Our mission to guide students and parents while they walk through the process of healing from traumatic events, giving them tools to foster resilience and hope, is exponentially strengthened through the partnership with Alabama Game Changers. This partnership began with one student referred to Rising Hope Academy by another private school, a student who was a patient of Dr. Stephanie Denton. I fostered that student for one year. As Dr. Denton learned about Rising Hope Academy through our doctor’s visits, and I learned about her passion to serve children with learning needs. I began to refer our students to her practice. Our school serves students in Kindergarten through sixth grade, and the majority of those students are children from The Lovelady Center, a local ministry that serves women and children in crisis.

By the following school year, Dr. Denton and I were able to communicate more frequently. I attended a meeting with several stakeholders and Alabama Game Changers. I was able to meet Dr. Tim Conway, and from our conversation, I began a journey of learning about the trauma of undiagnosed, untreated dyslexia. In March of that year, Covid-19 forged a strong partnership between our organizations. Dr. Denton went above and beyond to serve our students, ensuring there were no gaps in medical care as we pivoted from an academic staff to a support service for our students’ families.

Our partnership continued to grow strong through generous sponsors and grants which enabled us to hire our first interventionist trained by Alabama Game Changers for the academic year of 2020-2021. We had thirteen critically at-risk students in a pilot program receiving NOW! treatments and the results were amazing! Of those thirteen students, there were various learning needs. Two had speech needs, eight were diagnosed ADHD/ADD, two diagnosed with general anxiety disorder associated with dyslexia. Five received testing and were diagnosed with dyslexia, and one was referred to an eye specialist and received occupational therapy.

Our pretest results showed 100% of students in the category of “Urgent Need of Intervention”. On average, students made 23% gains in reading, well above a standard deviation. One student who made small gains in the pilot program year made gains this academic year, increasing by 6% in her 1st quarter test, and now, in the 3rd quarter, she is on grade level in 6th grade for the first time!! Her gains were strong in math as well. Her grade level increased from 3rd to 5th in one year. Two students made 30% gains reading, and one made 50% gains in reading! One student read aloud in class for the first time in his life – during his 5th grade year. This is because of his increased confidence in his reading and speech due to this program.

Of special note, we still had many disruptions due to COVID during the span of treatment. We lost an average of 5 weeks of instructional time – and despite this, the students still had HUGE gains! These results compelled us to continue to move forward and for the 2021-2022 school year, we were able to expand the program to serve all Kindergarten through 4th grade students and any 5th or 6th grade student needing treatment.

Through this partnership, we have much less lag time on evaluating, testing, and treating our students for multiple needs. This time is valuable. In many cases we may only have our students for 6 months to 2 years, and most students come to us without a diagnosis – they have slipped through the cracks. Because of this partnership, students have a hearing and vision screening, as well as an ADHD screening within 2 weeks. Students are screened at our school for potential learning needs by our AGC contract tutors. If the data from those screens, previous school records, or current classroom performance, indicates a need for full diagnostic testing, we are able to have students fully evaluated within a month. Even while students are in the funnel for evaluations, our K-4th grade students are receiving treatment as soon as they arrive!

The past two years of this partnership strengthened what we are able to accomplish for our students. Now, we can serve them in ways I never could have imagined. I often tell others that God has given what I think is truly “the least of these” in our community the best of the best.

This partnership moved the timeline of our ability to render services for our students from over a month to weeks, time critical for their unique needs. We are now able to send students to their home town schools with diagnoses and resources that their public schools can use to help them. The students in our pilot program made gains unlike any I’ve seen with other Response to Intervention (RTI) instruction or curriculum in any of my years in education.

One development I never anticipated is the accommodation a public school is willing to go to in order for our students to continue treatment. Many schools we have spoken with are at a loss as to how to help students with dyslexia. We are able to offer a solution. One of the students in our pilot program moved to a public school in north Alabama after completing year one of treatment. Her school allows her to continue the treatment program remotely with our interventionist during school hours. She is on grade level for the first time in reading and math, and due to complete treatment at the end of this school year.

This partnership is such a blessing to our students and staff. It is a wonderful feeling to find solutions for our students and offer hope. I am incredibly grateful to all involved at The Morris Center and Alabama Game Changers for their dedication to serving students.

Sincerely,

Shannon Weaver

Executive Director,

Rising Hope Academy