The Key School: Fort Worth, Texas

Key School

Fort Worth, Texas

Since 1966

Overview

History

Key School was founded in 1966 as a multileveled, special purpose school. The Scottish Rite Hospital Language Training Unit's format was the core of the curriculum. The Orton-Gillingham multisensory method of reading, writing, and spelling was used, and emphasis was placed on visual perception and auditory training. The main thrust of Key School since that time has been to remediate basic language and math skills and to provide academic success for the non-achieving and underachieving student.

There are two separate divisions of Key School.
Nine Month Term	Summer program
August to May Grades 1 - 12 Student/teacher ratio 4:1	June to July Age 4 - Young Adult Student/teacher ratio 4:1
Read our routine classroom procedures and our student profile.

The student population includes short-term and long-term students. Short-term students have specific deficits that can be remediated, allowing a return to mainstream in one or two years. Long-term students have significant language/learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, or other academic deficits, requiring specialized scheduling and intensive remediation for longer than two years.

Key School recognizes the needs of the individual and provides a positive learning environment for each student.

Routine Classroom Procedures

Key School's routine classroom procedures provide a consistent structured system to facilitate learning. The following procedures are followed in every class and are not individual modifications for learning:

Every student is afforded as much time as needed to take a daily quiz, test, or final examination.
Teachers give directions in both oral and written form.
Students practice organizational skills in all classes.
Each student is issued a Key School Organizer that is carried to every class. Homework assignments are written in the organizer and initialed by the subject teacher. This simplifies the end-of-day decision-making process so students choose the correct notebooks and textbooks for home study.
Key School's coding system for marking novels and textbooks makes it easier for students to comprehend what they have read and provides a reliable way to find facts for book reports and test preparation.

Classroom procedures can be adjusted to fit the individual needs of students.

Student Profile

The typical Key School student in both the Regular School and Summer Program is an individual who is not reaching his or her academic potential. Many Key School students have been diagnosed with learning differences and special needs. Despite these diagnoses, many are also above grade level in some areas. Key School's flexible scheduling accommodates the strengths and weaknesses of all its students.

Academic deficits, speech and auditory deficits, and ADD/ADHD are the three most common diagnoses. The Key School policy of individualizing schedules is enhanced by having two speech pathologists on staff and adhering to an average 4:1 class ratio.

As a rule, Key School students require special scheduling due to problems with one or more of the following:

Processing and production of oral language
Academic performance
ADD/ADHD / Cognitive dysfunction
Organization / Study Skills