Hope Academy of Northwest Arkansas serves students in grades K-3 in Bentonville. Hope Academy of NWA is an open-enrollment charter school sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter. As a FY2020 APSRC CSP Subgrantee, Hope Academy of NWA was awarded $526,527.13 in October 2019.

The mission of Hope Academy of Northwest Arkansas is to provide students with a safe, positive, trauma-informed academic environment that will nurture their love for learning and confidence in life.

Hope Academy of Northwest Arkansas is the first trauma centered charter school in the state. With a new model, the school faced unique challenges in branding and conveying the mission to the community. The Hope Academy marketing team used a multimodal approach to engage the community for the dual purposes of sharing our mission with those families most in need and soliciting support from community partners. Hope Academy placed advertisements in local newspapers, including Spanish and Marshallese papers. Direct contact with the local school district allowed district staff to understand the mission, and Hope Academy received several student referrals via this process. Through these efforts, Hope Academy enrolled 38 students, coming close to reaching our capacity of 40 students.

Through collaboration with the University of Arkansas, it was determined that play therapy would be an important component of helping students manage their trauma. Hope Academy made a strong commitment to this by designating two play therapy spaces in the school. Through the CSP grant assistance, Hope Academy was able to furnish the play therapy rooms with toys and equipment necessary for effective treatment. In addition to the play therapy rooms, Hope Academy designed and developed a sensory room that provides a space for students to physically regulate before returning to class.

Trust Based Relational Interventions focuses on brain science to assist children in self-regulation by meeting physiological needs and providing a feeling of safety. In order to ensure fidelity in implementation, Hope Academy has kept a TBRI consultant on retainer. This consultant is currently working in classrooms with teachers and paraprofessionals to provide ongoing support in TBRI best practices.

All of the staff at Hope Academy are trained in Conscious Discipline and use all components to promote the best practices identified in Trust-Based Relational Intervention. Team members were trained in play therapy and play principles to address student needs in a therapeutic manner.