Damar Charter Academy

Our Early Learning Center sits on the campus of Amy Beverland Elementary and is one of four NAEYC-accredited early learning centers run by the MSD of Lawrence Township in Indianapolis. We hold Level 4, the top rating in Indiana's Paths to Quality, and we serve preschoolers ages 3 to 5 along with full-day kindergarten. Our preschool program, Preschool of the Arts, lets children explore art, music, movement and literacy through project work, using the HighScope curriculum and ideas drawn from the Reggio Emilia schools. Kindergarten is full day and tuition-free for children who turn 5 before October 1, with daily Readers' and Writers' Workshop, small-group reading and IEPs when appropriate. Each building has a full resource staff for students with special needs, and on-site speech, occupational and physical therapy are available to students who qualify. Kindergartners are screened for dyslexia risk, and intervention can include Orton-Gillingham lessons. Preschool is billed weekly, from $190 for the school day, with before care from 6:30 a.m. and after care until 6 p.m. Preschool is for district residents, while kindergarten also accepts students from outside the district.

Damar Academy began in 1993 as a single on-campus classroom for Damar students whose needs the public schools could not meet. In 2005 we hired our own licensed teachers and teaching assistants and became an independent, Freeway-accredited private school on Damar's 83-acre campus on the southwest side of Indianapolis. We provide special education for students ages 6 to 21 with developmental, intellectual and behavioral disabilities. Our teachers hold Indiana licenses with special education endorsements, and they blend education and therapy through instruction in communication, behavior, academics, motor and adaptive skills, and social and emotional development. Students practice independent living skills in the classroom and out in the community, and older students build vocational skills for life after school. We can contract with local school corporations to serve qualifying children. Most of our students come from Indiana, but we also accept students from other states.

Dynamic Minds Academy is an Indianapolis school at 8350 Craig Street for students with autism spectrum disorder. It pairs academics with ABA therapy through The Hope Source in one building. The school serves kindergarten through 12th grade, with center-based clients ages 5 to 22 and a vocational lab available through age 22. The blended model uses low student-teacher ratios and low-stimulation classrooms. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and mental health supports run during the school day rather than as a separate placement. The year-round calendar covers about 240 school days. The Hope Source began autism therapy in 2009. After earlier education partnerships, Dynamic Minds Academy opened in 2019 to keep treatment and school in one place. Students may present with mild, moderate, or severe autism, with or without language impairment, and some have additional neurodevelopmental or mental health diagnoses. Tours and enrollment are currently on a waitlist.