Pat Roberts and Nancy Blair, co-founders of  AIM Academy and AIM Academy Institute for Learning and Research, discussed their work educating students in grades 1-12 with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, using methods that can help any student learn to read.  They talked about the need for quality reading instruction, citing statistics that only 29% of 4th graders in the latest NAPE Report Card could read proficiently.  They explain that the student who is not reading at 4th grade and at 8th grade will not have the same opportunities for higher education.  They stressed early intervention with struggling students noting that it takes 4x longer for remedial studies after 4th grade. 

They discussed their school and its history.  Pat, a teacher, and Nancy, a nursing professional, were struggling with education for their daughters, both of whom were having trouble with reading and language skills.  After years of research and volunteer work in the field, they founded their school in 2006 in Manayunk with 25 students.  Today it features a 7-acre campus with labs, robotics, playing fields, and soon, a Global Innovation Hub, a 17,000+ square-foot learning space which will feature two stories of expanded classrooms, new science labs, partnership and entrepreneurship spaces and a community gathering place. Their programs are college preparatory, designed to foster self-esteem and social responsibility both in the classroom and through our comprehensive athletics, extracurricular and summer enrichment programs.

To address the literacy crisis, their art-based methods are available to educators around the world, today over 50,000 teachers have studied through the AIM Academy Institute for Learning and Research.

To learn more about the Academy, placement and testing resources, financial aid, summer sessions and the AIM Academy Institute go to aimpa.org.