When Feleshia Sams talks about Rocli, she isn’t describing a business concept. She’s talking about real life.
Rocli was born from Feleshia’s experience as a mother raising a neurodivergent daughter with autism who is nonverbal and communicates through an AAC device. As her daughter approached school age, Feleshia quickly realized how difficult it was to find an environment that truly understood her child’s needs; one that prioritized safety, communication, and meaningful learning, not just supervision.
She tried to make traditional options work. But the same gaps kept appearing: limited transparency, inconsistent communication, and supports that didn’t feel individualized. Even more troubling was realizing how often systems fail to protect a child who can’t come home and explain what happened during their day.
“If I couldn’t find the right environment for my child,” Feleshia says, “I would build it—intentionally, with dignity, structure, and collaboration at the center.”
That decision became Rocli, a hybrid homeschool and learning center designed specifically to support neurodivergent children.
Unlike traditional schools that are often built around rigid schedules, large class sizes, and staffing constraints, Rocli flips the model. Children participate in small-group Learning Blocks that are two-hour instructional sessions with low ratios, typically no more than five learners. The focus is on real teaching, meaningful engagement, and honoring each child’s learning profile.
Life skills, communication, and regulation are foundational. Every part of the day is designed with the understanding that learning looks different for every child.
Before a child begins, families complete a Rocli Roadmap, a personalized plan similar to an IEP but more collaborative and practical. It captures parent goals, learning needs, and therapist input, creating a shared understanding of how to best support each child.
Rocli serves homeschool families by providing consistent, structured, center-based learning without positioning itself as a traditional school. The model was shaped through Feleshia’s lived experience, conversations with therapists, and collaboration with special education teachers who understand these gaps firsthand.
Even the language is intentional. Rocli staff are called guides, not teachers, reflecting the philosophy that children aren’t being forced through a system. They are being guided through learning in a way that works for them. Guides bring backgrounds in special education, behavior therapy, BCBA work, or a combination of those roles.
Learning at Rocli is visual, interactive, and hands-on. Children demonstrate understanding through matching, selecting, movement, and guided engagement not only verbal responses. Families can also bring their child’s therapist into sessions, helping reduce fragmentation across services.
The response from families has been powerful. Parents of AAC users and non-speaking learners frequently share that they finally feel seen, and that Rocli is something they’ve been praying for.
Life skills are woven into everyday learning, and future plans include community experience Fridays, which include group outings to restaurants, parks, movies, and other public spaces where children can practice real-world skills with built-in support. Rocli also plans to host parent-focused gatherings with guest speakers and local resources covering topics like IEP navigation, funding options, insurance basics, and therapy resources.
Because, as Feleshia says, learning isn’t only for kids. Parents are learning too.
Rocli is deeply personal for Feleshia. It’s a step of faith shaped by lived experience, community support, and a desire to build something better for families who have long felt overlooked.
Her hope is simple: that Rocli becomes a place where neurodivergent children are truly understood and where parents finally find their village.