The Aurora School
About The Aurora School
The Aurora School, a caring educational community with diversity at its core, challenges each student to achieve personal excellence in academics, communication, thinking skills, emotional intelligence and life planning in order to become a self-directed, contributing member of society.
Using the latest scientifically-based behavioral techniques, academic curricula, and technology, students and their families are active partners in their individualized education programs with respect for students of all abilities. Aurora, in a collaborative partnership with our community, works to integrate students with peers while focusing on foundational skills. Our collaborative approach strives to serve the needs of our students, their families, and the needs of our community.
Aurora was founded by parents in cooperation with The Arc of Loudoun (Larc). The founders endeavored to create a school that was a viable option for students who were unable to reach their potential in the public school system or in a traditional classroom setting. At Aurora, we believe that education works best for students and families when valid research findings from the fields of education and psychology, behavior analysis in particular, are constantly applied in the classroom. Teaching practices at the school are derived primarily from applied behavior analysis (ABA): Positive reinforcement, continuous measurement of learning, and strategic/tactical data analysis based on graphic displays are cornerstones of the program. Verbal behavior, academic literacy, reading, social skills, self-management and problem-solving skills are all systematically taught via well researched, commercially available scripted curricula, as well as curricula developed in-house by our teachers and behavior analysts. Teachers engage in professional development continuously. Teacher remuneration is linked directly to their professional growth, which in turn is positively correlated with student learning. Through our Virginia Department of Education licensed programs, we primarily serve students (2-22 years old) with the disabilities of autism, developmental delay, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, other health impairment, severe disabilities, speech language impairment, and traumatic brain injury.
The Aurora School is a private non-profit organization. We are a CSA provider licensed to operate by The Virginia Department of Education.
Philosophy
For more information, please visit our website at http://www.aurora-school.org.
