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Pupils help cut autism-school ribbon
YOUNGSTOWN — Pupils will help with the official ribbon cutting today for Potential Development Program’s new School of Autism, where classes began in September.
An invitation-only open house is from 10 to 11 a.m. at the facility located at 880 E. Indianola Ave. in part of the former Woodside Hospital building. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
Potential Development’s School of Autism, a nonpublic chartered school for preschool and school-age children, was moved from its former location at 209 W. Woodland Ave., which has been converted to a special-needs preschool, said Paul Garchar, Potential Development executive director. The school has 40 children.
In 2008, the Mahoning County Mental Health Board sold the Indianola Avenue property, which includes a 17,205-square-foot building and 2.43 acres, to Potential Development for $100,000. A condition of the sale is that the property be used exclusively, for at least 20 years, by a not-for-profit entity for community health or social welfare programs. If used otherwise, the property, the appraised value of which was $266,000, would revert back to the mental health board.
Potential Development plans to spend about $200,000 renovating the facility. Most of the interior work has been completed, and playground equipment will be installed in the spring, Garchar said.
The building at 880 Indianola has been used for many purposes over the years, including by the Eastern Mental Health Center until it merged with Parkview Counseling Center to become Turning Point.
Garchar said the school for autistic children in grades kindergarten through eight has grown more quickly than anticipated, starting with four pupils in 2001 and growing to 30 pupils and a waiting list of about 10 in 2008.
Acquiring the new site immediately doubled the Potential School of Autism’s capacity to about 12,000 square feet and gives it the ability to expand to about 17,000 square feet when necessary. Garchar said the school now has 40 pupils, and that will probably increase to 46 in the near future.
In addition, the property is laid out very well for larger classrooms, and permits separate cafeteria and all-purpose rooms, he said.
The Potential Development Program began in 1953, under the leadership of Christine Kline, as the United Cerebral Palsy Association. It reincorporated and took its name in 1976, and focused on serving children with developmental delays and challenging behaviors. In the early 1990s, Potential Development began specializing in programs for children with autism.