Lilly Endowment boosts school helping kids with dyslexia

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Fortune Academy, a Lawrence school serving children from first through 12th grades with such learning differences as dyslexia and ADD, has received a $500,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The grant will allow Fortune to increase enrollment; upgrade technology; and improve performing arts, athletics and outdoor-learning offerings

The gift comes as Fortune Academy leaders launch their capital campaign, Join the Journey, Fulfill the Dream.

The endowment grant also will help Fortune expand outreach efforts to include a full-service evaluation center that will provide free early-detection screenings and intervention referrals, and psycho-educational evaluation services to the broader community.

Recent research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development shows that about 20 percent of students have a neurological difference in the brain that affects their ability to learn the sound-symbol structure of written language. This equates to 300,000 students in Indiana. Despite average intelligences, many of these students fall behind.

Since opening in 2002, enrollment has increased from six students to 88, which shows “a high level of local demand for this specialized learning environment,” said Janet George, founder and head of school.

Fortune has a total capital improvement budget of $5 million.

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