Special needs school has new leader
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 7, 2014 1:50 AM
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Kelly Alves has always known she wanted to work with special needs kids.
Even during the 13 years she served as director at Sylvan Learning, a customized tutoring program, her interests went beyond administrative. While she worked extensively with parents, her goal was not to just help students improve academically, but also to feel better about themselves.
So when she learned about an opening at a school for high-functioning children with autism, she knew she had to apply.
New Independence Academy, housed in the fellowship hall of Rosewood Worship Center, opened a year ago with veteran educator Debbie Outland as director.
The school started with 15 students in grades K-11. And when the 2014-15 school year kicked off, it had 18 students and had added 12th grade -- and a new director in Mrs. Alves.
"I needed to be part-time because of family obligations," said Ms. Outland, who now serves as admissions and agency liaison. "I will be in and out. I will be working a lot in the community and actively recruiting."
The women will work in tandem to create the best possible learning environment for the students, they said.
"Kelly and I met ... and talked about how we would begin the year," Ms. Outland said. "For the first few weeks, I will be here every day as she transitions."
Mrs. Alves said that working strictly with the autistic population is what she has been interested in for some time.
"Even right after I graduated from college, it's just always been something that's been very interesting to me," she said. "Ten years ago, when I first moved here, I told my husband, that's something I want to do."
She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education but never worked in that capacity. Instead, she went straight into working with special needs students. She is currently working on her master's degree in education in special education.
Her role at the school will evolve, but she said she looks forward to working with the students as much as possible.
There are currently seven high school students at New Independence and 11 in grades 4-8. On staff are two teachers and one teacher assistant.
The average school day incorporates a combination of teaching techniques, Mrs. Alves said.
"There will be times when the teachers are presenting group lessons and there will be times when they're working individually on digital courses (online)," she said. "We're also adding a lot of general life skills. We have talked about cooking, money, those basic life skills."
Having had the advantage of cultivating the school and its population for over a year now, Ms. Outland said she has been impressed with the growth.
"The kids that we had last year just totally blossomed," she said. "I saw so much improvement in all of them. It was phenomenal.
"To feel so accepted because they're with their own and they know that the staff here really cares about them, plus the fact that they do work on their individual level with the curriculum and the extra stuff that we do."
With the population served, that incorporates a lot of sensory sessions -- working with horses twice a month, swimming at the YMCA once a month and regular field trips.
One area that has not been as problematic at the school, Ms. Outland said, is behavior and discipline issues.
"Last year, we had a calming room that was almost never used," she said. "It was used more as a sick room.
"Also, we're small enough that we have enough adults and they learned real quickly what escalates a child and pulls them out before it reaches a peak."
The school is set up to focus on a child's strengths, interests and learning styles, she said.
"I think that's one of the things that I'm most excited about -- where we do have and can learn the individual child and learn what motivates them and gear it toward those things," Mrs. Alves said.
While under the jurisdiction of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction for non-public schools, it operates with fewer restrictions than the public schools.
It is funded through tuition, donations and state grants.
For more information on the program, the website is www.newindependence.org or call 919-288-2429.