CONWAY — The director of a proposed school for children with developmental disabilities is determined to see the facility open in August, but before then the goal is to raise $150,000 by the end of May.
Courtney Williams, a special-education teacher in the Greenbrier School District, will officially become the director in June of Compass Learning Academy. The year-round school will be owned and overseen by Conway Christian School.
“I hadn’t even thought about ever doing anything different — just a lot of prayer, and belief that’s the way the Lord wants me to go,” Williams said.
About a dozen parents and professionals formed a committee a year ago in May, the Committee for Options in Education, to explore creating a K-12 school for children with developmental disabilities.
Williams said a member of the committee contacted her to see if she’d be interested in becoming director of the school.
“They were just dreaming it up at the time and said they thought of me and didn’t know if I’d be interested or even consider being the director,” she said.
Williams said she has taught special education for 14 years, six in Mayflower and eight in Greenbrier. She’s also nationally board certified in the education of exceptional children.
The $150,000 would pay teachers’ salaries, she said, as well as her salary. To date, about $15,000 has been raised, she said.
Williams said she would like to get the funds by May 22.
“We want to be able to secure the absolute best teachers that we feel are right for the school,” Williams said. “We hope to get a good staff before they renew their contracts.” Public-school contracts are typically signed by May 30, she said.
Richard Henley, CEO and president of Conway Christian School, said the school has $15,000 “in hand.”
“In addition, we have 12 to 14 individuals who have every intention of contributing,” he said.
“We’ve got to raise this money, first. If we don’t raise that money, [the school] will probably open in January,” Henley said. “We don’t have time to put up a big event; we’re counting on people out of the goodness of their hearts agreeing that this is a need Faulkner County must address.”
However, Henley said, he is “pretty doggone confident it will happen by the end of May.”
“You’ve got to have some money in reserves to start up a company. We certainly have to have some funds to pay Courtney, our director. She’ll go on payroll June 1,” Henley said. “I’m really pleased with Courtney. She has a fantastic attitude of whatever it takes to get it done; she’s upbeat and excited and has ideas.
“We’ve got two or three teachers ready to sign contracts. We’ve had a terrific response.”
He said the plan is to open with 25 to 30 students in three or four classes. The focus will be on students with autism and Asperger’s syndrome to start.
“Autism is our first purpose because we knew those kids were out there needing a place,” he said.
He said there might be one class that’s kindergarten to second grade, a class for third through fifth and another for sixth through eighth, as well as one class just for students with Asperger’s syndrome.
Henley said a building will be leased for two or three years to house Compass Learning Academy.
“We’ll eventually either build or buy. We expect significant rapid growth. I can easily see 75 to 100 [students] within a year or two. We expect to do that pretty quickly, and the community’s going to drive it. As kids sign up, we will create the classes around them,” Henley said.
“Our curriculum is tailored to their needs,” Williams said. “I will sit down as the director and meet with each family and find out their needs, and then we’ll build our classes on matching students’ abilities and capabilities — that’s how we’ll form our classes.”
She said “at least 50 applications” for the school have been distributed, and 17 have been returned so far. The cost will be “around $10,000 per child, and that covers their therapies and year-round everything,” Williams said.
“It’s not first-come, first-served,” Henley said. “It’s not who has the most money; it’s what their needs are.”
Williams said one reason she is pushing for the school to open in August is because of Act 1178, which the
Arkansas Legislature enacted this year. The act allows a child who has been in public school for a year and who has an individualized education program for developmental issues and special needs to transfer to a private school with the state funding that the public school district would receive for the child paying the private-school tuition.
“That’s why I am just adamant about this school working this year — even if we have two kids, so more can benefit,” she said.
A child who spent the 2014-15 year in public school could start in August at Compass Learning Academy, if he were accepted, she said, and the state funding would follow the child.
Williams and Henley both said students with a variety of developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, will be accepted at the school as it grows.
The school is for “those kids that basically, they’re just not getting their needs met in public schools the way they need to be independent citizens,” Williams said.
Shannon Milam of Conway is one of the mothers who started discussions last year that resulted in the Committee for Options in Education. She is a mother of three, including 3 1/2-year-old Jackson, who is developmentally delayed and has a speech delay.
“Public school is not an option for everybody,” Milam said in an earlier interview. “[Jackson] needs specific help in certain areas to achieve and meet certain goals.”
She said she believes Jackson would thrive better with a smaller student-to-teacher ratio and therapy directed specifically to his delays.
“The real relevance … is it will have the same philosophy as Conway Christian,” Henley said. “This is a Christian organization. We are assisting Christian families in the education of their children, using biblical teachings. The philosophies are going to match.”
Williams said the name Compass Learning Academy was created by a current Conway Christian School parent.
The name was selected because “no matter what direction our students come from, we will meet them where they are and direct their paths to Christ.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.