FEBRUARY 17, 2020
By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
Located at the old Pratt Court Baptist Church in downtown Prattville, New Hope Academy has established itself as a non-profit organization that teaches children, Pre-K – 12th Grade, with learning differences.
Tina Halbert, owner and founder of New Hope Academy and special education teacher of 18 years, says the idea to start the school came about in 2009 after a failed attempt to place her daughter into the public-school system.
“My daughter has Spina Bifida and experienced frequent bullying in the public-school system. The whole thing was not working for her. So, when we moved to Alabama, we decided to home school her for a year and we absolutely loved it,” Halbert said. “During that time period I started tutoring other kids in the area who had learning differences such as Autism and ADHD, and we really just grew from there.”
Halbert says she began tutoring five different students at the beginning of 2009 – a number that would grow to 15 by the end of the year.
Steadily that number would grow throughout the next several years, leaving Halbert with a dilemma on her hands – where could she find a new building to support all of the students that she had on her waiting list.
Ultimately, they came to talks with the old Pratt Court Baptist Church in downtown Prattville in 2016.
“We asked if we could lease the building because we needed the space, and they said yes. That church ended up dissolving about three or four years later but they let us stay as long as we maintained the building,” Halbert said.
It ended up being extremely fortuitous that Halbert was able to acquire the space, as the school is now home to 65 students – with many more taking online courses from home. It also houses seven different teachers as well as three aides.
Haley Morrow, director at New Hope, says even though the school is constantly growing, they keep the classes small so the students can have personal, individualized learning.
“We typically keep the classes the smallest with the elementary students, because the younger they are, the more one-on-one time that they’ll need,” Morrow said. “At the high school level, we try to cap it at around 12. It totally just depends on the needs in the classroom. We take any child that needs an individualized education, whether they have learning differences or just don’t fit in the public or private school system. Our approach is totally different than any other school.”
The school’s educational programs are designed to specifically fit every child’s needs, as one student may learn differently from another. Halbert made it a point to say that some children may spend 15 minutes in one class or 25 minutes in another. The curriculum is extremely flexible and entirely based on what the student needs.
Just like the public and private school system, New Hope Academy teaches many of the same subjects – such as math, reading, english and science.
After they graduate their senior year, students will receive a diploma just like any other high school graduate from the State of Alabama.
“We follow the Alabama guidelines for graduation, which is 24 credits, and our kids receive those classes in whatever form they need,” Halbert said. “We also have some classes that go beyond normal courses and teach the students necessary life skills, such as how to pay bills, how to cook, and how organize your life in general beyond secondary education.”
Halbert and Morrow were both quick to respond when speaking about the number of graduates that the school has had over the years.
“A lot,” they both said smiling.
And a lot is right. Halbert says New Hope has helped well over 100 students in the area move on to bigger and better things throughout the years.
“We’ve had students get scholarships to Auburn Montgomery, North Alabama, Montevallo, Faulkner, Troy State and Trenholm. We’ve also had a lot of students go straight into the work force as well,” Halbert said.
Not only that, Halbert said her daughter, who was a part of the first official New Hope graduation in 2013, now has a job with the State of Alabama.
As Halbert and Morrow showed me around the school, peaking into every classroom, we had the opportunity to hear from a few students about how they feel about New Hope.
“I feel safe and at home here,” one student said.
“I used to go to a public school and was bullied all the time. I never have to worry about that at New Hope,” said another.
But now, New Hope faces another challenge – albeit, perhaps, a positive one. They currently have reached capacity yet again and are searching for more locations in the area as the waiting list continues to grow.
To help raise money for their new location, New Hope is partnering with Chicken Salad Chick in Prattville this February 29th in a fundraising effort. The event, which will be all day at the Prattville CSC location, will have students from New Hope shadowing employees from CSC, learning how to operate in a workplace environment. Ten percent of all of CSC’s proceeds for that day will be given to New Hope.
“This is the only school of its kind in the community,” said Pamela Busby, manager at CSC. “For these families to have a school where everyone feels welcome, everything is designed for their success, and it’s right here in our community – we at Chick Salad Chick feel like it’s incredibly important to support something like that.”
When you hear about the students from New Hope and when you go to school, you are immediately filled with joy. The children are full of hugs, love, and happiness – because they’ve been given an environment that finally treats them the way they are supposed to be treated.
As for New Hope’s ultimate goal for the community?
“We’re not here to spread awareness about learning disabilities. We as a society should be way past that by now. We’re here to spread acceptance,” Halbert said.
Students who learn differently have obstacles that we never have to face. New Hope views those obstacles as challenges that need to be conquered, one child at a time.
