Jonesboro, AR- (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Dec. 3, 2024 – In response to a growing local demand for individualized education, The Lighthouse will continue to expand its operations.
In January, the program will open Lighthouse North in Jonesboro and add new classrooms at its Bono campus.
The two-acre Jonesboro campus will hold 15 students. The program also has the 20-acre Bono campus with 50 students and the 20-acre Pocahontas campus housing 12 students.
The Lighthouse Education Cooperative is a nonprofit, faith-based homeschool cooperative providing educational opportunities for special needs children by combining education and therapy.
When the program first bought the Bono campus on 677 Highway 91 West, cofounder Amanda Escue said they had outgrown everything they had.
“We had three houses in Jonesboro,” Escue said. “Our staff was really disconnected, and we wanted everyone to get to come together. So, we found this place [the current Lighthouse Bono campus] for sale. Now everyone in Jonesboro’s here.”
The new Jonesboro campus will be at 940 County Road 753. This is where the program began in 2017, when Escue and her husband and cofounder Jeremy Escue converted their carport into a classroom to homeschool their six children.
“It was just a different environment. We had a big yard, so they could be outside. They could be just in a really natural, home-like environment that wasn’t institutional or clinical- feeling for them. Then, we weren’t expecting it, but things just sort of took off by word of mouth.”
As the program has evolved, The Lighthouse now provides speech and occupational therapy, as well as applied behavioral analysis all encompassed in Christian education.
“We really wanted our students to have an atmosphere like no other. It is based on the philosophy of Charlotte Mason,” she said.
Mason was a British educator in the 1800s. She operated on 20 principles, such as educators should nurture the God-given strengths in children through discipline.
“We offer a very rich education. Our students aren’t just learning to trace letters and things like that. We’re trying to teach some life skills. We like that home-like environment and having the kids on some acreage and letting them be able to roam and have natural surroundings around them,” she said.
The program is year-round to provide the kids with educational consistency.
The school is open to students K-12. The teachers, or guides as they are called, are trained in autism and therapy techniques. About 85% of students enrolled have disabilities.
“We try to make a way for their siblings to also attend and get a rich education as well so that families can stay together if parents choose that,” Escue said. “We are trying to seek ways that we can partner with parents and ease the burden that they haven’t been raising children with a lot of needs,” she continued.
Subjects include reading, math, literature, history and science, as well as activities such as poetry, picture study and art. They also teach life skills such as laundry, pumping gas and cooking.
“[The guides take students] out on the weekends and do things with their families. They are going to the movies together, having dinner at a restaurant together, things like that which really helps our families overcome some of these challenging things that other families get to do,” she said. “It’s not hard, but it can be such a barrier. We’ve got to see some of that growth in families to be able to start to achieve that.
To enroll, prospective families will undergo an interview process to determine if the program is a good fit for the student.
“We really want it to be a good fit for each student. We don’t want to bring someone in, and it be overwhelming for them. We want them to know what it is like before they come. So, we like to get to know the families and let them know what we can provide.”
Tuition is $8,200 a year for the program. The therapies are provided through a private company, Heritage Therapy, which the couple started, allowing the program to bill insurance companies.
However, Escue said there are times when insurance will stop paying for treatment for “whatever reason.”
“Insurance, that’s probably one of the biggest challenges for any family dealing with autism. A lot of things get denied. In that case, the $8,200 covers the educational programming and allows our students to attend all year long, five days a week, regardless of what therapies they’re getting.”
She added that the program allows students to get a full education, regardless of their disability.
“We don’t want their disability to be what limits them from experiencing what other kids get to experience educationally,” Escue said. “We believe that it all brings just meaning to their daily lives and gives them ways to relate to the world.”
For more information, visit The Lighthouse Education Cooperative website or call (870) 219-1027.