More than a dozen parents and educators attended a program to learn about the Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach that will help children with dyslexia learn to read at a new private elementary school opening this August on campus.
While stomping, clapping and tracing letters in sand may seem unconventional, such multisensory techniques were at the center of a recent Zoom presentation where Elon University educators discussed effective instruction for young students with dyslexia.
Led by Assistant Professor and Acting Director Alicia Tate and Ann Bullock, dean of Elon University’s Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education, the online “Exploring Dyslexia” session on Jan. 27, 2026, offered a glimpse of the approach planned for the Roberts Academy at Elon University, the state’s first university-based private school exclusively for children with dyslexia and related conditions.
Roberts Academy will use the Orton-Gillingham approach, an evidence-based method that emphasizes multisensory instruction — engaging sight, sound, touch and movement — to help students build stronger neural connections for reading and language development.
The academy will initially serve students in grades three and four starting in the fall at a temporary campus location. It will expand to grades one through six once a new school opens on East Haggard Avenue in time for the 2028-29 school year.
Leaders said the goal is for students to leave Roberts Academy after two or three years equipped with academic skills and the confidence to succeed when they return to traditional school settings.
“What we’re doing is trying to engage more than one sense at a time to strengthen learning,” Tate told attendees. “The Orton-Gillingham approach is not just a helpful strategy. It’s essential.”
The Orton-Gillingham approach is not just a helpful strategy. It’s essential.
– Assistant Professor and Acting Director Alicia S. Tate
Rather than relying heavily on traditional practices such as silent reading or copying from a board, instruction at Roberts Academy will be immersive throughout the day, Tate and Bullock told attendees. Lessons may include students tracing letters in sand, spelling words in the air, tapping syllables on their arms or using movement and rhythm to reinforce phonics and spelling patterns.
That multisensory approach extends across subjects. In mathematics, students will use manipulatives while explaining their thinking aloud or drawing number lines to solve problems. Science lessons will emphasize observing, recording and discussing results simultaneously while using diagrams and physical models.
In social studies, timelines, maps and visuals will be paired with discussion, role-play and simulations. Writing instruction will include planning ideas orally and using visual organizers during drafting.
Class sizes will be capped at 12 students, allowing for individualized instruction and small groups for literacy support. Students will follow North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study and participate in a full elementary experience that includes art, music, physical education and clubs, along with expanded recess time and opportunities to use Elon’s campus as an extension of the classroom.
Bullock said the academy’s mission extends beyond academics. “A lot of times, children with dyslexia feel defeated,” she said. “We want to boost their confidence and for them to know they’re capable of learning.”