As fifth-year Ph.D. candidate Kristin Simmers settles into what she describes as her \u201cdream job\u201d at Forman School in Litchfield, so too are UConn and her new employer settling into a partnership built around learning and research opportunities for students and faculty at both educational institutions.<\/p>\n
While conversations with Forman, a boarding and day-school for students with learning differences including dyslexia and ADHD, began before Simmers came on in July as its director of cognition and learning, her ties to UConn are what she says made her stand out as the best person for the newly established position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people would ask me what I wanted to do after my Ph.D., I would describe this job and then quickly say, \u2018But those jobs don\u2019t exist,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cSo, when this opportunity came up, a role that serves neurodiverse learners where the primary goal is forming research practice partnerships, that\u2019s just a dream opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmers says she\u2019s still plugging away after-hours on her dissertation in learning sciences<\/a>, within UConn\u2019s Department of Educational Psychology<\/a>\u00a0in the Neag School of Education<\/a>, and spending much of her workday developing synergies between Forman and her soon-to-be alma mater.<\/p>\n Fumiko Hoeft, campus dean and chief administrative officer at UConn Waterbury<\/a>, says she\u2019s known of the nearly 100-year-old Forman School<\/a> for decades through her work as a neurophysiologist studying the brain and dyslexia, but hadn\u2019t sought more formal ties until about a year ago when the regional campus\u2019s Neurovariability Initiative<\/a> started to take shape.<\/p>\n The initiative, which started last spring and which Hoeft and engineering professor Arash Zaghi co-created, aims to cultivate a learning environment in Waterbury that uses educational neuroscience, AI-enhanced tools, and Universal Design for Learning to help UConn students succeed. The other goal is to attract more diverse learners to campus.<\/p>\n \u201cUConn Waterbury is a small campus with 750-plus students,\u201d Hoeft says. \u201cThese kinds of small environments are well equipped to teach a diverse student body. We often know the students\u2019 names and faces. They can stop by offices easily in a one-stop-shop structure, so it\u2019s less confusing.\u201d<\/p>\n In talking with Forman about offering Early College Experience, or ECE, courses<\/a> to give its students UConn credit for classes taken in high school, Hoeft says she learned the school in northwestern Connecticut hired Simmers to head its cognition and learning center that opened in a new building in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\nPart of Waterbury\u2019s Neurovariability Initiative<\/strong><\/h4>\n