SOAR Academy, a Columbia County private school geared primarily toward neuroatypical students, hosted its first open enrollment and public house at its new Martinez location on Friday.
The K-12 school and tutoring center offers specialized education for neurodivergent children, such as those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or on the autism spectrum.
“It’s for every type of kid, though,” said Director Kenisha Skaggs. “It doesn’t matter how old they are. Our 17-year-olds get along with our eight-year-olds, our ADHD [students] get along with our autistic students. That builds character. You need that in life. So it’s more than just for academics, it’s for whole person.”
SOAR has been seeking expansion since receiving the YASS Prize for Innovation in April. The national award is presented by an organization of the same name to selected schools for unique and successful education programs, and includes a grant of $500,000.
On Friday afternoon, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the academy welcomed several families to tour the new facility on Washington Road.
The school entered its lease at the new building three weeks prior, as staff has been hard at work cleaning, moving and remodeling, said communications director Jessica Punshon.
The location boasts spacious classrooms, including a culinary lab for cooking classes (used to teach both science and math), an art studio, an exercise room and a STEM room.
“Even if we have 40 students in here, at some point, there’s space for everybody,” said Punshon, who has a child enrolled in the academy. “Every space is multifunctional.”
The institute currently has roughly 75 students, approximately double the amount last year, Punshon said, with a growing waitlist. She also notes that over 100 families have contacted the academy online about scheduling trial days.
This is also just weeks after SOAR received approval for the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship, which provides funding for families eligible for individual education programs (IEPs).
“Basically, the money that they would have spent for them in public school comes to us,” explained Punshon. “So that helps cover the majority, if not all, of the tuition depending on the student.”
As it continues to grow, SOAR is now accepting volunteers from local high schools, and seeking community partners to help continue its mission.
Skaggs, who decided to found an academy for special needs kids from her home 12 years ago, is humbled by its growth.
“I never even imagined this,” she said. “It was just always a 20-kid, one room schoolhouse, being a homeschool helper, and then it just spiraled out on its own because parents were just desperate and begging for something like this. So it just spiraled out, it wasn’t me.”
SOAR Academy is located at 3836 Washington Road, Suite 9-10, in Martinez. For more information visit https://soaracademy.net/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
