Lakes and Bridges Charter School (LABCS), an Alternative Education Campus (AEC) charter school, provides evidence-based, multi-sensory, structured language instruction to students from across South Carolina. LABCS opened in the 2018-2019 school year with grades 1-5 and an enrollment of 115 students; during its second year, 2020-2021, enrollment grew to 150 students with the addition of 6th grade. Families continue to move from within SC, as well as moving from other states (IN, FL, GA, NY, MA, SD, NC), to attend LABCS. LABCS will add a new grade each year until it is a K-8 campus.
LABCS provides a quality educational choice for students who have a demonstrated need for specialized instruction in reading, spelling, writing, and who benefit from a supportive and motivational school environment. Public schools have focused resources and attention on literacy education for many years; yet, too many South Carolina children are failing to read at the level predicted by their intellectual abilities. Though there are various reasons cited for this failure, the reason most often overlooked is that as many as one in five students have some level of dyslexia according to the International Dyslexia Association.
Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms that cause difficulties with specific language skills such as reading, spelling, and, writing. Thus, learning to read becomes a struggle for students who experience these difficulties. Although these students may have average to superior cognitive skills, they often fall behind academically because traditional education programs are not designed to meet the specific needs of dyslexic children. Indeed, the South Carolina General Assembly found that many struggling readers reach preschool or kindergarten with low oral language skills and limited print awareness. Once in school, they fail to develop proficiency with reading and comprehension because of inadequate instruction and engaged practice. Extensive research has shown that the most effective treatment for dyslexia is instruction from highly-skilled, well-trained teachers who have expertise in the structure of the English language and who use evidence-based curriculum taught well and with fidelity. Lakes and Bridges Charter School (LABCS) will improve student learning to close the achievement gap between students with dyslexia and students who do not have dyslexia.
To offer highly-individualized, systematic instruction, every student will have daily opportunities to work in small instructional groups called PIE (Personalized Instruction and Enrichment) that utilizes the Orton-Gillingham Approach. Additionally, all students have small-group math instruction using Math-U-See, a math curriculum designed for children who struggle with language-based difficulties. Student instruction in ELA utilizes Project Read's reading and writing strands. In addition to students receiving math instruction in Math-U-See, students also have a standard's based math class so that they are exposed to the SC state standards.
Learning to read effectively and efficiently is the guiding and overarching goal for LABCS students. Research reveals that the most important factors in reading instruction are the intensity and fidelity of instruction, the use of assessment to guide instruction, differentiation of instruction to meet individual needs, and teaching to mastery.
All employees of LABCS are trained in the Orton-Gillingham Approach using the curriculum from the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE) and have received further specialized training in Math-U-See and the Project Read: Framing Your Thoughts writing strand and Project Read: Report Form Process. All teachers, interventionists, and support teachers are committed to using evidence-based methods to teach each student the content and strategies that are vital to reading success.
Ongoing professional development focuses on innovative practices and curriculum to meet the needs of learners with dyslexia. Continuous training in instructional best practice, multisensory instruction, student data analysis, technology, and social skill development ensures that teachers have sufficient knowledge to adjust their teaching to the needs of each student. All teachers have had additional training in The Leader in Me, Teach Like a Champion, and the Olvweus Bullying Prevention Program.
Students at LABCS strive to master South Carolina College and Career-Ready Standards to build strong educational foundations that will enable them to succeed in their chosen college and career paths. Recognizing the challenge of providing each student the time and instructional intensity to master foundational reading skills, LABCS teachers infuse literacy and multisensory instruction into every class throughout the school day.
Every student receives PE/Movement every day, as well as recess. Once a week, students participate in related-arts activities with LEAP (Learn, Experience, Apply, and Participate), an experience that includes a variety of age-appropriate activities, such as art projects, gardening, foreign language, Immigration Day, visiting authors, Mindfulness and Yoga, athletic clubs, service-learning, and other activities. These activities further the quality of the educational experience for students.
Unfortunately, research shows that students with dyslexia do not take standardized tests well; as a result, state testing (SCReady, SCPASS, MAP) do not reflect the knowledge that our students have acquired. LABCS has instituted other formal and informal measurement tools to show growth, to include the WRMT (Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - given to students in grades 1-3), the WRAT (Wide-Range Achievement Test - given to students in grades 4-6). These two standardized measurements are administered in the fall and spring. Additionally, in-house informal measurements are also used to determine growth - a CRST (Criterion Referenced Test to gauge improvement and application in spelling skills), the IOTA or Karnes-Buncombe (an untimed single-word isolated test to gauge improvement and application of skills in decoding words), as well as easyCBM measures for progress monitoring. All students with IEP's/504's are progress monitored each quarter, and all students with/without IEP's/504's are benchmarked three times a year (fall, winter, spring). With the onset of COVID-19 during the spring of 2020, no spring results were derived as the WRMT, WRAT, MAP, SCPASS, SCReady, or in-house measures were given. Only progress monitoring through easyCBM for IEP's and 504's were given. The Leader in Me offers a fall and spring MRA (Measurable Results Assessment) survey that teachers, students, and parents participate helps to determine overall school leadership, culture, and academics. Both were administered for the first time this school year, and our spring overall score was 71 out of 100.
Dyslexia and related learning challenges are characteristics of most LABCS students but will not be viewed as obstacles preventing their mastery of the essential skills of reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and writing. LABCS curriculum and programs are specifically and intentionally designed to meet the needs of dyslexic learners. LABCS respects the unique talents each student brings and pledges to work tirelessly to ensure that they achieve the academic, technical, and social skills necessary to accomplish further educational and career goals through a supportive and motivational environment that emphasizes specialized, systematic, multi-sensory, and individualized instruction. LABCS will fill the void that dyslexic students have historically encountered in public school systems. Students will build strong bridges between themselves, academic achievements, and productive lives.
