Florida Autism Center of Excellence

10/07/2026

Super HARD!

Can you spot Ms. Sarah?! 😆

10/06/2026

📸PICTURE DAY: NAILED IT.✨

Don't worry, FACE families...
Picture Day went just fine.

Everyone smiled.
Everyone looked at the camera.
Everyone followed directions.
Absolutely NOTHING chaotic happened..probably.😆

We can't wait for you to see those school-picture masterpieces!

10/05/2026

📣💙💚 SEPTEMBER SPOTLIGHTS AT FACE! We're kicking off our school spirit week by shining a spotlight on the GROWTH celebrated by our students, staff, and programs last month!

🌟🦎 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: FACE Student Growth 🌟
We are proud to shine our Student Spotlight on T'Nylah Jackson, Olivia Heaton, Wyatt Rivera, and Yimy Corona! These four students represent the incredible GROWTH that our students achieve when they are given the right supports for their success. Whether it's academic growth like T'Nylah, behavioral growth like Olivia, personal growth like Wyatt, or social growth like Yimy, we are proud of the progress that our students make every day at FACE!! 🌱🦎

🌟👩‍🏫 STAFF SPOTLIGHT: FACE Lead Technicians🌟
Meet Alex Alban, Kenya Jack, Jadira Jimenez, and Sabria Willis! They work on special assignment as ABA-trained or -certified staff to support our student behaviors across the building. Supervised by our Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, they manage behaviors, implement behavior plans and interventions, and train staff in the best practices for supporting challenging behavior! The FACE program would not be so successful if not for the heart and hard work from this behavior team!🤗 🌈

🌟🏫 SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: FACE Parent and Family Events 🌟
Each Friday in September, you saw posts from our Family Fridays Breakfasts like Muffins with Mom. But what are these events, and how did they start? Dive into School History to hear how the School Events Calendar of parent and family events started after the COVID-19 pandemic! 🍽️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

🌟📺👀 Stay tuned throughout the 2026-2027 school year as FACE continues to share stories and celebrate the people and programs that make FACE shine! Follow our page and comment where you want "Skittles's Spotlight" to shine next!

09/30/2026

🍬🎃OUR OCTOBER CANDY DRIVE IS HERE!🎃🍬

Help us make the school year a little sweeter for our FACE students! 🦎💙

📅 October 1–30
🍭 We are collecting peanut-free candy donations or funds to help stock classrooms with meaningful reinforcers and support our annual Trunk-or-Treat celebration!

✨ Candy can be an important teaching tool at FACE, helping encourage communication, strengthen positive behavior, build new skills, and celebrate student success.

🍬 Our favorite candy is Skittles! But every donation makes a difference!

🎃 Want to help even more?
We’re also looking for community members and partners to sponsor a trunk, pass out candy, and help make Trunk-or-Treat the sweetest Halloween ever!

🛒 Check out our Amazon Wishlist through the QR code on the flyer or click the link below!

https://a.co/0aQRlVLC

Thank you for helping us make learning and Halloween extra sweet! 💜🦎🍬

09/30/2026

💚🧩 UPDATE: AUTISM AND WATER SAFETY 🌊💙

This evening, FACE and other important voices in our Tampa Bay Autism community came together at City Hall for an important community town hall to speak about autism drowning prevention and water safety.

Here’s what Principal Ms. Sydney and AP Ms. Sarah learned and shared during the conversation:
🚨 Children with autism are significantly more likely to die from drowning than neurotypical children
🏃 About half of children with autism wander (or “elope”)
🌊 Drowning is one of the most serious dangers when a child with autism wanders
🛟 Drowning prevention HAS to include delivery of accessible resources to families, including free swim lessons focused on self-rescue PLUS family support and education like door alarms and free CPR training

For individuals with autism, water safety is more than a precaution— it can be a lifesaving priority! Conversations like these help raise awareness, strengthen community partnerships, and ensure that families, educators, first responders, and community leaders have the knowledge and resources to help keep our most vulnerable children safe. Plus, bringing diverse voices to the same table is an important step toward building safer, more inclusive communities. 🌈🦎🥰

🏢💗 A special thank-you to Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera - District 7 and County Commissioner Cohen for their leadership in bringing our community together around such an important issue. FACE is truly appreciative for their commitment to creating opportunities for collaboration and meaningful change.

So what can Tampa or Hillsborough County do to prevent the heartbreaking preventable drowning deaths of children with autism in our community? Tell us your ideas!

09/28/2026

💚🧩SPOTLIGHT ON AUTISM & WATER SAFETY 🌊💙

FACE is proud to participate in an important community conversation about autism, disabilities, and swimming safety tomorrow evening, September 29 at 5:30 PM at Tampa City Hall.

For our FACE community, this issue is especially meaningful. Keeping individuals with autism and other disabilities safe in and around water requires awareness, education, prevention, collaboration, and voices from the families and professionals who know their needs best. We care deeply about this cause and are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the conversation.

Thank you to Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera - District 7, Harry Cohen, and our local community partners for bringing families, advocates, organizations, elected officials, and concerned citizens together to discuss how our community can help prevent drowning deaths and tragedies involving individuals with autism and disabilities.

City of Tampa
📅 Tuesday, September 29, 2026
⏰ 5:30 PM
📍 Tampa City Hall – Third Floor
315 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa

All who want to contribute are welcome. We especially encourage our FACE families, parents, caregivers, staff, advocates, and community partners to attend and lend their voices to this important discussion.
💙💚 As Councilman Viera says, "we are all in this thing together"—and when it comes to the safety of individuals with autism, every voice, every idea, and every partnership matters.

Special reminder for our community meeting on the evening of September 29 to talk about how local government and our larger community can prevent drowning deaths of persons with autism.

The information for attendance is below.

All who want to contribute are welcome, and that includes families, parents and caregivers of people with autism and special needs, community advocates, concerned citizens, elected officials, and community organizations.

We are all in this thing together. 💙🇺🇸

Lawyers Autism Awareness Foundation Florida Autism Center of Excellence City of Tampa Friends - Down syndrome/Special needs MacDonald Training Center CARD-USF Get Set Therapy, LLC Creative Loafing Tampa Down Syndrome Association Of Tampa Bay Tampa Alumnae Chapter - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. CENTRO Tampa Tampa Bay Times Disability Resource Hub Democratic Disability Caucus of Hillsborough County Democratic Disability Caucus FL Chelsea Bear - Disabled Content Creator New Tampa Democratic Club North Tampa Democrats South Tampa Republican Club Hillsborough County Black Chamber of Commerce Greater Brandon Republican Club

09/22/2026

📣 RESOURCE SHARE!

CARD-USF and The DoBetter Collective are offering a FREE online training for parents and caregivers on understanding and safely supporting wandering and elopement.

Please share with families who may benefit! 💙

🚨💙 New Free Training for Parents & Caregivers! 💙🚨

Wandering and elopement can be serious safety concerns for autistic individuals. The Dobetter Collective and CARD-USF are offering a FREE, neurodiversity-affirming online training module designed to help parents and caregivers better understand and support wandering and elopement safety.

📚 Wandering and Elopement for Parents: Understanding and Supporting Wandering and Elopement Safely

Presented by Megan DeLeon Miller, PhD, BCBA-D

Participants will learn:
✅ How to identify patterns and warning signs of elopement
✅ Strategies for creating supportive safety plans
✅ Environmental supports that can increase safety
✅ Ways to collaborate with support teams and advocate for safety measures
✅ Additional resources for families and caregivers

🔗 Learn more and register:
https://dobettercollective.com/elopement-series/

Together, we can promote safety while respecting and supporting neurodivergent individuals and their unique needs.

💙

09/22/2026

🎒FACE still has open seats, but space is limited in Middle School and High School! ✨

At FACE, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.

If you or someone you know is looking for a school that supports students with autism and their unique needs, please reach out!

Who is eligible to enroll at FACE?
✔️ Students ages 3–22 years old
✔️ Have a current, non-expired Individualized Education Program (IEP) with eligibility for one of the following:
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) services
• Developmentally Delayed (ages 3–9 only) with documentation of a medical ASD diagnosis
✔️ Instruction/Assessment in Alternate Standards (BEST Access Points) is optional for Grades K–5 but required for Grades 6–12.

Contact us today to learn more about our enrollment process!
☎️ (813) 985-3223
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔗 For more information visit: https://www.faceprogram.org

09/21/2026

WAY TO GO🎉

We are so proud to recognize students who completed their summer packets! 🥳👏🏽