Vertical Skills Academy

I never imagined enrolling my daughter at VSA would impact her life like it did. It is by far the best decision I could have ever made for her. Her entire energy changed the first day she was there. She walks with pride and confidence I never thought I would ever see. This school gave my daughter her life back. I try to find the right words to describe my gratitude for what this school has done for my daughter and what they do every single day for other kids, but I can't seem to find a word strong enough. This school has empowered my daughter to feel so confident that she speaks of her Dyslexia as a superpower. She is proud of being Dyslexic and is proud to have a brain that learns differently. VSA not only taught my daughter how to read, but they also taught her how to feel confident and feel loved. The staff became family to my daughter and myself. That is truly amazing. I will forever be so grateful for giving my daughter her life back. I highly recommend this school for any child with Dyslexia.

Deciding to send my son to Vertical Skills Academy was the best choice that I could have made as a parent. I cannot imagine where he would be right now if it weren`t for this school. I believe that VSA has changed the course of his entire life. My son is identified as being both gifted and having a learning disability, dyslexia. Vertical Skills Academy has been able to provide the intensive reading instruction that he needs for his dyslexia while keeping him challenged, engaged, and learning at his cognitive level; he recently scored in the 90th percentile in mathematics in the entire country for his grade level. When my son started at VSA as an 8 1/2-year-old, he still wasn`t able to read anything at all. After one year he had made so much progress that he was reading at a 2nd-grade level. The small class sizes allow teachers to provide support to allow all students to thrive. This is his second year at VSA and he is so happy to go to school every day. I feel so fortunate to be able to have him at Vertical Skills Academy!

"Dyslexia is your superpower!!!" Ms. Christine yelled on the first day of school, waving her arms around and jumping up and down. That pretty much sets the tone for Vertical Skills Academy. We came to VSA, as many parents do, as a last resort. Our school district was terrible. The reading "specialists" would say the reason my child wasn't reading was that she was lazy, not intelligent enough ("perhaps she needs a school that's less academically challenging" yes, that's a real quote), or was the by-product of poor parenting on my part. Dyslexia was a four-letter word they would never utter or mention. As a result, my daughter's self-esteem and belief in her ability to learn were non- existent, beaten down by a system that blamed her for not learning to read. Enter Vertical Skills Academy . . . and it became a lifeline. My daughter finally found a school that believed in her and her abilities. VSA uses the word dyslexia all the time to describe the student`s "superpower", no longer shrouding the diagnosis in shame. My daughter loves that, "All the kids learn to like me". Now in her 5th-grade year, her belief in herself because of the amazing instruction and support of the staff is a 180 from where we were at the beginning of 4th grade. My child's growth is a direct result of the staff's commitment to quality education., and their dedication to teaching these kids leaves me in awe. We made tremendous sacrifices to be at VSA, but I will never regret it. I will be forever grateful to VSA for saving my daughter's belief in herself. If you have a child who has dyslexia, this is the school for you!

Vertical Skills Academy saved our son's life. The emotional trauma he experienced in k-3 destroyed rendered him depressed, anxious and shut down. I remember telling the VSA Head of School that I didn't even care if he never learned to read if he healed. Not only do we have our happy son back, but the academic skills he gained have put him at the top of his class, and class President. His ability and desire to self-advocate is also very well-honed which is so much more effective than my helicopter parenting! Thank you dear VSA teachers!

As a teacher at VSA, I have seen kids grow from shy people that don't feel confident in their own ability to succeed into fantastic presenters, readers, and writers that are excited to learn. It is a wonderful community where students and teachers alike are really invested in success.

Vertical Skills Academy has saved my sons life, literally. Their expert team of teachers work with each child individually, find what they need and incorporate it into their every day learning environment. I cannot say enough about VSA. Thank you for all you do for each and every child in your school!

My 3rd grade daughter was formally diagnosed with dyslexia last Spring, although we had been giving her a ton of extra support from Kindergarten on because we were suspicious she had learning disabilities. At the time we were living in a great school district and her public school faculty did literally everything they could to support her. She squeaked by 2nd grade at the reading level she should be, but it was so hard on her. It was obvious to her and us that she was struggling much more than her peers with reading, writing, and spelling. She was spending 2 afternoons a week in tutoring, so had little time for sports, playdates, etc. Our reading specialist tutor told us about Vertical Skills Academy, and I came up for a tour. I am SO IMPRESSED with the quality of education this school provides. The personal attention is incredible, the teachers are amazing, and they truly educate the whole child. They teach these kids what it means to be dyslexic (it's not bad!), how to advocate for themselves, how to get and stay organized, and how to look at the world so it makes sense for the way their different brains work. Each kid gets a 1:1 tutoring session every day, and the kids really don't have homework. I am amazed every day at how well this school connects with my daughter and her way of learning. They have a huge focus on literacy of course, but they have amazing curriculum for science, social studies, history, math....all taught using the same learning tricks and tips they teach them for literacy, so it unlocks their abilities in other subject areas.We've got our afternoons back and now she can do sports, pottery classes, theater, whatever she wants. She can be a kid, and now for the first time, she understands how smart she is. She's making straight As, because the VSA teachers are able to connect with her and teach her in a way she can process the information, which basically unmasks her intelligence that was hiding behind her information processing issues. In public school, she frequently just couldn't connect with the information and was overwhelmed by being in a class of 27 kids. Twenty minutes of reading support in a small group wasn't cutting it. She's now confident in ways I never thought possible.VSA's goal is to set these kids up to go mainstream, which I love. I want my daughter to learn to live in the real world, and that's exactly what this school teaches them to do. They can advocate for themselves, learn to process information in the way that makes sense for them, and they have the confidence to know that dyslexia DOES NOT MEAN YOU'RE NOT INTELLIGENT! It's so awesome, y'all. Worth every penny.

If you have a dyslexic child you need to make an appointment with VSA. We live 45 miles away from the school and this is the best decision we could have made for our child. The instruction is specific to the child. The teachers, administration and tutors are amazing! Focusing on the skills that kids with learning differences need to succeed in traditional middle and high school. When our child was first diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia we jumped through all the hoops of public school yet we were told "We just don't have the resources for these kids." We are truly blessed to have found VSA with educators who are passionate about "these kids." The curriculum is challenging, the children learn how to advocate for themselves and they THRIVE in this school.

My son has dyslexia and struggled at a private school where his needs were not being met, even though they focused on teaching students with learning disabilities there. His difficulty with reading and writing had a negative impact on his self-esteem and interest in learning, which broke my heart! It became clear that we needed to try something different and I am so very happy that we found VSA! The teachers there are so caring and helpful and provided the support my son needed to regain confidence in himself and in learning. His reading skills have grown and so has his overall happiness. Thank you, VSA!