04 Nov 2025 A bright Spark

By Rita Halter Thomas

Founded as a small program in 1983 as Community School of Cleburne County, Spark Community School is now a thriving center annually in Heber Springs. They support up to 200 children and more than 70 adults in Cleburne, White, Stone, Faulkner and Independence counties. Guided by love, compassion and a commitment to excellence, Spark is redefining possibilities for every individual it serves. 

Executive Director Rebecca Dwyer-Coop said that Spark offers a range of lifelines for families, including Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a Community and Employment Support (CES) Waiver, an expanded preschool program, family assistance, transportation services, a new hippotherapy program and more.

This year, Spark expanded its preschool to welcome all children, regardless of disability or developmental level. Spark’s classrooms promote academic readiness, empathy, compassion, awareness and inclusion. Additionally, students of all abilities benefit from learning alongside their peers. “At Spark, we never lower expectations, and we never underestimate a child’s ability,” Dwyer-Coop said. “Every child is seen as capable and valued.”

With more than 40 years of experience, Spark knows that starting therapies when kids are very young makes a real difference. “Early therapy — whether [that’s] speech, occupational, physical, or autism-specific — can repair or even eliminate developmental delays,” she added.

Spark works to eliminate obstacles for families. By providing family services liaisons, families receive help completing complicated applications for Medicaid, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), CES Waiver and housing. The school’s compassion fund and family closet help with essentials like food, clothing, diapers and more. By alleviating these barriers, Spark provides children with a greater chance to thrive.

Transportation is another essential service. Spark’s fleet of accessible vans, each with a playful name like Otter, Trout, and Possum, ensures children and adults travel safely and comfortably. Ride times are carefully considered to keep journeys under an hour whenever possible.

Spark’s top priority is always community integration. Rather than pushing for independence, the organization’s focus is on creating opportunities for people with disabilities to make their own choices and live with confidence and dignity through treatment plans that are individualized.

The director encourages anyone with concerns about their child’s development to reach out to Spark because help is available. Anyone diagnosed with a disability before age 21 may qualify for CES Waiver services and Adult Day Habilitation or Adult Developmental Day Treatment (ADDT). While other providers in the state offer these supports, Spark is unique because its ADDT professionals also serve as direct support professionals for Waiver recipients. This continuity creates a seamless support system for not only teaching daily life skills, but also fosters stronger relationships, trust and better outcomes. 

One key approach is Spark’s use of Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, a type of therapy that uses positive reinforcement during everyday activities, breaking skills into small, manageable steps. 

“At its heart, ABA is about helping each child reach their potential, step by step, with support and encouragement,” Dwyer-Coop said. “Children who are nonverbal, only able to express their frustrations through stimming, flapping, screaming and self-harm, suddenly are able to express themselves, show affection, and speak to their likes and dislikes. It’s amazing.” 

A significant moment in Spark’s early ABA implementation came not long after a grueling effort to secure Medicaid approval. Dwyer-Coop and Assistant Director Michelle Edwards had spent nearly 40 hours per child completing paperwork, receiving repeated denials, when two therapists rushed into Edwards’ office with tears in their eyes.

“The first child we had finally gotten approved had just used his communication device to say, ‘more play,’ then hugged his therapist when she complied,” Dwyer-Coop said.

“This was a child who, only weeks earlier, screamed every time he was touched and spent much of his day frustrated and upset. They knew then, no matter the obstacles, they would fight for every autistic child. “ABA isn’t just therapy, it’s life-changing.” 

Spark is committed to finding new and innovative therapies, including the recent addition of their hippotherapy program. For those unfamiliar with the term, hippotherapy comes from the Greek word “hippos,” meaning horse, and “therapy,” of course, meaning treatment. It refers to how occupational, physical and speech-language professionals use horses, and the movement of horses, as a therapy tool to engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to promote functional outcomes.

According to Amy Strackbein, Spark’s director of communication, Edwards began looking into equine-assisted therapy after one of the school’s preschool clients with cerebral palsy started hippotherapy at another facility. “We began looking into the benefits of hippotherapy and were wowed,” Strackbein said.

Even though hippotherapy will not bring extra revenue, Strackbein said that Spark’s priorities are decided with one question: What is in the best interest of our clients? “The answer to that question, having the perfect location, and wanting to pour into our community, helped us to make the decision to move forward with our very own hippotherapy program,” she said. 

Spark’s licensed physical therapists have 20 years of experience in hippotherapy and will use their own horses. With their outdoor arena now complete, Spark offers hippotherapy on Thursdays, with plans to increase frequency as the program grows and as donations allow. 

The organization has grown far beyond the families of children and adults with disabilities. “We now serve families of all backgrounds, offer a rigorous curriculum with strong kindergarten readiness, and support adults with disabilities in becoming active, valued members of their communities,” Dwyer-Coop said. With a mission to reach every person who needs support, Spark has a vision to expand statewide. “We’re confident we can be the best provider in Arkansas, sparking potential every day.”