Safe Able Integrated Learners

The SAIL Initiative represents HCA’s commitment to whole-student formation—academic, emotional, and spiritual.

The SAIL Initiative (Safe Able Integrated Learners) is Harbor Christian Academy’s comprehensive student wellness and support program, designed to address the academic, behavioral, and emotional challenges that often hinder student success. Many HCA students face barriers rooted in learning differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia, language disorders) or trauma resulting from poverty-related instability such as food insecurity, frequent relocations, or financial hardship.

The SAIL Initiative affirms the biblical truth that every child is made in the Imago Dei (Image of God) and is called to experience abundant life in Christ. By providing targeted interventions, counseling, and family engagement, this program equips students not only to learn but to heal, flourish, and thrive in community.

Students who once struggled with self-regulation, reading, or emotional expression will gain new skills, confidence, and healing. Families will be empowered to reinforce these changes at home, and teachers will feel equipped to serve students with compassion and effectiveness. Over time, the initiative will not only change the trajectory of individual students but will transform the culture of the school into one where every child is truly safe, able, and integrated as a learner.

Program Components

  • Training faculty to recognize and respond to learning differences and trauma.

  • Integrating trauma-informed practices into classroom instruction.

Teacher Support and Education

  • On-campus Christian counseling (individual and group sessions).

  • Connection groups designed to build coping skills, emotional awareness, and healing.

Student Trauma Recovery and Counseling

  • Parent workshops on learning differences, trauma recovery, and home support.

  • Quarterly newsletters and signed family covenants to ensure ongoing commitment.

Family Engagement and Education

  • Specialized reading groups and educational therapy.

  • Tools like the Kaufman Test administered twice annually to measure reading growth.

Learning Difference Intervention

“After several years of working [at a] nearby [mission center], I decided to join the HCA team because I believed in the mission and vision. I’ve seen how Harbor is a beacon in the community and education is one of the greatest ways to bring holistic hope into the Denver Harbor community. The kids motivate me to continue serving at HCA. They bring me so much inspiration by their sense of joy and hope. I’ve seen so much growth in many of the students that I know my time at HCA is a great investment into the community.”

— MR. ORTIZ, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR