Raymond James invests in LiFT Academy to serve students with neurodiversity

With a goal of enhancing educational opportunities in its communities, Raymond James through its Ready for School program has partnered with LiFT Academy in Clearwater, Florida, a school serving an important need and an exceptional student body.

Many of LiFT’s students have an autism spectrum disorder, but the student body represents a wide range of neurodiversity, including ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome and motor function issues. To best serve these students, educators may need to create a combination of accommodations and modifications suited to their students’ abilities.

While traditional school settings work to meet these needs, it is not always sufficient, according to Executive Director Matt Spence.

“Often, our students come to us after having a negative experience in another environment. We provide a supportive, bully-free environment that’s very holistic. Our two pillars are learning and independence, helping students work toward a standard diploma while learning how to thrive physically and emotionally.”

LiFT opened in 2013 in a Seminole, Florida, church serving an initial class of 13 students.

“The creation of LiFt Academy is kind of a classic story. Two moms, Kim Kuruzovich and Keli Mondello, cared very deeply about their daughters’ educations but couldn’t find a suitable educational environment for them. So, they created one,” Spence said. As word got out, the school grew, as did its scope of services. In addition to its primary education program, kindergarten through 12th grade, LiFT has a program for 18-to-22-year-olds and one for adults focused on life skills and employment.

LiFT Academy has since moved to a larger facility to meet the program’s growth. Currently, the organization serves 183 students and their families, a number Spence expects to exceed 200 soon.

The nucleus of LiFT’s educational approach is its LiFT Support Plans. The approach is similar to Florida public schools’ IEP – Individualized Education Program – with some importance differences. Public school IEPs represent an enforceable requirements school, Spence said, which can make them rigid. The LiFT support plan is more of a living document, and as a private school, LiFT Academy has more flexibility in meeting it.

“LiFT support plans are the product of conversations with families, and our students’ therapists can be involved as well. We include behavioral goals as well as the learning goals,” Spence said.

Another significant benefit LiFT offers families is that the majority of its instructors are trained special education teachers.

These components are key to the success of the program, but they come with fiscal challenges, particularly in serving a population of families who often experience financial insecurity.

“The cost of providing the high level of education we provide exceeds the tuition we charge,” Spence said. “Florida programs and scholarships help, but there is still a gap. This is why it’s important to have community partners like Raymond James.”

As part of its Ready for School program, Raymond James has enabled LiFT to hire reading intervention specialists who meet with every student, individually or in small group settings. The Raymond James grant also provides additional support for middle school and high school math training, including personalized instruction and summer bridge programming.

These resources will help the school meet a significant difficulty: remediation. Children with neurodiversity who started their education careers elsewhere often come to lag their grade level, Spence said. The further behind a child gets, the harder it becomes to catch up.

“These resources help us flood instruction of critical skillsets, particularly for students who have fallen behind,” Spence said.

Raymond James Chief Human Resources Officer Chris Aisenbrey serves on the LiFT Academy Board of Directors and has seen the benefits of its work up close.

“The most rewarding experience has been interacting with students and seeing how hard they’ve worked, how engaged they are and how much they want to be successful,” Aisenbrey said.

Many students graduate from the program, earning standard diplomas, while others are able to return to public schools. Many, too, learn job skills through model enterprises, are able to earn incomes and live independently, and there are LiFT graduates who are thriving in college.

“It’s been great to see how everything we’re doing in partnership with LiFT Academy is delivering value to families and students,” Aisenbrey said. “That’s why we created Ready for School – to help everyone have the opportunity to thrive through the power of education.”