From Lonely to Lofty Goals: Matthew's Experience
Two years into his education, Matthew Rieck experienced a feeling no student should ever experience. As a young first grader, Matthew, who was not attending Swift School at the time, felt lonely.
“I felt like I was always struggling,” he said. “It didn’t seem that the other kids were that way; it’s a very lonely feeling.
While Matthew felt lonely, his mother Jenny, a fourth-grade teacher at Swift, battled emotions and feelings of fear following his diagnosis of Dyslexia.
Matthew with his mother at Swift School's graduation
“It is heartbreaking to see a child try his best and continually fail. I worried that at some point, he’d give up trying.”
After the end of his first-grade year, Matthew’s parents decided to enroll him at Swift School, a place he stayed through his eighth-grade year. His feelings toward school did a complete 180 when he entered the Roswell, Ga., based institution.
“I didn’t dread school anymore,” he stated. “My attitude about school completely changed. The teachers made learning fun. I realized that other kids like me didn’t learn traditionally either, yet they were as smart as any other kids I’d ever known. I gained a lot of self-confidence.”
His mother saw a complete change in his demeanor once he enrolled at Swift.
“He smiled a lot. When he came home on the first day of school, he told me he had homework, but he knew what he needed to do. I could sense that he wasn’t confused and that everything was crystal clear to him. He saw himself as the capable, bright kid he had been all along.”
After graduating, Matthew enrolled at Woodward Academy, a private school 45 minutes from home and an institution where no one from his graduating class picked.
“That kind of risk-taking and bravery is a direct result of the self-confidence that he gained at Swift,” Mrs. Rieck said. “Swift gave Matthew the gift of knowing himself as a learner. He knows what he needs and isn’t afraid to advocate for it.”
Matthew works with Mr. Lytle on the bridge project, a end-of-the-year tradition in Mr. Lytle's eighth grade science class.
Added Matthew: “At Swift, I got the tools I needed to succeed in an environment (high school) where the tools for success weren’t handed to me. I learned what I needed to do to learn.”
Matthew plans to attend college and major in criminal justice with a lofty yet achievable goal, in large part thanks to Swift School, of attending law school.
Swift School’s teachers receive training in the Orton-Gillingham Approach, which Mrs. Rieck credited for much of Matthew’s success. Her closing words of gratitude beautifully sum up the change she saw in Matthew at Swift School.
“I would like to thank Matthew’s teachers. I often say, if not for Swift, Matthew would have been the kid in the back of the class with a hoodie pulled over his head, trying to fade into the woodwork. I truly wish every child could receive an education like Matthew did at Swift.”
Don’t know where to turn next and want your child to have a success story like Matthew? Call 678-205-4988 or email admissionassociate@theswiftschool.org