9-year-old’s success skyrockets after move to Marburn

Finding the Right Fit: For Chloe Ray, learning didn't come as easy until she found the right school

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When Chloe Ray was 5 years old, she and her parents, Lara and Nathan, moved to New Albany. Their new home in the Windsor neighborhood faced an open field, which remained empty for a few years until trucks and construction equipment began showing up.

Chloe and her family didn’t know it at the time, but her life was about to change forever.

The land was being prepared for Marburn Academy’s new school building. Marburn is an independent day school devoted to serving the educational needs of bright students with learning differences such as dyslexia and attention disorders. When the Rays learned of this, they, and 20 of their friends, walked the land, praying that the families who needed Marburn would find support and that the school would be fun for the students.

Chloe remembers thinking she wasn’t very excited about something being built across the street from her new house.

“At first, I was a little disappointed because I had a really good view from my bedroom, and the best sledding place was there,” she says, though her attitude changed when she learned it would be a new school. “Once I saw it was going to be a school, I wasn’t disappointed anymore, and I said, ‘I really want to go there.’”

During Marburn’s construction, Chloe attended New Albany-Plain Local Schools’ 2-8 Building. Though this was where the Rays envisioned Chloe to be, learning didn’t come quite so easily to Chloe as it did to her peers. She was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, and the building that displaced her favorite sledding hill became Chloe’s new school.

At first, I was a little disappointed because I had a really good view from my bedroom, and the best sledding place was there. ... Once I saw it was going to be a school, I wasn’t disappointed anymore, and I said, ‘I really want to go there.

“At the initial informational meeting, about two months before Chloe was accepted (to Marburn), the school’s admissions director, Celeste Stevenson, said all the things I always believed about my daughter,” says Lara. “I remember going home and telling Nathan, ‘All right, let’s figure this out. We’ve got to take the next steps to get her in there because this is the perfect spot for her.’”

Chloe is now a 9-year-old third-grader in the Lower Division at Marburn Academy, and by all accounts is flourishing. She has developed a new love for reading and for climbing the rock wall in gym class, and she feels surrounded by support to help her learn differently.

“Mrs. (Leslie) Dilley is my favorite teacher. She’s really nice,” Chloe says.

And the feelings are mutual.

“At the beginning of the school year, when we first met Chloe, she was shy and afraid of making mistakes,” Dilley says. “Now, as we see Chloe becoming more confident and comfortable, we see her share her empathy and kindness with peers, visiting students and new students at Marburn. She performed in the school musical, takes risks in the classroom and she is now beginning to see the progress for which she has been working so hard.”

Lara noticed the change in Chloe that Dilley observed, too.

“She’s happy and excited to go to school. Her confidence has gone up,” she says.

Even Head of School Jamie Williamson has witnessed Chloe’s development firsthand.

“Many of our students have struggled before coming to Marburn, and the teachers, staff and students work so hard toward those moments when learning finally clicks and progress begins to be made,” Williamson says. “We are thrilled that this has been Chloe’s experience so far.”

Outside of school, Chloe’s favorite activities are riding her horse, Pippy, and simply enjoying life in New Albany. Chloe also loves learning about animals, and already knows what she wants to be when she grows up.

“I want to be a veterinarian,” she says.

Chloe and her parents are confident that, no matter what path she eventually chooses in life, her time at Marburn will help her get there.

“I am an absolute believer that God moved us to the right neighborhood and school,” says Lara. “We couldn’t avoid it; it was staring us right in the face. Marburn was the solution for Chloe to be successful.”

Bob Valasek is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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