Winter/Spring 2017–2018 Volume 2 Issue 2
5048 E. Oak Street Phoenix, AZ 85008 602 389 8600 newwayacademy.org
NEW WAY FAMILY
CONNECTIONS News and campus highlights connecting the New Way Academy family.
New Way Celebrates 50 Years! The new year brings a lot of extra excitement as New Way Academy celebrates its 50th Anniversary! We look forward to celebrating this monumental accomplishment and the legacy of our founders throughout the year. In 1968, two mothers, Evie Wiseman and Jeanette Bowling, were unable to find a school suitable for their sons with learning differences. After encountering many struggles as they searched for a school that could teach in a way that their children could learn, they decided to create their own. With four students, two teachers, and utilizing Sunday school classrooms at a local church, New Way School was born. With a goal of creating an environment in which students with learning differences could feel safe and free of ridicule while receiving an excellent education, Evie and Jeanette worked tirelessly to educate themselves on cutting edge research and instructional techniques to help their students. New Way School became a pioneer in the use of speech and reading therapy in conjunction with the learning program. In fact, New Way was one of the first schools to implement the Orton-Gillingham method of reading instruction — a groundbreaking method of teaching alphabetic phonics — which led to significant gains in reading, writing, and spelling for students with dyslexia. Over the course of two years, Evie travelled to Dallas, Texas for four weeks at
By Kendall Chester
a time in order to learn and observe this instructional method and bring it back to the students and teachers at New Way. In addition, New Way teachers were free to be creative in their teaching strategies, using hands-on learning techniques and interventions to help students focus and overcome their areas of challenge. An intimate setting with low student to teacher ratios also became a a defining feature of New Way. As students began to flourish in this new educational setting, New Way became a model for the instruction of students with learning differences, attracting the attention of major educational institutions and other parents struggling to find the right school for their children. The school grew rapidly, and within a short time, became the training ground for ASU’s Special Education students. In the mid 1990’s, New Way went through a significant amount of change. In 1994, New Way relocated from the church to an independent campus in South Scottsdale. After helping with this move, Evie and Jeanette retired after 26 years of school leadership. They left the school in the capable hands of Dawn Gutierrez, who led the school for the next 17 years. Soon after the founders retirement, New Way School became New Way Learning Academy.
Evie Wiseman (left) Jeanette Bowling (right)
circa 1968
In 2011, New Way Learning Academy changed continued on back page 1980s