Good ideas are often born from the need for change, as Rebecca Sartain found out more than a decade ago. That’s when the Acworth mother of three was caught in the winds of change as the private school her son attended closed.
“My son has Asperger’s (syndrome), and I didn’t have anywhere else for him to go,” said Sartain. “His teacher and I found a brief solution in another school, but I knew I needed something else.”
Sartain, who had experience homeschooling her three children, decided to start her own school to cater to other students like her son. A self-described “accidental educator,” she went back to school at 40 to earn a master’s and to pursue accreditation for a different kind of educational facility.
The result was The Link School, an institution launched nine years ago with four students, one teacher and Sartain. It opened in the Acworth Grace Fellowship church and has since taken over all of the available classrooms to accommodate as many as 30 students.
“Right now, we have four to a classroom, with eight teachers and 12 staff,” said Sartain. “This year we have 21 students, and we are accredited for ages 6 to 21.”
The goal is to meet each student’s needs regardless of age, said Sartain. “We meet them where they are, so if you come in at 13 and are reading at a 10th or 11th grade level, that’s where we put you. If you’re 15 and reading at third grade level, that’s where we put you, but it’s done in a way that respects each student’s dignity. Each group is academically and socially aligned.”
About 40% of students are on the autism spectrum, while others may have social anxieties or Down syndrome. Some have no diagnosis at all but find the individualized attention is better suited to their learning styles. Many discover The Link through referrals from other schools or physicians, but Sartain said the best resource is parents of students, some of whom have gone on to college, jobs or back into public or private high schools.
Students take core classes in math, science, history and literature, but equal emphasis is given to life skills.
“If it has to do with life, we talk about it: tying shoes, balancing a checkbook, reading a recipe, crossing the street, using the telephone, filling out job applications,” said Sartain. “We also have chickens, and the kids take care of them, even on weekends. And they get to take the eggs home.”
Recently, The Link School Foundation was established to help with fundraising that will go toward expansion.
“We’d like to offer more classes and more animals,” said Sartain. “I also want to bring in people who can help students work toward what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Whatever we do, we want to align with a career they can do.”
Information about The Link School is online at thelinkschoolacworth.org.
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