Assisted Learning

The FACS program provides a quality education within a Christian-school setting for students who need a smaller student/teacher ratio classroom due to cognitive or emotional limitations. Lower and middle school students study core academics and social/life-skills in the FACS classroom and are integrated into their grade-level class for extra-curricular classes. The curriculum includes language arts, math, science, social studies, Bible, and social skills. Computer skills are also taught as they are integral in today's society. Students who demonstrate ability can be integrated for other core academic subjects as well.

Upper school students transition into functional academics with a focus placed on skills that are used in everyday independent living in the adult world. These skills include Bible, cooking, health and safety, interpersonal relationships, government, community living, cultural literacy, job skills, and consumer math. Students have the opportunity to attend general electives and academic classes as appropriate. In their senior year, students may participate in a daily, off-campus Basic Occupational Skills class sponsored by the IU13. This gives them a chance to develop and rehearse specific on-the-job training. Students who wish to continue for a thirteenth year may do so at Lancaster County's School-to-Work programs.

FACS at a Glance:

• Individualized instruction in reading and math
• Group instruction in science, social studies, Bible, and life skills (lower and middle school grades)
• Group instruction in Bible, cooking, health & safety, interpersonal relationship, government, community living, cultural literacy, job skills, and consumer math (upper school grades)
• Participation in grade-level classes and activities as appropriate
• Itinerant learning support in general education classes
• Coordination with IU13 for Basic Occupational Skills and School to Work programs
• Small class size with lower teacher/student ratio
• Flexible schedules based on student need and ability
• Speech and language therapy available through IU13

The Discovery Center is a program established by the National Institute for Learning Development in Norfolk, Virginia. It is designed to meet the needs of students with identified, specific learning disabilities. The student participates in one-on-one educational therapy in an intensive program designed to stimulate deficit areas in perception and cognition.

The goal of therapy is twofold: 1) to enable the student to become independent and successful in the regular classroom and 2) to make it possible for the student to achieve at a level commensurate with his God-given potential. Students meet with an educational therapist for two 80-minute periods each week. Parents are trained to follow through at home with crucial elements of the therapy process. The number of years a student is enrolled in the program depends on the severity of the deficit and consistency of commitment to the therapy program. Discovery therapists work with general education teachers to make accommodations for student success. The goal is for the student to need fewer accommodations in the classroom as they progress in their therapy.

Search and Teach is the early childhood component of Discovery. Using the Search test, kindergarten and first grade students can be identified as "at risk" for difficulty in learning to read. The Teach component prescribes a specific program of therapy to prevent learning failure and its emotional consequences. Students work one-on-one with a therapist for four 20-minute sessions per week.

The Directed Studies program is structured to provide instructional assistance to students for whom success in the regular classroom is a challenge. The course is designed to help students master content, while developing study and organizational skills. In addition, the students enrolled in the course are eligible for individualized accommodations as indicated by testing, teacher observations, student self-evaluation, and past performance. Directed Studies is offered as a small-group middle and upper school class meeting five days a week for credit. A lower school Directed Studies class meets two times a week.