An expert team on a mission to modernize education
A non-profit organization on a mission to modernize education and redefine what’s possible for each child, and for the contribution a school can make to their future
Cajal Academy is both a school and a non-profit organization dedicated to developing new educational approaches that give teachers the tools they need to operationalize current neuroscientific research in the classroom. We offer a whole new approach to education, designed by an expert team under the leadership of a recognized neuropsychologist.
We are revolutionizing education, through a groundbreaking program that puts the neuroscientific advances of the last thirty years to work in the classroom. We empower students to optimize their own learning, social and emotional outcomes by digging into the data in their profiles, and driving neuroplasticity to build up those granular-level skills that hold them back. This research-backed approach is redefining what’s possible, by remediating differences that other public and private school environments are at best only able to accommodate. We teach each student the science of how their profiles influence their learning and social experiences and what they can do to optimize their readiness to engage in learning and social activities. All of this is integrated into standards-based academic curriculum, presented through intellectually-stimulating problem-based learning that develops the critical thinking and social collaboration skills that will be essential for them to thrive in college and beyond.
Now in our sixth year, our unique approach has brought transformative results for students with a range of struggles and allegedly immutable “disabilities,” often in as few as six to twelve months. Compare this to current “special education” approaches that focus on reducing the impact of a child’s disability on their access to the general ed curriculum through a series of accommodations and tutoring—rather than removing those obstacles themselves.
Cajal Academy was founded in 2019 as a nonprofit organization with a dual mission: to develop new educational approaches aligned to modern neuroscientific understandings, and to operate a flagship school for twice exceptional students, filling a hole in Connecticut’s and Westchester County’s current educational offerings. Over the next five years, we will expand into a K-12 school of up to 50 students, while maintaining small class sizes, high staff to student ratios and our tight-knit culture of supporting one another’s differences. As our cohort grows, we will also begin disseminating our protocols as teacher trainings and packaged curricula, so that we can impact educational practices beyond our school’s walls.
Cajal Academy was approved by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in summer, 2023 as a candidate for accreditation, and look forward to working with the Committee for full accreditation as soon as possible. Our school is located in Norwalk, CT. Cajal Academy has received IRS confirmation of our tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization.
We’re on a mission to modernize education. Modern neuroscience points the way.
Parents and educators everywhere agree that traditional educational approaches aren’t working well for kids who are on the ends of the bell curve. We started designing through custom programs for intellectually-gifted kids who find themselves at the edges, and followed modern neuroscience to develop a new framework that brings more of the kids into the middle of the conversation.
An expert, multi-disciplinary team
Cajal Academy was co-founded by a mom to two “twice exceptional” kids who is also a social entrepreneur and former litigator, together with the occupational therapist who has transformed both her kids. Soon they were joined by Dr. Steven Mattis: a neuropsychologist and medical school professor who has been recognized as a leading figure in the development of modern neuropsychology in the United States, who shares their passion to turn neuroscientific research into new educational practices empowering kids. Find out more about the educators and multi-disciplinary clinic at the heart of our program.
Born of one family’s journey to create a school where even the most complex learners can thrive
Find out how one child’s very unique needs is leading to a new, neuroscience-driven educational model for all
Honoring the father of modern neuroscience
Santiago Ramon y Cajal was a 19th century scientist and artist who struggled to find his educational home as a child — and went on to figure out how the human nervous system works by drawing what he saw under a microscope.
From our Blog…
Cajal Academy in the News
