Our school was founded in 1981 as The Achievement School by the late Dr. Leon Silber.  The Achievement School was North Carolina’s first school dedicated to students with ‘learning differences’.

Dr. Leon Silber

While Dr. Silber had made notable strides in advancing the idea that some students require different educational models in order to achieve success in the classroom, he was dismayed at the progress and the implementation of his ideas.  He realized that he would need to separate his plans from the ingrained structure of educational institutions, and demonstrate them instead in a school unfettered from administrative and structural constraints.
Dr. Silber undertook this challenge with great personal risk, both professionally and financially.  He mortgaged his home to fund the first teachers and a space for them, and welcomed the first students as the Headmaster of this new and different school.

Building the Team

During this same time, many young educators in North Carolina were beginning careers as teachers who wanted to make a difference.  Some ultimately became early pioneers with Dr. Silber at the fledgling Achievement School.  One teacher accepted a position within the North Carolina public school system, charged with accommodating the multiplicity of needs of all ages of ‘learning different’ students in her rural county.  It was a first attempt by the state to implement a program for funding teachers for Learning Disabled Students. Leon himself met with this young educator and others like her in similar positions.

Dr. Silber & Ms. Blaylock

The young educator was Junell Blaylock, who continued her own education by attaining advanced degrees in both Special Education and School Administration.  After success in roles ranging from teacher in various types of classrooms, to Headmaster at a traditional college preparatory school, she became the school’s second (and only other) Headmaster in 2004, when Dr. Silber stepped down due to health reasons.

 

The Fletcher Academy

In 2004 the school changed its name to The Fletcher Academy in honor of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, which had made the school one of its key philanthropic recipients.
The hallmarks of Dr. Silber’s passion in those early years are still present today:  A belief that focusing on a student’s abilities will lead them to achieve success; a ratio of teachers to students which allows for the necessary observation and supervision to design and implement the educational methods the student needs; a defined structure and process for the students’ days; a partnership with families which demands communication and protection of family time for each student.
You will see the evidence of these hallmarks from the moment you walk onto our campus – small class sizes; daily written two-way communication between families and faculty; students who explore because they understand goals and expectations.  Each day we focus on our goals to help each student as they BELIEVE….. ACHIEVE…..EXPLORE…..SOAR!