DYNAMIC MINDS ACADEMY sponsor of the month By Julie Gordon
A school worth fighting for Back in 2013, I developed a vision for a hybrid educational model to mitigate a growing crisis in the community. Parents with special needs children in the public schools were exhausted from fighting for services and accommodations. At the same time, families were forced to transition their kids out of ABA centers and into schools due to insurance cuts. Most of these students were not ready to take the huge step from 1:1 therapy to being in a classroom with 14 other kids. Those who presented more mildly were not getting critical therapy services for executive functioning, anxiety, and depression, while students with maladaptive behaviors were being suspended from school too frequently. Education is the expertise of schools, as it should be. But to educate those with medical, social, emotional, and behavioral needs, we are asking schools to stretch outside of their expertise into the clinical scope. It is two different worlds colliding, trying to make it work. It is individualizing education in a standardized system. On the other hand, behavioral therapy is the expertise of behavioral health providers, as it should be. But to provide intensive therapy to those who need to catch up academically, we are asking centers to stretch outside of their expertise into the educational scope, which is not reimbursable. A hybrid model that combined education and behavioral therapy only made sense. But would the model be successful? Would it be supported by the community? Would a charter school authorizer take a chance on it?
40 Special Needs Living • August 2021
Samantha Bandy, M.S. Ed, Education Director
Aaron Wallace, M.S. Ed, Associate Education Directior
LaMeca Perkins-Knight, M.S. Ed, Special Education Director
For a charter school to be authorized, it needs to be innovative. Dynamic Minds Academy’s mission met that criterion, as our model was the first of its kind in Indiana. We aimed to bridge the gap between education and therapy for students on the autism spectrum by providing evidence-based practices for personal growth within an optimal learning environment. Therapy and education under one roof, in one seamless day, increases continuity of care, continuity of instruction and offers an environment of belonging, challenge, and opportunity. The model proved successful for six years through partnerships with outside charter schools. But those schools had their missions, and we needed our own. Beginning in 2015, I attempted to get Dynamic Minds Academy (DMA) authorized and got my first rejection – due to size. A school with only 50 students was thought to be too small to be sustainable. Then, after ensuring parent support to allow school size to grow by 3x, knowing it would come with new challenges, we tried again. We now had a strong board of directors and advisors and a plan for growth to sustain a faculty and a location to maintain high-quality services. Two more times, the concept was rejected: “Too risky;” “Not enough funding;” “Why in the world would you want 150 students with autism in your school?” We understand that the school is not for every student or every family, but charter schools and least-restrictive environments are about choice, and for those who make the choice, it is “life-saving” as one parent calls it. Finally, in early 2019, Trine University’s Education One took a chance on us. DMA received a five-year charter. We would have our own mission, so not only could our students grow their own way, but our school could as well, with their guidance and support. Thrive, Not Just Survive Educating over 100 students with ASD is not difficult if you are doing it right and with the right team. I handed over the torch to an experienced and dedicated administration team to bring the mission to life. This administration, led by Samantha Bandy, Aaron Wallace, and La Meca Perkins-Knight, knows that half of the battle is a genuine belief in the students you are educating.
