BROOKWOOD CHRISTIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Brookwood Christian School serves students who have not been successful in public or private schools due to some type of language processing disorder, such as dyslexia. Many of these students were either on an IEP in public school or eligible for one had they attended public school.

Dyslexia and other reading issues affect 1 in 5 people in the United States. Sixty-five percent of Georgia 4th graders are not reading at the proficient level and 4th grade is considered the “watershed year”, meaning a child not reading proficiently has a 78% chance of NOT catching up. Two-thirds of those not reading proficiently by the end of 4th grade end up in poverty. We aim to prevent that for our students.

Most of our students attend private school out of need only, they are not being served in public school, it is not a luxury, and many struggle with our tuition, though it is among the lowest in the Northwest Metro Atlanta area. Many of our students do not start with us until about 3rd grade, when parents start realizing their child is not progressing with reading. Our curriculum, combined with very small class sizes, gives these students an environment in which they can learn.

Students usually enroll around 3rd or 4th grade, once it is evident that they will not be successful in other schools. Class sizes are kept small so students get the individual attention and appropriate instruction they need for success.

We use Wilson Reading, a program based on Orton Gillingham methods which uses a multi-sensory, systematic approach to phonemic instruction, spelling, and reading comprehension.

We also use Fast ForWord® (FF®), an individual software package focused on improving phonological awareness in parallel with temporal processing of students with abnormal temporal processing and language learning impairment, commonly used with the following students:
Tiers 2 and 3 RTI, at-risk or struggling students, including Title 1, English language learners, and students receiving special education services, including: Dyslexia, Specific learning disability, ADD/ADHD, auditory processing disorder, specific language impairment, etc.

Handwriting is taught with Handwriting without Tears, a curriculum developed by an Occupational Therapist

Teachers are certified and experienced in the content areas they teach. Those teaching the reading programs have had extensive training in those programs.

For the 2018-2019 school year, the average gain on the overall reading Test was 1.3 grade levels with 50% of students gaining greater than 1 year and 90% of students gained 1 year or more on at least one of the subtests. The biggest gains were seen on Passage Comprehension with an average gain of 2.2 grade levels and 60% of students gaining more than 1 year and 22% seeing a gain of 3 or more years.

Our next goal is to expand our programs to be able to serve more students in need. We have added an additional building and plan to grow enrollment over next 5 years.