A Place for All Learners
Prospect Academy was founded by local community members, parents, and educators who have a passion for providing public options for students in all front range districts, especially students who come from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. Our focus is serving students with level 1 and 2 autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and similar learning profiles, as well as struggling learners without diagnoses.
ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Prospect is well designed to serve students with ADHD diagnoses. Lessons are typically in a direct instruction format, creating trust between students and teachers. Lessons are also short and fast-paced with lots of active student responding, which is perfect for students who may require more stimulation, movement, and participation. Classes are segmented into different blocks of learning activities, providing opportunities for individualization and targeted practice, as well as breaking up the class into shorter, more diverse activities to provide additional stimulation. Further, these blocks of learning happen everyday and are similar across reading, writing, and math classes, providing consistency and predictability for students.
Universal Design for Learning at Prospect means that all accommodations (extra time, notes or graphic organizers, flexible seating) are provided as options for all students. Students don’t stick out or feel “otherized”.
-
Opportunities for movement throughout the day, including a movement block during first period
-
Flexible seating options in each class, providing choice, ownership, and opportunity for movement
-
Accommodations naturally embedded into the school and class structure; students feel a sense of belonging at the school
-
Executive function skills are directly taught and supported in each class, as well as school-wide; students develop skills, independence, and behaviors that help them succeed in other environments
-
Decisions are made based on data, emphasizing use of objective data; removes biases in interactions
-
Students are taught how to track their own data; empowers students in multiple ways and encourages self-reflection
-
Social-emotional lessons are taught directly and school-wide; building these critical skills and applying them to authentic contexts
FAQs
Will you follow IEPs or 504 plans already in existence?
Yes, Prospect is a free, public charter school and therefore is legally bound to a student’s IEP or 504 plan as written. However, given that Prospect’s model is unique and everything we do is tailored to meet the needs of neurodiverse students, we will likely modify IEPs and 504 plans so that they are more consistent with our programming. In most cases, students will be getting more specialized services, not fewer, and family (including the student) is always part of the IEP team.
Will you group kids by diagnosis?
No, students will not be grouped by diagnosis. This is because a diagnosis is a label used to describe a set of behaviors or actions, including academic skills (at Prospect, we define the word “behavior” a little differently than you are used to - behavior means any action on the environment - so to us, the term “reading” refers to a set of behaviors). Not all students with the same diagnosis will exhibit the same set of behaviors. Therefore, for the most effective instruction, we will group students by the skills they show in the different subject areas - math, reading, and writing. Other classes will be grouped in different ways, but the main content areas will have flexible, skills-based groupings. We anticipate groups will change based on the pace of learning for some students.