Fifty years ago, my mother, Rose Jane Townsend and I sat at her kitchen table and sketched out a plan for opening a learning center. Our dream was to use our collective years of experience teaching remedial reading to help children and adults who had trouble reading or learning. A humble $5000 brought us enough furniture, books, and teaching materials to get started in a rental office above the stores in Chagrin Falls. Back in 1970 we were the only learning center on the east side of Cleveland. A few ads in the local paper, and so speaking engagements at area PTAs and faculty meetings brought in enough business to cover our rent.

Our mission was always to determine what each person needed, and to ferret out what was in the way of their learning. We put together a tool chest of diagnostic tests and protocols, and we learned how to listen closely, to be sensitive to what worked and didn’t work to help each individual learn optimally.

Before long, we moved to larger offices, and hired several teachers. We even needed a front desk receptionist! We were known in the greater community for helping people of all ages learn the way that worked best for them. Our secret was intensive one-on-one diagnostic teaching with a pinch of fun thrown in!

Tragically, Rose Jane died of a cerebral aneurysm only five years after we founded Townsend Learning Center. To this day I consult with her “virtually"; how would you handle this, Mom?

I never considered closing Townsend, or moving on to another career. Instead, my creative team and I expanded our unique approach to learning to high schoolers applying to colleges, adults struggling to succeed in the workplace, and veterans who had been injured while enlisted. By 1999, we had learning centers in Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, and Cleveland. I sold the learning center in Chagrin Falls to Tony Whitehouse who carried on the individualized tutoring program.

In 2005 we increased our adult services to include injured workers who wanted to stay employed but who could no longer fulfill their job duties. With the immeasurable creativity of our team, led by Linda Malik, we created the flagship Work Adjustment program in Northeast Ohio, determining each individual’s readiness and physical ability to return to work, and helping them gain the skills necessary for working in an office environment. We have graduated over 500 workers who are happily and suitably employed.

Whew! After fifty years, we were required to innovate once again. Covid-19 mandated that we train some of our clients remotely. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as our students learned necessary skills of using technology to work from home. The remote learning program is highly successful, and will be an ongoing part of our curriculum, no matter what the future holds.

We invite you to celebrate our first fifty years! We would love to see you...our offices are Covid-clean and everyone is wearing a mask! Give us a call, and let us know you are coming!