Breathing New Life into LA Education
As the 2024-25 school year wraps up, we’re launching a new blog series to highlight the bold work NSLA supports across Louisiana. Whether you're an educator, policymaker, or community leader, these stories will illustrate how our shared values fuel school models that meet Louisiana families’ needs—and how you can be part of the movement to ensure ALL children across Louisiana have access to an excellent education that broadens their college and career opportunities.
It is only fitting that the first NSLA blog reflects back on the first school that NSLA supported on our founding journey – The Academy of Collaborative Education, or ACE.
ACE is an innovative, specialty single-site charter school in Monroe, LA, dedicated to ensuring students with Autism Spectrum Disorder have every opportunity to become lifelong learners by providing an academically-rich educational environment designed to support the unique learning needs of its students.
From its inception to its first year of operation, ACE has exemplified the values that guide NSLA in its work:
Expanded Access + Choice
Innovative schools start by identifying real gaps in access. ACE’s founders, Maddie Cannon and Joellen Freeman, sought to found a school that expanded upon the very limited choices that Northeast Louisiana parents had for the children with autism. Previously, families had to choose between expensive private education or public education at district schools with limited therapeutic services that required families to travel, often during the work day, to offsite clinics. ACE offers the opportunity for students to receive academic instruction and therapeutic services in one location during the school day, making services more accessible to ALL families.
What this teaches us: ACE founders Maddie Cannon and Joellen Freeman didn't just design a school – they reimagined what access could look like for a group of students who didn’t have real options.
Unique + Innovative School Models
ACE provides a best-in-class integrated academic and therapeutic school model for students with autism spectrum disorder. It provides classroom-imbedded ABA support and push-in therapeutic services, like Speech and Occupational Therapy. ACE is one of two public schools in the state that offers this comprehensive model for children with autism and the only school in NE Louisiana.
What this teaches us: True innovation looks like creating learning environments that simply don’t otherwise exist. At ACE this results in a school that is a truly unique value-add for Louisiana families.
Autonomy + Flexibility
To effectively run its innovative model, ACE benefits from the autonomy and flexibility offered to public charter schools. ACE tailors its Tier 1 curricula and supplementary materials to its student population and ensures teachers receive professional development designed for those supporting students with autism. Operational, particularly financial, autonomy and flexibility allow ACE to effectively allocate resources to better support its students in the classroom.
What this teaches us: Autonomous decision-making in curriculum, staffing, and finances is foundational to the existence of innovative public charter schools like ACE.
Accountability
ACE’s continued ability to serve students rests on how well its model produces academic results. In its first year of operation serving 91 students across grades K through 5, 55% of ACE students who took the LEAP Connect in math and ELA scored at or above grade level – far outpacing their local district and state averages. ACE’s ability to effectively serve students and their families has resulted in increased demand for its model. Next year ACE expands to middle school and will serve over 120 students across grades K through 6.
What this teaches us: No matter how niche the model or student population, excellent schools still believe in and prioritize accountability at all levels of the school, producing strong academic results for its students.
Community Investment + Engagement
ACE’s ability to engage its community of stakeholders has been critical to its success. ACE built a strong governing board of directors that represents a variety of skills and expertise and includes a parent advisory board representative. It has repeatedly engaged local, state, and national elected officials to advance ACE’s mission. And, through its collaborative outreach, it has inspired others in both Louisiana and neighboring states to create their own schools for children with autism.
What this teaches us: The combined investment and championing of community stakeholders gives a new school the foundation it needs to move the needle on its mission and inspire others to action.
ACE exemplifies the work NSLA seeks to support across Louisiana. We believe that by supporting the expansion of excellent, innovative school models, like ACE, we provide the foundation for families across Louisiana to have true choice and agency in their children's education.
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