Florida Southern College expanding dyslexic program

LAKELAND — A private school based at Florida Southern College for children with dyslexia is getting bigger, both literally and figuratively.

A nearly completed expansion of The Roberts Academy will add four classrooms to the structure near the southeast corner of campus.

As a result, the school will extend its program through eighth grade by 2018, FSC officials announced.

The private school has about 120 students in second through sixth grades now. The academy will add seventh grade in August and eighth grade the following autumn.

The expansion could yield an ultimate enrollment as high as 200, said Tracey Tedder, head of The Roberts Academy and dean of FSC’s School of Education.

She said the academy is the only transitional school in Florida for children with dyslexia.

The program helps students improve their reading skills to the point they can return to their mainstream schools.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder marked by reading difficulties related to problems in understanding written or spoken speech.

Children with dyslexia are often intelligent, Tedder said, but struggle in school because of their language deficits.

The Roberts Academy uses the Orton-Gillingham Method, a teaching approach focused on multisensory learning.

The school’s 13 teachers all have special training and certifications in the program, Tedder said.

The Roberts Academy opened in 2010, serving students in second through fourth grades. It has since expanded through sixth grade.

The academy is named for philanthropists Hal and Marjorie Roberts, whose donations helped establish the school.

The majority of students come from Polk County, Tedder said, but some travel from the Tampa and Orlando areas to attend. She said a few families have even moved from other states to enroll children at the school.