Framed by Nashville's midtown skyline and the tree canopy of Vanderbilt University's Peabody campus, the Roberts Academy and Dyslexia Center officially celebrated its opening on Oct. 28 with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on its front lawn. The event drew university leaders, parents, educators and benefactors from across the country.
Just two months earlier, the Roberts Academy had welcomed students to the new 66,500-square-foot home after two years in a temporary space. The facility is designed to provide dyslexia instruction across 30 specialized classrooms while also hosting the Dyslexia Center, where scholars and educators will advance dyslexia research and provide professional development. The center will also provide training for current and future teachers and offer diagnostic services for families with children who may be struggling with reading.
Students at the Roberts Academy enjoy a full curriculum in facilities that include a light and airy gymnasium, a library that invites visitors to sit and read, an outdoor classroom, a music lab with keyboards for every student, and a makerspace where children can use tools to explore ideas and solve problems in three dimensions.
"This is Vanderbilt's vision of becoming the great university of the 21st century," Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said, "a place where groundbreaking discoveries are not confined to laboratories and lecture halls but become forces for real impact in the world."
Diermeier also recognized Hal and Marjorie Hollis Roberts, whose transformational gift and vision made the academy and center possible. The Roberts family sought a Vanderbilt collaboration in part because of Peabody College of education and human development's long-standing leadership in special education research and practice.
"We believe the effectiveness of the work that is done here will inspire other universities," Marjorie Roberts said. "It will be a beacon that shines brightly around the world."
Roberts remembered the roadblocks faced by three of her grandchildren with dyslexia-and how quickly children can lose confidence when they don't receive adequate support.
In contrast, she said, the academy "offers a safe classroom with 12 students, where the teacher and classmates are supportive. They experience success, develop pride and want to share it. We saw what the solution was, and we felt compelled to share it with others."
FROM SHARING TO THRIVING
The Roberts family has ambitiously shared that vision, garnering enthusiastic support from Vanderbilt and local families, including at other Roberts academies at Florida Southern College, Mercer University and Elon University, each of which had guests in attendance.
What began with 21 students has grown to 46 third- through fifth-graders, with more grade levels and students on the horizon. Students come from 27 ZIP codes across the Middle Tennessee region, and a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio means that they receive highly personalized support.
That type of hands-on engagement is a cornerstone of Peabody College and Vanderbilt University's mission, said Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development. She highlighted Peabody's dedication to literacy and its history of evidence-driven outreach that helps children thrive.
"What delights me most is knowing that the children here are having their lives changed for the better," Benbow said. "They will carry their newfound skills and knowledge into their next school and throughout their lives. We are celebrating much more than a building today."
Like the Roberts family, Vanderbilt trustee Steven Madden, BS'91, and his wife, Kelly, have a personal connection to dyslexia. Kelly Madden described the challenges and gifts that their daughter, Reni, MEd'26, experienced with dyslexia, including earning her master's degree at Vanderbilt and now helping the next generation of dyslexic learners as a program coordinator at Roberts Academy.
"What makes Steven, Reni and I so motivated and passionate is that the solutions for these students to thrive are so very tangible," Kelly Madden said. "And right around the corner from that are smiling, enthusiastic, high-self-esteem children, full of possibility, because we all recognize they don't need to be fixed. They need to be understood. And it's really just a matter of discovering the way they need to learn."
A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA
Guests gathered around the Roberts Academy entrance as Diermeier, Marjorie and Hal Roberts, and their children Julia, Jim and Belinda Roberts, cut the ribbon, formally launching a new chapter of learning and research for students with dyslexia. Giggles could be heard as Roberts Academy students and teachers, along with Roberts family members and university leaders, released butterflies over the crowd, capping a morning of appreciation for how far the academy and center have come-and excitement for what comes next.
"From the building's design and furnishings to the teachers we hire and the curriculum we teach, every aspect of the academy is created with our students in mind," said Jared Clodfelter, director of the Roberts Academy. "This is a school our students can be proud of, designed not only to support them through the challenges of learning with dyslexia, but also to help them recognize and develop their unique strengths. We are excited about what this new home will make possible for our students and for the many learners who will attend Roberts Academy in the years ahead."
