By B.C. Manion
Christy Raile didn’t like the educational options available for her 3-year-old son, Austin: He could either go to the Florida School for the Deaf & the Blind in St. Augustine for five days a week or he could ride a school bus two hours each way for special education.
Neither seemed like a good idea to her.
Sending her 3-year-old away for five days a week was not going to happen, and Raile was not willing to force him to ride 20 hours a week, either.
“They’re these little teeny-tiny kids and they’re strapped into these harnesses. As a parent you just think, there’s got to be something better,” Raile said.
So, she set about finding out what it would take to set up her own school, and after 3 ½ years, HALO Academy, at 15102 Amberly Drive at Grace Episcopal Church, opened its doors this fall. The nonprofit school’s acronym stands for Hope, Achieve, Learn, Overcome.
So far, the school, which is for children with special needs as well as typical children, has just three students. Two of them are Raile’s children, Austin, who is now 6 and has a hearing impairment and global dyspraxia; and Aubrey, 5, who is a typical child.
The other student is 5-year-old Hailey Ferrara, of Wesley Chapel, who has chiari malformation type one and apraxia. The little girl is speech delayed and needs occupational, speech and physical therapy..
The three children are taught by Jessie Wamsley, a teacher who is certified in deaf education and special education.
Raile said she has a waiting list of nine 3- and 4-year-old children for pre-school.
She hadn’t planned to open a pre-school, but those are the students who showed up. So, she plans to meet those needs, but first she must meet some requirements of her own.
She hopes to open the pre-school around December. She’s already lined up the teacher.
Raile said she wants her school to include children of different ability levels because she thinks it benefits all children.
Children with special needs get to see other children doing things that may inspire them to want to try, while typical children are given an opportunity to develop a deeper sense of compassion, she said.
“My heart breaks for the little Haileys of the world, the little Austins, who are put into a secluded classroom and all they get is other children that are just like themselves. They need to see that component of typical kids.
“It goes both ways. I have two typical girls (her daughters) who are better children and better people because they have a little brother like they do. It brings a loving, nurturing spirit to that typical child that you just don’t get.
“They learn an aspect of humanity that you really don’t get anywhere else,” Raile said.
Parents of special needs kids are looking for a place where their child’s needs can be met, Raile said.
“Every parent who has a child who has a need like that – they don’t feel like their child is cared for, loved or understood.
“I want the moms to come in here and to be able to talk to me. A lot of these children have medical issues that teachers just don’t understand.
“There are reasons that our children are behaving and acting like they do. But unfortunately, the pediatricians and the neurologists and the geneticists don’t talk to the school system. I would love to bridge that gap,” said Raile, who has a medical background as a nurse anesthetist.
She understands what the parents are going through. “I can fill in their sentences.”
“I’ve had more parents cry at my table in the last four weeks, just because somebody gets it,” Raile said.
Jasmine Ferrara, of Wesley Chapel, is one of those parents who tears up at the thought of her child’s difficulties.
The little girl had begun classes in public school, but Ferrara said, “deep down, I knew it was not the right place for her.”
Hailey was riding the bus 45 minutes each way, and when she got home, she would lash out at anyone within striking distance.
“She was absolutely miserable being strapped for 45 minutes at a time,” Ferrara said.
When the little girl arrived home, she would hit, punch, kick, bite and scratch.
“And now, I have none of that,” Jasmine Ferrara said. “She was mad. She didn’t know how to express it.”
Even in just a short time, the school has made a difference, said the youngster’s grandmother, Deb Natale. “She’s back to being little Hailey again.”
“We’re making sure she gets that sign language component, so she has an outlet,” Raile said. “Children who can’t communicate are frustrated.”
Tuition at HALO Academy is $8,000 a year, but the school meets the requirements for its special needs students to qualify for a McKay Scholarship.
Typical children who attend the school can qualify for an Ambassador Scholarship, which results in a tuition of $500 a month for them.
Raile said parents need to feel like there is hope for their children.
“If a parent gives up hope, then the child has no chance. We don’t know what our children are capable of. So, we have to present and make it available to them,” Raile said.
The school is very small at the moment, but Raile has big dreams.
“What would I like? I would like our own facility and I would like to start from six weeks all of the way up to 12th grade.”
For more information about HALO Academy, go to www.haloacademy.com
