Every parent knows child development is not linear – it’s bumpy, with skills and tool sets often developing unevenly. For some children, the unevenness is greater, and can make standard school environments a difficult place to thrive. To address this, and as part of our commitment to living out our values of inclusion and caring, Carmel Academy launched the PALS program in 2006.
PALS is an integrated program tailored to each student. PALS students have self-contained classrooms with class sizes averaging 5 for K-5, and capped at 8 for grades 6-8. The average student teacher ratio in PALS is 3:1 with all PALS teachers possessing extensive Special Education credentials. The PALS program at Carmel provides all of the following supports:
- Occupational therapy including a sensory gym
- Speech and language therapy including pragmatic language skills therapy
- Whole-school social skills curriculum, with extra support and training for PALS students
- Executive functioning support and education
- Research-based, Orton Gillingham reading instruction
- Multi-sensory approach to reading, math, and all curricular material
- Adaptive physical education