This fall (2025), Elon University announced the addition of Roberts Academy, set to open in the fall of 2026. The academy will serve as a school for students with dyslexia, offering tailored, individualized instruction beginning with third- and fourth-grade students, with plans to expand to grades one through six.  

My Experience with Dyslexia Support in K-12  

As an individual with dyslexia, I was incredibly excited by this announcement. I struggled a great deal in my elementary and high school years in public school due to my learning disability. I saw many curriculum adaptations in my K –12 learning environment. In elementary school, I would go to “Wilson Time” for thirty minutes every day. During this time, a group of students and I would leave the classroom to attend a small-group instruction session using the Wilson Reading System program. The program was intended for students ages 2–12 and adults with word-level deficits who were not making adequate progress with their current intervention, found difficulties with other learning strategies, or required intensive, structured literacy instruction due to a language-based learning disability. These daily lessons were often aligned with what we were doing in the regular classroom and helped me keep up with my peers. Unfortunately, this program was discontinued at the end of my fifth-grade year, leaving the rest of my educational journey without the academic support I required.  

Roberts Academy and the Orton-Gillingham Approach  

That being said, I was highly intrigued by Roberts Academy’s integration of the Orton-Gillingham approach, as I had not heard of it before. This led me to conduct my own research on the method. I found that the Orton-Gillingham method was developed in the 1930s and is geared towards students with difficulty decoding and encoding, particularly with reading, spelling, and writing. It is often implemented in focused instruction groups of 4–6 students working together, rather than in larger group settings. The method involves a “direct, multi-sensory teaching strategy paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics” that included the use of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic channels. A multi-sensory approach means students are learning language “by ear (listening), mouth (speaking), eyes (seeing), and hand (writing). The process involves listening to sounds and saying the sounds and names of letters while writing them” (Orton-Gillingham). The method has been proven effective for students struggling with dyslexia, increasing their reading and writing scores.  

Research Continued  

To further my understanding of this approach, I interviewed Professor Alicia S. Tate, who will serve as the acting director of Roberts Academy at Elon University. I focused on questions relating to how the method is beneficial, how it is unique, and how the addition of Roberts Academy will offer unique learning experiences for education majors at Elon University.  

The interview was very informative and taught me a lot about the Orton-Gillingham approach. This research-based approach will offer students the opportunity to have an immersive school day that is hard to replicate in other school settings (i.e., homeschool, private, public). The approach is unique in that it can be integrated across all content areas, enabling more direct practice throughout the school day.  

One of the larger components of this method that I wanted to discuss with Professor Tate was its multi-sensory aspect. I was interested in learning more, as this is not a component of the Wilson program I had learned from. When discussing the method, I learned that using multi-sensory tools such as physical movement, students express and receive phonological information, enabling them to learn cognitively and overcome their literacy struggles. This is done through visuals, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learning. For example, students learn by tracing letters in sand, or tapping out syllables in a word.  

I decided to conclude my interview with Professor Tate by discussing how the addition of the academy to Elon University will impact university students. The academy will give Elon education majors a unique opportunity to learn about the Orton-Gillingham method and gain firsthand experience by working with students at the academy. This is very exciting to me as an education major, and I am eager to see how this opportunity will positively impact the future of education majors at Elon.  

In all, I enjoyed taking the time to research the Orton-Gillingham method further and to discuss the Roberts Academy with Professor Tate and the opportunities it will bring to Elon’s Campus. This is an exciting time for Elon University, and as an education major myself, I am excited to see what the future holds for dyslexia and for the addition to campus, which will bring several unique opportunities and learning experiences for students, faculty, staff, children, and parents/guardians. 

About the Author 

Kira Campagna is a 2024–2026 Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) Student Scholar, collaborating with participants in the CEL Research Seminar on Affirming and Inclusive Engaged Learning for Neurodivergent Students. She is majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Environmental Education.

Learn more about the current Student Scholars.   

How to Cite This Post 

Campagna, Kira. 2026. “Let’s Talk About the Roberts Academy.” Center for Engaged Learning (blog), Elon University. January 20, 2026.