The Emerge Center is opening the first charter school specifically for children with autism in Louisiana in August, the Emerge Center announced this morning.
The center is also launching the Emerge Foundation to provide philanthropic support to the school. The Emerge School for Autism will combine traditional classroom learning and educational techniques from the speech, occupational and Applied Behavior Analysis therapies Emerge already uses to help children with Autism in its kindergarten and other programs.
The Emerge School got its charter approved in May, and plans to serve children ages five to eleven. Administrators plan to start with 20 kindergarten students in the 2018-2019 school year and grow to serve approximately 120 students. Classes will begin on Aug. 16 with students on a staggered start schedule.
In its first year, the school will operate out of two classrooms at the Emerge Center headquarters on Innovation Park Dr., with plans to identify a larger space to accommodate more students in the future.
“For years, Baton Rouge and the surrounding communities have called for extended educational services for children with autism,” says Jean-Paul Perrault, board chair of the Emerge School for Autism. “The Emerge School was born from this demand and we’re excited to provide this unique therapeutically-focused education option to families in our community.”
