classroom. Gussen said business professionals may want a sharper memory, and the program will help them.

The training also can help seniors who have memory loss or people have suffered head injuries and have similar memory issues.

Locals interested in the service can visit an open house on Saturday at the center at 636 Morris Turnpike at 2-5 p.m.