Horizon Academy is excited to welcome Dr. Tiffany Arrington, PhD, as our new school psychologist. There are many benefits to having a school psychologist on staff. Dr. Arrington can consult on instruction, assessment and student wellness. A current focus of Dr. Arrington’s has been teaching Executive Functioning in the classroom. Executive Functioning teaches students a method and process of how to learn on their own. 

“Executive Functioning is helping students develop the tools of their own learning… Executive Functioning is a relatively new term, but made up of familiar concepts like study skills, testing skills, organization, time management, emotional regulation, meta cognition, and working memory.” 

Dr. Arrington’s lessons in the classroom cover these skills and more. Recently, she led an activity with the Lower School on increasing time awareness. Students were required to line up a row of dice in numerical order in 60 seconds, no more and no less time allowed. This activity increased students’ awareness of their internal clock. 

Dr. Arrington will also play a key role in the opening of Horizon Academy’s on-site Testing Center. 

Dr. Arrington believe, “My training and experience has put me in a position to provide recommendations for students and/or advise them on the next steps (once diagnoses are determined). A diagnosis drives intervention and the importance of a thorough evaluation cannot be understated.”

Dr. Arrington will be able to test for dyslexia, dyscalculia and other learning disabilities, giftedness, cognitive strengths and weakness, and identifying learning strengths and needs. Testing services will be available for non-Horizon Academy families. Horizon Academy’s on-site Testing Center is expected to open November 1^st.

Dr. Arrington is excited to be working with Horizon Academy students, families and faculty. Her favorite part about working at Horizon Academy is being a part of the community. “It feels like I have come home. I can’t imagine anywhere else I would want to be.”

Dr. Arrington discovered her passion for helping students while running the residence halls at The University of Kansas. Her experience in higher education gave her an intimate knowledge of what skills students need to be successful. Dr. Arrington has worked in the Blue Valley school district, Olathe Therapeutic Day School, and since 2015 has been working in her own private practice. She has recently completed her Doctorate from the University of Kansas.