Liberty Academy Triples Its Reach for Special Needs Children in 2015


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Liberty Academy Triples Its Reach for Special Needs Children in 2015

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Liberty Academy Triples Its Reach for Special Needs Children in 2015

Liberty Academy will soon be opening new doors as a Digicel Foundation Centre of Excellence, with refurbished classrooms specifically catering to children with special needs. Located on Hope Road, the Liberty Academy is an independent institution founded in 1994 that aims to create a balanced environment for special needs and highly functional children at the pre, junior and high school levels. The school is currently in construction phase, and is being expanded by the Foundation, to be able to accommodate even more children with special needs in the school’s inclusive education programme. Equipped with a special education department, the school thrives to make both special needs children and typically performing children feel included in all activities.   According to the school’s Principal, Suzanne Williams, the school currently has an enrolment of 33 special needs children with challenges ranging from autism to downs syndrome, dyslexia, cerebral palsy and hearing impairments. Williams explained, “We offer our programme in two ways, we have self-contained classrooms then you have children who are integrated into the regular programme and are performing well. We try to get both sets of children to interact, so they are mixed during physical education, music and a variety of classes. They also share devotion and are involved in a number of extracurricular activities such as gymnastics and performing arts.” The Academy will soon be able to facilitate an additional 60 special needs children as of early 2015 when they officially open their refurbished facilities. “The Digicel Foundation has graciously come on board and is in the process of refurbishing the special needs department so that we can expand our services and accommodate more children. The Foundation has also provided quite a bit of training to our teachers to improve their skills and this has worked very well,” Williams said. The work currently being done by the Foundation includes the addition of two classrooms, refurbishing of the bathrooms to allow for wheelchair access, as well as access to the buildings via ramps. Work also includes improvements in the flooring, electrical wiring, fencing, roofing and the provision of a fire alarm system. For Williams the expansion is a dream come true.  She said, “I am delighted; it has always been part of our vision as a school from the beginning to create an institution to students with varying disabilities. I am excited about the programme development. It is a real joy to watch these students through care and stimulation find niche areas they can excel in. You can see it in their physical demeanour, once they walked with their heads down and now they carry themselves different with their heads high. We’re into transforming lives.”

Liberty Academy Triples Its Reach for Special Needs Children in 2015