Celandine Life Prep Academy

In January of 2006, I met an occupational therapist with her own clinic. Fifteen minutes into the meeting, we were completing each other’s sentences. Together we realized that we could bring our dreams for children with special needs to fruition.

In August of 2007, we opened Maitland Academy to 16 students grades K-5 with special needs. Our staff consisted of trained educators who also had children with special needs enrolled in the school.

With constantly developing opportunities, I realized a new direction was needed for our MS and HS. In the spring of 2013, we began working on the development of Celandine Life-Prep Academy as a non-profit, educational institute specifically dedicated to children grades 6-12 and into adulthood.

Each of our students will need varying levels of support for the rest of their lives. We want to make sure that their dreams, whatever they may be, are always a possibility. We started Celandine Life-Prep Academy to make sure that even if we are no longer here, our children and other children with disabilities will have ongoing educational, vocational, and life-skill building support for as long as they need it. Our goal is to continue to evolve with the needs of our students by creating more opportunities for them to become independent, self supporting, members of their community.

In 2015, we made the decision to expand our program to include elementary age students and offer our programs within a Christian environment. We began to look for a new location to expand our programming. In the spring of 2016 after searching for a new location for over a year, at the suggestion of a parent, we scheduled a meeting with Reverend Sarah Bronos of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, in Maitland. After reading a book about a child with autism who found her voice, Reverend Sarah had prayed for the opportunity to help a school with special needs students. After full approval and incredible support from the City of Maitland, we moved to the campus in June of 2016 and are now able to have weekly chapel services, on campus vocational training, and on campus trade skills! Our students are training to be acolytes and ushers and they absolutely love it!

On a personal note, my son William, is now about to be 21 (yikes!) and has earned a raise as well as additional responsibilities working at a part- time job! He is an acolyte and usher during Wednesday chapel time and has begun being an acolyte for Sunday Mass at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. He continues to amaze me daily! His language and ability to communicate with everyone he meets, has exploded this year! He continues to be my inspiration. I am so blessed to be surrounded and supported by a knowledgeable and compassionate staff. I am truly honored to be entrusted with the education of so many beautiful boys and girls, with differing and amazing abilities!

Thank you and God Bless!