ACCESS Academy
A private school for students with language learning differences, ACCESS Academy offers the most comprehensive special education program in Arkansas. The school serves students age 5 to 21 with a curriculum that focuses on oral expression, literature and reading instruction, as well as math, science, social studies, technology and fine arts. All classrooms include class projects, development of social and organizational skills, and vocational education. ACCESS Academy offers a rich student life, allowing students to participate in physical fitness programs and extracurricular sports teams (track, swimming, cheerleading), student council, ACCESS Night Out monthly evening events, the ACCESS Adventure summer program and prom.

ACCESS Academy comprises six classrooms within three categories: the Lower, Intermediate and Upper Schools. Placement decisions are determined by a number of factors, with a student’s abilities taking precedence over age.

Multi-sensory Curriculum
Multi-sensory teaching provides a rich array of materials that stimulate senses and promote memory and comprehension. This hands-on style incorporates hearing, seeing, touching and experiencing to assist learning and means ACCESS offers methods that are successful for students with a variety of learning types including auditory, visual and tactile.

Oral and Written Communication
ACCESS Academy uses a multi-sensory reading method, The Dubard Association Method®.  This nationally recognized phonetic method teaches structured progression from sounds to words, sentences and paragraphs. Spelling, decoding (sounding out words), comprehension and written expression are core components of this method.

Educational Technology
Educational technology is used to makes lessons more interactive and engaging. Each classroom has one to two computers. ACCESS Academy students regularly use the school computer lab and mobile laptop lab. Various software applications are used to provide:

• Phonemic awareness, decoding and spelling
• Electronic books 
• Reading
• Text to speech - computer converts text to speech allowing students to hear text 
• Built in assignments to practice reading and math sills
• Computer assisted writing – using electronic word banks to support spelling and writing
• Comprehension and language skills
• The writing process – plan, organize, write, revise, illustrate and publish
• Presentation software – students develop slide shows, Powerpoint presentations, etc... to illustrate ideas and reports

Student Life
ACCESS offers an array of social and athletic activities. All students attend a weekly physical education program, “Gators in Motion.” Preschool and Academy students are invited to participate in Tops Soccer and Miracle League Baseball offered by organizations outside of ACCESS. Academy students have opportunities to participate in cheerleading, swim team, track team and Special Olympics. Other activities include student council, scouting, prom and the ACCESS Adventure summer program

Student Profile
ACCESS Academy is the perfect solution for students who struggle with language learning differences:

• Dyslexia
• Learning Disabilities
• ADD and ADHD
• Apraxia
• Disorders of Written Expression or dysgraphia
• Reading Disorders
• Speech or language disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Developmental Delays 
• Hearing Impaired 

Therapy Intervention
Students in our classroom programs may also receive therapy services including speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. In addition, we have academic therapy (specialized tutoring) available for individualized instruction.