Trident Academy: Innovation in teaching key to student success

Pandemic inspires new approaches to helping students with learning differences at Trident Academy

Innovation and enterprise are cornerstones of Trident Academy’s mission to help students with learning differences. This has been especially illustrated in recent times.

The independent school is one of just 17 schools in the United States accredited by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.

Contact Info: 1455 Wakendaw Road Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 843-884-7046 tridentacademy.com

Orton-Gillingham is a specific approach to teaching students who are diagnosed with a language-based learning difference such as dyslexia (words/letters), dysgraphia (writing) or dyscalculia (numbers).

Students work in small classes and are taught traditional academic subjects using multisensory techniques, structured, systematic instruction, and experiences outside the classroom that correspond to relevant subject matter. The goal is to strengthen and create new pathways in the brain with visual, auditory and kinesthetic tactics while teaching lessons. 

Trident teachers are especially trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach. All faculty and staff are trained, and some continue training to master higher levels within the Academy of Orton Gillingham.

Key to the experience is the multisensory approach, focused attention and the extremely low student/teacher ratio. So, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the school had to find a way to re-create this experience online.

Despite the logistical and practical difficulty, the teachers found a way to do it, said Trident Academy’s Head of School, Betsy Fanning.

“I am so proud of our teachers,” Fanning said. “The important thing to know is that the Orton-Gillingham piece is usually one or two students and the teacher right there with them. To take that model online is very difficult. I am really proud of how our teachers did this. It’s a real testament to all they do and how much they care.”

The school has also reduced class sizes to eight students to maintain a level of sustainability while maintaining social distance.

The most important key to success, however, is early intervention, Fanning said. To that end, the school is lowering tuition for K-2 students as part of an effort to advocate for early intervention.

“If we can get them early and work hard with them in the formative years, then it’s possible for them to transition to a more traditional learning environment and succeed,” she said. “We don’t ‘cure’ anything — our goal is to give them the tools they need to be successful.”