A former car dealership in west Edmonton is now Western Canada’s first specialized school for kids on the autism spectrum.
“It’s been a long time coming, it was a lot of work, but it’s so exciting to see the kids and the families in the space,” Terri Duncan, the executive director of Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton, said at Thursday’s grand opening.
The school has been years in the making and follows the Alberta Education curriculum while meeting the unique sensory and learning needs of neurodivergent students — each of which has their own specialized service plan.
“Those service plans talk about what are their social communication needs? What are their regulation needs? What are their goals beyond the curriculum that will help them succeed as well,” Duncan said.
The school, located in the former home of Mayfield Toyota at 17456 – 102 Ave., is named Jim Jiwani Autism Academy, after the founder of the Prestige Auto Group who donated the land and several million dollars in order for it to be transformed into the specialized institution.
The academy is for students with severe autism who have the greatest needs.
Duncan said the school will use a different strategy than traditional elementary schools — more of an emotional approach.
“With this building, we paid a lot of attention to the lighting and the acoustics and the flow in the building and how the spaces were designed specifically for our kids.
“We also have a sensory room where they can come and where they can get better regulated,” Duncan said.
“All of the classrooms are designed to meet the specific needs of our kids so they’re not overwhelmed by the sensory environment.”
For many autistic kids, regular schools and classrooms don’t work for them.
Duncan said their needs require specialized facilities and staff with a deep knowledge of how kids on the spectrum think and behave, especially as many are non-verbal or have limited communication skills.
“In our program, the ratio of adults to kids is quite different because our kids are very dysregulated a lot of the time. So they need a lot more support, especially initially,” Duncan said, adding that gets adjusted and relaxed as the school year progresses.
“But we start off with about two or three kids for every adult.
“We have educational assistants, teachers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, all kinds of different professionals that work in these classrooms to support the kids and meet their needs.”
For parents who have struggled to not just to get their child assessed and diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum but then get them get the right supports, the academy is a godsend.
“As soon as I found out about Jim Jiwani Autism Academy opening, I was like, ‘I got to get my son in there,’” said Jennifer Scott, a mom of a seven-year-old Grade 2 student at the school.
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She said they tried an interactions program at a public school, which is designed to supports students with autism spectrum disorder, however the environment wasn’t right for her son: “Every day I dropped my son off there, I was watching his light dim a little bit.”
That changed with the academy.
“Every day I take him here, he’s excited, he’s running into the classroom. And I leave here knowing my son’s light isn’t dimming — he’s provided a safe learning environment, which is number one.”
Regular schools and their boards have been strained trying to accommodate the needs of kids on the spectrum, which can lead to a traumatic experience for both the students and teachers.
“I know they’re doing the best that they can,” Scott said.
“I’m not bashing public (schools) at all, but there is not enough education provided and training behind it. So you have a bunch of kids with different needs in one spot that aren’t properly supported and they’re feeding off of the energy from their burnt-out educators.”
The autism academy has four classrooms right now, for 40 students between kindergarten and Grade 3.
Duncan said that will expand over time.
“We’re starting with division one, with the younger kids,” she said, explaining there is both a morning and afternoon kindergarten class. “With those four classrooms, we’ve got about 10 kids in each class.”
The small class size allows more attention to be focused on each child, plus more flexibility.
Duncan said while some students will spend the entire school year at the academy, others may be able to transition back into a neighbourhood school: “Every child and every family is a little different.”
Anna Loi’s official title is the quality and development coordinator at Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton, but in reality, she wears many hats — and all of them are geared towards making sure students get the right education and support, while staff have the resources to make that happen.
Children with autism spectrum disorder learn differently, often require structure and predictability and Loi said the school is catered to that.
“How can we support them so that they’re feeling safe, they’re feeling secure, they’re feeling like their body is ready to learn? Because when they’re upset, they’re not processing the language that we’re using. They’re not able to understand what we’re trying to get them to do. They’re not understanding the expectations as well,” Loi said, adding emotional regulation is key to everything.
While the academy receives some provincial funding, tuition is still $9,500 a year.
Duncan said some families have received scholarships made possible by community donors, and there’s been fundraising via a golf tournament, galas and other events.
Some school boards have also sponsored the cost of their students attending the school in cases where the school division isn’t able to meet the student’s needs.
In other cases, families are paying out of pocket.
That said, the demand has far outpaced the availability of spaces.
“When we first announced that we were going to be doing this school back in January, we had hundreds of phone calls, hundreds of families, hundreds of educators interested in the supports we’re providing and wanting to get the services,” Duncan said.
“We are at our capacity right now and we are hoping to be able to expand and grow, but we need the funding from the community,” Duncan said.
“The only way that we can serve more students, that we can help more families is if we get more donations.”
The goal is to secure enough sponsorship to add grades 4 through 6, along with other school features such as an indoor and outdoor play area, sensory rooms and IT equipment.
The school would also like to do renovations to the roof and add solar panels, plus mechanical upgrades such as a new HVAC system and appliances.
The academy is more than just a school, Duncan said. The aim is to be a hub where teachers, educational assistants and professionals in the community can learn the most recent strategies when it comes to children living with autism.
“When they learn those effective supports, they can then take those back to their classrooms and benefit all the students with neurodiversity.”
The school is also supporting the families of its students, Scott said.
“My son’s siblings learn so much about him and his diagnosis and the need for this school space — for his learning and education — that it helps them and it helps them educate their friends.”
The school is full this year but enrolment will reopen next spring. To qualify in the future, a child must be entering Grade 1 or Grade 2 in the 2024/2025 school year.
They must also have a diagnosis of autism, or other related diagnosis, that would qualify the student for severe disability grant through Alberta Education. They also need to experience emotional regulation and sensory needs that require support from a specialized program.
To join the waitlist, or ask questions, please call (780) 495-9235.
