Academy for Precision Learning Programs
Arts Enrichment
APL balances the academic content with arts and social enrichment opportunities. Our three primary enrichment opportunities are:
- Art Enrichment: Students receive weekly art lessons. Head instructor, Kristine Helgager, provides tailored lessons that focus heavily on the Creative Process with emphasis on developing skills. Art enrichment cultivates confidence and individual expression in each and every student whether fingerpainting or learning about pointillism and Picasso!
- Broadway Bound: Theater practice transforms the lives of APL students, challenging them to develop their mental, physical, emotional, social and creative potential. Students have weekly theater arts enrichment classes which culminate in live theater productions each year.
- YMCA: Organized play activities at YMCA provide APL students opportunities to stretch their imagination, minds and muscles as they partake in team building activities and exercises.
Progress Monitoring
At APL, each student has a social and academic Individualized Learning Plan (ILP). Faculty tracks student performance daily on each skill taught and practiced, collecting and recording all pertinent data. If a student stops making progress on any skill, faculty will analyze the student's performance data and determine the appropriate interventions. Faculty will document all interventions and detail these interventions in bi-monthly progress reports. Students with more significant needs in the social, communicative and behavioral domains also access high quality, individualized programming from BCBA’s (Board Certified Behavior Analysts) on-site at APL.
Practicum and Training Facility
APL serves as a practicum site for graduate students completing their Master’s Degree in educational and behavioral related fields as well as those on track to attaining their BCBA. APL also provides high school students the opportunity to volunteer and experience teaching within an inclusive environment.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
APL has undergone a significant amount of growth, and the population served continues to increase exponentially on an annual basis. APL takes pride in the fact that they are able to reach out to an increasing number of students across King County, seeking an inclusive educational setting where they can thrive both academically and socially. With four students enrolled at APL in 2007, the school has since expanded to serve over 75 learners. With inclusion as a core founding principle, APL continues to serve a broad range of children. An inclusive model has bolstered APL’s sense of community and proved rewarding for the entire student body, faculty and staff.
As the student population grows, so does the need for strong and consistent enrichment opportunities! Theater has transformed the lives of APL students, providing a necessary creative outlet and challenging them to develop their mental, physical, emotional, social and creative potential. However, in order to provide weekly theater enrichment which culminates with three live performances each spring, APL must raise $10,000. Thanks to a generous donation from Schools for Spectrum Foundation, APL is hoping to raise the remaining $9,000 to cover the cost of the theater arts program. Your gift will directly support the theater arts at APL and enable the partnership with Broadway Bound to continue. If you choose to give, expect to receive a personal invitation to attend one of our performances this spring: Aladdin, Oliver or Hamlet!