About RMA Public Schools
RMA Public Schools is a specialized credit recovery campus for 9th to 12th graders. With a mission to cater to all students, it operates under an open-enrollment charter system which accepts students with disabilities who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out of traditional school. Their primary focus is on graduating students by providing a four-hour daily schedule based on an accelerated academic curriculum. This unique approach underscores RMA's commitment to addressing the educational needs of students requiring a more focused and supportive learning environment.
Ori took us out of the rote, box-checking way of doing transition, and helped us get to a place where we could present some real data for each student.
The Challenge
RMA observed a behavioral pattern among students who weren’t sure of their post-graduation futures. “When a student doesn’t know what’s next for them after graduation, they tend to self-sabotage,” says Dr. Heidi M. Lambert, who serves as Director of Special Populations at RMA. This pattern presented itself in the data, which showed that students with disabilities in particular were staying on longer than most, often struggling to stay motivated and to attend their classes regularly. The school had excellent special education teachers, but it lacked a structured transition program, highlighting an opportunity to bridge a gap in the school's support system for transition-age students.
The Solution
The turning point for RMA came after Dr. Lambert heard about Ori Learning from someone in her professional network, who specifically praised the Transition Program. After doing some more independent research, Dr. Lambert learned that the program not only removed the burden of legal and compliance matters, but also provided a framework for holding teachers accountable to improving transition outcomes for students with disabilities. This is what ultimately won Dr. Lambert over as a special education leader. She implemented the transition curriculum for the 2023/24 school year at RMA and quickly established an Ori Learning champion in her team.
The Results
By January 2024 the program had received unanimous support from staff. Teachers and students alike vouched for the user-friendliness of the platform, and school counselors were “wowed” by the comprehensive information contained in the transition resources. Based on the positive feedback she has received so far, she is confident that it is working. “Ori took us out of the rote, box-checking way of doing transition, and helped us get to a place where we could present some real data for each student.” She even decided to open up the Ori Learning platform to general education students at RMA, saying that if she could, she would “make it a requirement for everyone”.
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