KEYS Academy – Culpeper

KEYS Academy Culpeper opened in October 2011 as the first KEYS Academy, started by a local counseling practice in response to local needs for students with disabilities. The Virginia Department of Education licenses us to serve special education students in grades K to 12 as a private day school, and our Culpeper campus also serves post-secondary students. We grew from 27 to 40 seats in 2015, and school systems in Culpeper, Orange, Madison, Fauquier, Rappahannock and nearby counties place students here.

Our students have IEP classifications of emotional disability, autism, other health impairment or specific learning disability. A class here never exceeds 10 students, the staff to student ratio is 1:3, and our teachers hold Virginia special education certification. Instruction follows the Virginia Standards of Learning through a blended model using Wilson Reading, Fundations, Lexia and Edmentum, with credit recovery in high school.

Students build social skills and problem solving through Social Thinking and our own KEYS curriculum, which also guides planning for life after school. Students also make art, join drum circles and get daily physical activity, and lunch and snacks are free. We are accredited by VAISEF.