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Foundation
“Whatever
an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a
conformist; it should furnish you with original spirit with which to
tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will
be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a
person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you
are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to
die.”
John Gatto
Location
The school is located in Toughkenamon, Chester County, in southeastern
Pennsylvania. It is five minutes from Route 1, five minutes from Hockessin
Delaware, and five minutes from Avondale and Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania.
It is close to and welcomes students from Avondale, Kennett Square,
West Grove, Chester County and
Delaware County in Pennsylvania and Newark, Hockessin, North Star, and
Pike Creek in New Castle County, Delaware.
Our Founder
Andrea Shoap is White Clay Learning Center’s Founder, Director and
leading teacher of our intermediate group. She graduated from Penn State
in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a minor in
Biology. Andrea went directly into teaching and taught in various grades
for a few years in the Kennet and Avon Grove school districts, as well
as in the Tower Hill School in Wilmington, DE. Andrea and her husband
Michael then spent two years at the Iraklion Air Force Base on the
island of Crete, where Andrea was a fourth grade and Kindergarten
teacher for the Department of Defense.
Andrea and Michael returned home to the U.S. in 1992. She opened up her
preschool in 1993 just after her first child was born in order to
provide the best of schools for her children, as well as other families
who were interested in an individualized alternative approach to
education. After several years of evolving and perfecting her program,
White Clay Learning Center became an accredited K-12 nonpublic school in
2000. Andrea has since taken masters level courses in learning
differences and has guided her school in the direction of Dr. Mel
Levine’s certified Attuned Schools. Such schools are trained in
identifying, differentiating and enhancing learning strengths and
weaknesses in all of their students. Andrea and her husband Michael
have three children, who all spent their elementary and middle school
years at White Clay Learning Center. Andrea and her husband stay
very involved with their three active teenage children, the eldest of
whom plays football for Johns Hopkins University. She also is also a
lover of hiking, running, horseback riding and yoga.
Summer Services
White Clay Learning Center also offers the following
educational services during the summer:
Equine therapy for
confidence building, strength and balance training, as well as a
variety of other neuro and gross motor and emotional strengthening
needs.
Summer Spanish Camp for two separate weeks during the
summer.
Reading Tutoring throughout the summer for all
grades.
Math Tutoring throughout the summer for all grades.
Please call our school for further
information on any of these services.
