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AIM Academy is an independent co-educational
college prep A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...
school serving students with language-based
learning differences Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...
in grades 1-12. AIM was founded in 2006 and moved to its current location in
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania Conshohocken ( ; Lenape: ''KanshihĂ kink'') is a borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry i ...
in 2012. The AIM Institute for Learning & Research provides professional learning opportunities grounded in the Science of Reading including online teacher training courses and access to researchers.


Location

The campus is located in Conshohocken, PA across the street from Septa's R-7 Miquon station. It is 4 miles from Exit 16A on Rte. 476 and 4 miles from exit 332 on Rte. 76 (
Schuylkill Expressway The Schuylkill Expressway , locally known as "the Schuylkill", is a Controlled-access highway, freeway through southern Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philade ...
). Students come from
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and its surrounding suburban communities.


Campus

The school is located in a century old brick building which originally housed a mill. The 60,000 sq. feet interior was designed and technologically enhanced in 2012 and includes classrooms, science labs, art studios, Global Resource Center, and an EEG Lab for in-school research partnerships including with the Haskins Global Literacy Hub. A turf field and playground were also added in 2012. The AIM Community Center (ACC) featuring a full-sized gymnasium, proscenium stage, blackbox theater, fitness center and classroom spaces for fine arts, media arts, music and drama instruction, was opened in Spring 2016. In January 2017, AIM Academy purchased the main school building and 4.5 acre campus from Buccini-Pollin Group. In 2021, construction began on a shipping container structure that will house AIM's new bike tech program for students and serve as a memorial to Samuel Ozer '20 who was killed while riding his bike home from work in June 2020. Close to 700 people and organizations donated funds for the creation of Sam's Place and Trek Bikes contribute the interior design work for the structure and outfitted it with the tools needed to run the bike tech program.


History

AIM Academy and the AIM Institute were founded in 2006 by Pat Roberts and Nancy Blair to serve children with language-based learning differences in the Philadelphia area and to provide educators with access to the latest in literacy research. They modeled the new school after The Lab School in Washington. When they opened their doors, they enrolled 27 students. Ten years later the school grew to 302 students in grades 1-12. The school was originally located in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA and called Academy in Manayunk. In response to their increasing student population, the school moved in 2012 to a new school building. The school was then renamed AIM Academy. Both AIM Academy and the AIM Institute for Learning & Research operate out of the River Road campus. The AIM Institute provides a variety of professional learning opportunities to educators in the area and throughout the country through annual events such as the Research to Practice Symposium, regular webinars and speakers as well as through more comprehensive training courses on the AIM Pathways training platform with courses focused on literacy training for teachers and support to help educators and education leaders implement techniques into classroom practice.


Academics

The curriculum includes reading, writing, math, science, technology, history, art, physical education, Spanish and Latin. All AIM seniors take two courses for college credit at partnership universities in the greater Philadelphia area including Drexel's Close School of Entrepreneurship, Cabrini and University of the Arts. AIM also provides Middle School students with a class in biking through the Outride Riding for Focus program.


Accreditations and associations

AIM is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), The Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), The Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), AIM is a Wilson Accredited Partner and two of its AIM Pathways teacher training courses are accredited by the IDA (International Dyslexia Association) as Center for Effective Reading Instruction certified teacher training.


Athletics

AIM Academy has teams for
Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, Cross Country,
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
,
Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, and
Mountain Biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...
and competes in the Penn-Jersey League.


References


External links


Aimpa.org
{{Authority control Private schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 2006 2006 establishments in Pennsylvania