Becca Yimlamai ’25 has a lot on her plate.
Part of both the Asian Student Union and the Jewish Student Union, she is a member of Eco Leaders and a student leader of The Coleman Group, a campus mentorship club that aims to empower young women. She was elected as treasurer of the National Honor Society last spring, she’s looking forward to performing in the fall play, and her courseload includes both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) International Baccalaureate® classes.
“Mostly, I just like to learn and try things,” the personable North Haven resident said, smiling.
Yimlamai’s also enrolled in Roxbury Academic Support Program, a decision she credits with helping her juggle it all.
Celebrating its 25th year, Roxbury is Cheshire Academy’s signature approach to bolstering academics by teaching students the skills they need to develop as proactive, independent learners who take responsibility for their academic success. With a dedicated director and staff of master’s-level instructors, the research-based program offers personalized support for a range of students — from those with diagnosed learning differences to those stretching their intellect with challenging upper-level coursework to busy athletes, artists, and everyone in between.
“It really is a broad umbrella,” said Program Director Julie Kile.
“We’re helping them get the tools they need so they can thrive.”
Unlike traditional tutoring focused on one subject area or preparing for specific tests, Roxbury provides students with academic coaching that helps them become more efficient learners across the board. The idea is to teach strategies and executive functioning skills that allow students to organize, integrate, and manage their behaviors to reach their goals— whether that means writing an involved term paper or mastering a mathematics concept.
While Cheshire’s Roxbury program officially started in 1999, its roots extend deep into the Academy’s 230-year history, said Marc Aronson, dean of academics. Early in the 20th century, Cheshire, which was called The Roxbury School at the time, was a feeder school for nearby Yale University and patterned its tutoring after the Oxford model students would later see at the New Haven university.
"This is not something you intrinsically know. You have to learn it. Some families seek out Cheshire because we have this program."
In 1937, former Headmaster Arthur Sheriff penned an essay for The Academy Review detailing the importance of meeting students ‘where they are’ and helping them reach their full potential. Adolescents must be seen first and foremost as individuals, he wrote, guided to a state of “self-activity, self-reliance and self-respect.
“We may assume…that the general aim of education is not merely formal knowledge but an inward state of trained mental vigor, or…mental resourcefulness,” he wrote.
By the 1990s, CA educators hoped to bring a one-on-one model to their learning center and decided to honor the Roxbury name, Aronson said. Over the years, the program evolved into a five-pronged coaching method based on the most current research. Students with or without accommodations receive assistance with time management and learning strategies like mind maps and ‘chunking’ to break down long-term assignments into smaller tasks. The program, which involves about 10 percent of the student body, caters to individual needs with students meeting with their mentors for about an hour from one to three times a week. Students often meet with the same mentor over several semesters or throughout their whole time at Cheshire.
Roxbury staff are prepared to work with students with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other learning challenges, fluency issues, anxiety, and busy schedules. “We are working with each individual student and helping them learn what’s best for them,” Kile said.
It also includes collaborative goal setting and assessment and weekly feedback and communication with the student’s whole “team,” including teachers, coaches, and family.
Leah Stancil, who directed the program in its early years, likened the approach to “scaffolding with a huge net.”
All children want to be successful, she has said of Roxbury.
“We help them understand that success is not a destination, it’s a journey, and we’re here to help them prepare for it.” Self-advocacy — the ability to seek extra help or work with teachers to get the most out of classes — is a big part of the program that benefits students well into the future, Kile said.
Roxbury can also be tailored to short-term initiatives, such as helping new students entering Cheshire at mid-year or assisting students who are returning from medical leave. The program can be customized and titrated down as the student gains proficiency.
“I would love to do this for all students.” said Aronson, who emphasized that it’s a proven booster for confidence, independence, and success. “There’s no additional homework. It’s more a focus on growth toward goals.”
Kile, who has designed a guided study program during her 20 years in public schools, agreed, noting Roxbury teaches methods that are universally helpful.
“This is not something you intrinsically know,” she said. “You have to learn it. Some families seek out Cheshire because we have this program.”
Roxbury is a welcome complement to Cheshire Academy’s other student success components, including structured study hall, advising, peer tutoring, the writing center, and math lab. It’s often what helps a busy student get centered, push aside any self-doubt, and reach the goals they set for themselves. The program is intentionally based in the busy center of campus, John J. White ’38 Science & Technology Center, showing all students they are welcome to augment their academics with Roxbury.
“That’s what I love about it,” Kile said. “It’s so varied and it’s exciting when the student sees how it really works for them.
They can undo the tape they play in their heads, try new things, and see how capable they are. It’s very gratifying.”
Yimlamai welcomes the support with organization and writing, as well as general cognitive skills that help her in all her courses.
“I think if I came here and wasn’t part of this program, I wouldn’t be able to succeed as well as I do,” she said. “Now, I’m more aware of the issues I have with homework and how to face them. I take HL history, and I was hesitant to take it because there’s a lot of reading and writing. The prospect of it was scary. Now, l’m more willing to take more risks.”
