Central Arkansas students with disabilities have a brand new school available to them. Easterseals Arkansas celebrated the grand opening of its new Academy campus in west Little Rock yesterday. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the state invested funds in the expansion to help better serve students with special needs.
“So when Easterseals first came to me, they had a wait list of more than 200 kids, and they were asking for $4.5 million to help with the expansion. The question I asked when they finished with the presentation was, would this help move every child off of the wait list? And they said, not quite. So I surprised my staff – who knows me as somebody who's always trying to cut spending – and I actually asked if we could do more, and we directed $6.5 million toward this project.”
The school will serve up to 220 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Lena Adams' son, Charlie, first came to Easterseals last year. She said at first, it wasn't clear whether there would be enough room for him in this upcoming year's kindergarten class.
“So you can imagine the joy and the relief I felt when I found out that the Academy was expanding and Charlie would get to continue his journey with Easterseals. In that moment, all my worries melted away because of the generosity, vision and heart of this community – people who show up, give back and lift up others. Doors were open for Charlie and so many other children.”
The new Easterseals Arkansas Academy campus will welcome its first students on Aug. 13.
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