Atlanta Speech School

Established in 1938, the Atlanta Speech School (the "School") is composed of four schools, a clinic offering four distinct therapeutic and academic services, and a professional adult learning institute for coaching and teaching with global reach. These programs share a common mission: to help each person develop their full potential through language and literacy. Each day, extraordinarily dedicated and talented individuals make significant differences in the lives of the children and adults they serve helping them discover their voice, and the power of that voice, for a lifetime. For that purpose, the programs of the School work independently and collaboratively to ensure the best outcome for each person served. As a core part of its mission, the School has never denied access to a student in need of our services as a result of a family's socioeconomic circumstances.The School effects transformative change in the lives of children and adults through research-based practices, innovation, advocacy, and partnerships with other organizations so that each child at the Atlanta Speech School and every child served - in Georgia and beyond - can acquire the language and literacy abilities essential for deciding their own future.As the nation's most comprehensive center for language and literacy, the four schools on campus serve approximately 351 preschoolers and elementary-age children annually. These schools are the Katherine Hamm Center (a listening, spoken language, and literacy program for children ages birth to six who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families); the Wardlaw School (elementary school for children with dyslexia); Stepping Stones (literacy-foundation preschool for young children with significant speech and/or language delays); and, the Anne & Jim Kenan Preschool (a language and literacy focused early childhood education).

Through the clinic, the School provides diagnostic, therapeutic and remediation services to both children and adults along the Reading Brain Continuum. These services include Speech-Language (evaluation and therapy for children and adults); Occupational Therapy (pediatric therapy to address sensory integration, handwriting, or fine/gross motor difficulties); and the Learning Lab (specialized individual or small group academic intervention for children struggling academically). In all cases, services are available through telepractice. Services also include Audiology, outsourced through PENTA: Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat of Atlanta.

Established as a "teaching hospital" for educators, the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy ("Rollins Center"), takes professional development to the field, allowing the School's mission to reach beyond the campus. With a specific focus on breaking the cycle of illiteracy for children whose families have been denied access to education for generations, the Rollins Center carries the School's 85+ years of expertise constructing the deep reading brain in children along the continuum from prenatal through third grade. This work is made available for all child-facing adults: educators, caregivers, health care professionals and communities across Georgia and beyond. Collaborating with an advisory council of thirteen of the nation's foremost experts on child development and literacy, the Rollins Center synthesizes the science of reading and integrates on campus with all School programs to develop and deliver onsite teacher training and coaching, in addition to providing professional development to schools within and outside the region and offering free online training through our Cox Campus learning platform and virtual community of practice. The Rollins Center partners with public and private organizations to reach more than 250,000 members on Cox Campus to deliver, for free, effective language and literacy strategies and improve effectiveness of service delivery across sectors to equitably transform young lives. Literacy and Justice for All, through which the city of Marietta and Atlanta Public Schools are setting a national standard by establishing themselves as providing a literacy ecosystem across the entire continuum in children's lives brings the work of the Rollins Center to life through our partnership with the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation and the city of Marietta.Since 2017, the Rollins Center has worked with Grady Hospital to change the standard of care to include ensuring every baby leaves the hospital with an adult prepared to deliver language nutrition. More than 7,000 babies have received the benefits of Talk With Me Baby, the hospital-wide ecosystem that prioritizes families' relationships with children and applying the science of healthy brain development and language acquisition.