If you’re designing a school for kids who have been left behind, you’re going to need flexibility, an individualized approach, and a willingness to go at different paces. That’s exactly what Kenisha Skaggs has created with Soar Academy in Augusta, Georgia.

Kenisha worked at a tutoring center, but the methods they used weren’t working. In 2010, she began tutoring students in her home after school. Parents liked the customized multi-sensory approach she used—which she mainly learned from her mom homeschooling her in high school. Some parents asked her to homeschool their children, and Soar Academy was born. After working out of her home for several years, Kenisha moved to an office complex and then to her current location in a local church.

Soar Academy is now a special purpose private school for children with individual education plans (IEPs), but it still has a homeschool feel. They use a variety of curricula depending on each student’s needs. Kenisha says 25 percent of her students have autism and require a multi-sensory approach—touch, feel, music, sound. “Whatever learning style works best for them, we build the curriculum around that,” she says. She has found the individualized approach works better for all kids, not just the neurodivergent ones.

After more than a decade, Kenisha is still trying to reach children who have been left behind. One of her primary goals is to ensure her students have strong reading skills. Some of the students who come to her are two or three years behind for their age. “If we get kids reading well, they can teach themselves,” she points out.

In addition to kids with autism, she serves children with dyslexia, ADHD, auditory processing disorder, and other special needs. The small size and individualized approach help her find ways to reach each student. “In the public school system, many of our students were left behind,” Kenisha explains. “We highlight where they can soar.”

Soar Academy’s weekly schedule isn’t as rigid as most schools. “Motivational Mondays” include reading, art, and STEM labs; a character lesson or devotion; a review of foundational skills; and time to stretch and flex. Tuesdays through Thursdays are for instructional learning: Math, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. Every Friday, students leave the classroom for the opportunity to go out in the community for real world applications related to their lessons. These experiences help develop their life skills while strengthening their understanding. It also helps keep them engaged and excited to learn.

Because Kenisha wants to meet the diverse needs of families, Soar Academy also offers a hybrid option where students attend just Tuesdays through Thursdays and learn from home the other days. For additional fees, she offers after school tutoring and additional IEP services.

Soar Academy is drawing attention for its innovative approach. After previously winning a $10,000 VELA grant, Kenisha was a recent Yass Prize finalist—winning a $500,000 award. Kenisha plans to increase enrollment—she currently has 60 students and a wait list. She also wants to purchase land to house a campus that would include equestrian facilities.

Like many other VELA and Yass Prize winners, Kenisha says the networks she has gained access to through the awards are in some ways worth as much as the funding. While many people have thought she was crazy over the years, the other prize winners have gone through the same struggles and really understand.

For Kenisha, it’s all about the kids. She features some stories on the Soar Academy website to show what can happen when you craft the educational plan a child needs. For example, when Tianna arrived at Soar Academy in 8th grade, she was at the 1st grade level in math and reading. Within nine months of working in Soar’s Foundations Program, Tianna was able to read on a 5th or 6th grade level. She is on track to be reading on at least a 10th grade level after one more year of the program. Kenisha is passionate about helping kids like Tianna, who have been left behind by the public school system, so they can have brighter futures.