Elon University to Start Private School For Children With Dyslexia

Elon University will launch a private primary school specializing in educating children with dyslexia next fall, joining Vanderbilt and two other universities in the South that offer similar programs funded by the same donors.

The Roberts Academy at Elon University, named for philanthropists Hal and Marjorie Roberts of Lakeland, Florida, will begin serving third and fourth grade students in an existing university building in the town of Elon. The school plans to expand the program in 2028 to serve first through sixth graders in a yet-to-be-built, “state-of-the-art” facility, the university said in a news release. 

The specialized private school will be the first of its kind in North Carolina, according to Elon officials. And the plans come as the university is taking other big swings, even as many other private colleges struggle in a difficult environment.

This year marks the halfway point of a 10-year strategic plan that aims to “sharply define Elon’s position as a national university” and expand its footprint in “strategic locations” around the country. In September, university leaders announced Elon would merge with Queens University of Charlotte.

The university described the gift that will fund the primary school as a “visionary investment,” though it did not disclose the amount. The funds will also support the establishment of the Roberts Center for Dyslexia and Engaged Learning within Elon’s education school to provide professional development for educators and public outreach to policymakers.

The school is expected to serve between 150 and 200 students per year once it is fully enrolled, with no more than 12 students per classroom. Teachers will use the Orton-Gillingham approach for instruction, which Hal Roberts referred to in an interview with The Assembly as the “gold standard” for educating students with the disorder.

Research suggests that between 15 to 20 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, a language-based learning disability that impacts the ability to read and spell.

“This new gift is not just for Elon,” university President Connie Book told The Assembly. “In fact, this new gift is for the state of North Carolina and for students and parents who have struggled to find services to support their dyslexic learners.”

Home Away From Home

The Roberts Academy at Elon will be the fourth such school the Robertses have funded, joining Vanderbilt in Nashville, Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

Hal Roberts said the couple became interested in dyslexia when several of their grandchildren experienced the learning difference. They had success at the Schenck School in Atlanta, which uses research-based instruction methods to help students with dyslexia develop strategies for reading and other language skills. That includes the Orton-Gillingham approach, a multisensory style of teaching in which students might say a word, tap out its syllables, and write it down, among other steps, in order to develop their literacy skills.

“They immediately felt accepted and in the right place, and they prospered,” said Roberts.

Roberts, a lawyer who worked as city attorney for Lakeland and in private practice before forming a business that developed and marketed geothermal heat pumps, said he and his wife have always been involved with charitable organizations. But the couple was so moved by their grandchildren’s success at the Schenck School that they decided to fund similar dyslexia education programs, starting with the one at Florida Southern in 2010.

In their retirement, the Robertses have spent most of their time at a second home in Waynesville. They began to think about adding another school in the state that has become their home away from home.

Their search turned up Elon, which the couple appreciated for its national ranking in undergraduate teaching. And as a private university, Elon offered the flexibility to establish a new academy without the “restrictions” a public university would face, Roberts said.

The couple contacted Elon about the idea in July, Roberts said, meaning the effort will have taken just over a year by the time the school launches next fall.

The academy will be staffed by yet-to-be-hired administrators and classroom teachers who will be full-time employees of Elon. Recruitment for the positions will begin early next year, per the university, and the academy will be led in the interim by Alicia Tate, an assistant professor in Elon’s education school who specializes in literacy education approaches like the Orton-Gillingham.

The Robertses say they do not play a role in the day-to-day administration or teaching.

“We do observe it a little bit, just for our pleasure, our enjoyment, and we get a lot of that,” Roberts said. “To see the success of these students and the ripple effect upon their entire family, that’s our dividend from this investment.”

Serving Elon’s Community

Like the other Roberts Academies, Elon’s will be a private school. 

Other similar schools that specialize in educating children with learning differences, such as Greensboro’s Noble Academy, are not affiliated with a university. Some UNC System campuses operate “lab schools” with local school districts, but they are public and serve a broader student population.

Tuition for the new academy hasn’t been set, but officials plan for it to be part of the state’s legislatively funded Opportunity Scholarship voucher program, said Ann Bullock, dean of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education. The state also offers Education Student Accounts that provide funds for children with disabilities. 

Bullock and Book say the school will offer a public good, despite its private nature. The academy is intended to be a “transitional” school, offering students two to three years of specialized instruction before they return to their home schools with new skills. And its connection to the university will help educate new teachers on how to better serve students with learning disabilities.

The academy will also allow Elon to collaborate with the other schools the Robertses have funded, Bullock said. “We already have a great reputation in the state, but to move that to a more national presence will be exciting.”

The academy will also build on Elon’s support of local schools and educators through programs like Teach For Alamance, which provides full tuition to master’s candidates who teach for two years in the Alamance-Burlington School System. 

“I do believe that it is the responsibility and mission of private universities in our state—and I know my peers at other privates embrace this—to be difference-makers in people’s lives,” Book said.