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As a 20-year teaching veteran, I opened the Academy after seeing the profound impact of personalized methods of instruction on students’ reading and writing skills. Our certified Orton Gillingham teachers create custom curricula based on individualized assessments, providing tailored support to each learner. From emergent readers to students needing specialized help, our boutique approach ensures every child thrives.
Please feel free to reach out if you’d like any further information! We’d love the opportunity to help your student.
Heather Collins
Owner
The Collins Academy is a tutoring service that stands out in the area by providing more than just “homework help”. While that is a valued service we offer, we can go beyond by crafting a curriculum tailored to the individual student’s needs.
We will establish a baseline with every student for personalized instruction. We then build on their strengths and enhance their weaknesses. Recognizing that each learner is different, we offer a variety of services designed to accommodate diverse learning styles.
Heather is a certified teacher with a reading endorsement, who has over twenty years of teaching experience in both public and private schools. With a specialization in teaching emergent readers, she became intrigued by different philosophies and approaches to reading instruction.
After extensive research, Heather earned the Orton Gillingham certification to enhance her skills as a classroom teacher. Her application of the Orton Gillingham principles within school systems demonstrated remarkable improvements in students’ reading and writing skills.
Heather established the Academy following the pandemic after observing a significant need for extra help with reading and writing. She has since grown to a highly qualified team of certified teachers who specialize in reading and writing education.
This service is for students with a 504, IEP, or learning differences, including dyslexia, processing disorders, ASD, etc., that need to be addressed by a certified teacher that is specially trained to accommodate their needs.
At this level, the teacher will be utilizing the Orton Gillingham curriculum to assist with reading & writing needs. It is a direct, explicit, multi-sensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach children how to read and write. It has decades of science backing the approach and it success with all students, especially those with learning differences.
Taught by a certified teacher, this service is for students who just need extra help with a particular subject or want to keep their skills current and/or boost them to the next level. It is perfect for a child who needs confidence building, or one who might be aiming to get into GT courses. Some examples for this level of tutoring include:
This service is for our youngest learners (Pre-K through 1st grade). We use the multi-sensory, science based method of Orton Gillingham to teach initial letter and sound correlations.
Students will engage in visual, auditory, kinesthetic and verbal drills to learn the essential foundations necessary to begin to learn how to read. If you want your student to have a firm foundation for reading success, this service is for you! It is taught by a certified teacher trained in Orton Gillingham.
This service is for students (and the parents who battle them) who want some extra support getting homework completed each week during the school year.
Our staff members will utilize each student’s Google Classroom to help plan for the week, and support the student completing assignments and/or studying for tests. We recommend twice a week on alternating days for optimal effectiveness. This service is taught by a qualified staff member that will be supervised by a certified teacher.
Our microschool is unique to the Fort Mill and Charlotte area and was created for students who need an option outside of the traditional school model. We offer a very small class size (up to eight students maximum), with a student/teacher ratio of 4-1.
This model, often considered a “mid-point” between traditional schooling and homeschooling, caters to multi-aged students who either need extra support they cannot get in a larger school or desire more flexibility within their school day.
Examples of students that will thrive in our micro school are those with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia (we will use Orton Gillingham methods at school). Additionally, serious athletes might find microschooling beneficial as it allows for more flexibility in their schedule for their sport. Our curriculum, which is viewed as a public-school option, ensures that students in our program stay on their current grade level track. We are committed to providing a high-quality education that meets public-school standards. We invite you to reach out for more information on microschooling if you want to learn more or would like a tour of our facility.
The answer to this question is varied depending on what you are looking to get out of the tutoring. If your child needs light support, once might be enough (especially if you work with them in between at home). However, for most students, meeting twice a week is going to lead to quicker, longer-lasting results. For homework helpers, twice a week is highly recommended so that planning out weekly homework, and studying for upcoming quizzes and tests can be incorporated into the week.
It is often asked if students should continue to tutor over the summer and the answer is an emphatic “yes”! Tutoring over the summer is a perfect opportunity to prevent the dreaded “summer slide”, boost confidence, and pre-load for the upcoming school year. We have flexible scheduling and many more hours to offer to students in the summer months!
Your tutor will communicate after each session and give suggestions on things you can do at home to help your student. It isn’t required (we are aware kids already are bogged down with schoolwork), but we are always happy to give suggestions that may help the children we work with.
Currently, we only specialize in working with elementary and middle school aged students. We may expand into high school in the future though so always check back!
Each student has a scheduled day/time that they will attend each week. We offer once or twice a week, but this depends upon teacher availability. We offer flexible scheduling in the summer so that kids can still enjoy camps, vacation, and all the fun things summer has to offer.
I do not require any contracts. I just ask that if you decide to not continue with tutoring, that you let me know ASAP so that I can utilize my waiting list to fill the spot.
We are conveniently located in Fort Mill across from Tega Cay Elementary in the Thomas Building. Our address is: 2166 Gold Hill Road.
Just a short commute from several areas in North and South Carolina including: Charlotte, Rock Hill, Indian Land, and Clover.
Initial assessment is only required for Specialized Services, it is an hour long and will take place at our office.
The fee is $125 and includes the teacher fee for analyzing the test results, creating a baseline for instruction, and creating an individualized learning plan for the student (which takes time beyond the one hour session)
Pricing is based on the service that suits your child’s needs. Please get in touch to discuss our pricing and the service that might best fit your student.
2166 Gold Hill Rd
Fort Mill, SC 29708
704.560.1849
2 pm – 7 pm