Vertical Skills Academy

Vertical Skills Academy is a nonprofit private school in Jefferson County for students in grades 2-8 with dyslexia and related reading or writing challenges, including dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. The school provides full-day literacy immersion: about 3.5 hours of literacy instruction each day, Orton-Gillingham methods used across subjects, and a daily one-hour OG tutoring block at a 3:1 ratio. Elementary classes are capped at 8:1 and middle school classes at 10:1.

Staff train in Yoshimoto Orton-Gillingham. English language arts uses unit studies with grade-level social studies texts and the Releasing Writers literacy framework. Math uses Eureka Math2 with manipulatives and daily checks for understanding. Social-emotional time uses Everyday Speech and explicit instruction in self-advocacy around dyslexia. Most students attend for a few years and then return to their home school. The current campus is 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd. in Littleton. A summer reading partnership with Every Child Reading also operates in Littleton, Denver, and Vail.