Dream Campus 2.0

History

For almost fifty years since our founding in 1969, we have been moving from one temporary location to another. In 2016, it was a dream come true for us to acquire our current 4.6 acre campus and to finally have a permanent home.

We hustled to move into the new campus in 2017–making the best of the existing concrete block building and its fluorescent lights for our students and clients with significant Autism–and have made a number of upgrades to the existing campus since then.

Need for Campus Upgrade

In the seven years since we have moved into our current campus, the population of individuals with significant Autism has doubled while we have remained the same size. With the recent completion of our new strategic plan–Vision 2030, we plan to significantly increase the size of our school and adult program, build a better bridge between our school and adult program, as well as deepen our community-based programming.

Through these combined efforts we will ensure the financial security of our organization. In order to enable these outcomes, we need to build four additional classrooms, a new space for our adult program, and the intentional indoor and outdoor spaces needed for those we serve.

Intentional Design for Our Population

We now have the opportunity to build the campus of our dreams–our dream campus 2.0. With the new construction and upgrades to our outdoor space, our campus can match the excellence of our programming and be a model for others to learn from on how to best meet the needs of individuals with significant Autism.

At the center of this upgrade will be how we best meet the needs of those we serve.
Core principles for our design include

Ensure safety
and security

Maximize familiarity,
stability and clarity

Enhance dignity

Minimize sensory
overload

Foster health
and wellness

Ensure durability

Developing life
skills including
vocational skills

Allow opportunities for
controlling social
interaction and privacy

Provide adequate
choice and
independence

Magical Bridge Partnership

We are excited to announce a strategic partnership with Magical Bridge Foundation. Magical Bridge creates multigenerational playgrounds, parks, and programs for more inclusive communities. With a decade of experience, they have been creating premier outdoor spaces for community playgrounds, schools, and museums around the world. Through this partnership of two premier service providers for individuals with Autism, we believe we can create a world-wide destination site for others to learn from.

The Dream Campus 2.0 will not only benefit those we directly serve in our school and adult programs but also create the potential to open our campus to the broader community on evenings and weekends, host camps, as well as partner with research institutions and other providers who serve our priority population.