United Disability Services (UDS) announces the opening of the new UDS Steel Academy, now enrolling for the 2014-2015 school year that will begin on Aug. 26.
The school will take a nontraditional approach to educating students struggling with learning differences who have had difficulty finding success in other school environments. The UDS Steel Academy will be located in the former North Akron Catholic School located at 1570 Creighton Ave. in Akron.
The UDS Steel Academy is a free, public, community school with a fully accredited academic program focusing on serving children throughout Summit County and the surrounding area, in grades 6 through 12, with ADHA and autism spectrum disorders as well as gifted students who need to be challenged. The school will also offer many extracurricular activities, including the opportunity to participate in the fine arts and sports, to enhance the lives of students. The Academy will also be home to the Steel Angels, an elite traveling and performing steel drum band.
“Our students learn differently so we use proven methods that integrate academics with the arts to creatively engage students in learning,” said Steel Academy founder Angel Lawrie.
United Disability Services has 65 years of experience meeting the social, vocational, community living, low vision and transportation needs of people with disabilities in the Akron area and surrounding communities. The very genesis of the organization was a preschool started by a small group of parents looking for educational opportunities for their young children with special needs.
“The agency has a long history of serving children with learning differences and we have been looking for an opportunity to fill an education component of our services since closing our developmental preschool more than 10 years ago,” said Gary Knuth, UDS president/CEO. “When I first met Angel I was inspired by her passion, commitment and demonstrated success in educating children who are having a difficult time achieving in more traditional academic settings.”
“This is a perfect complement to our current services and follows the agency’s rich tradition of offering creative program solutions.”
For more information or to make an appointment to enroll, call Angel Lawrie at (330) 687-0834 or by email at [email protected].
