2025 Handcrafted Hope Sale

Mark your calendars for our 2nd NHA Handcrafted Hope Sale! Our New Horizons Academy junior and senior high students have been working hard on items made from the burlap coffee bean sacks from Special Grounds Coffee, along with other creative items that they are planning on selling to support this Handcrafted Hope Program.

With March being Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, we wanted an additional opportunity for our students to display their creative sides through our Handcrafted Hope Program and help them reach their fullest potential .

Event Date:	Thursday, March 27, 2025
Event Time:	9:00 am – 11:30 am
Event Location:	Special Grounds Coffee, Wauseon, OH

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All proceeds from this event go back into the Handcrafted Hope program for the purchase of equipment and materials. Sara’s Garden is a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is the only facility in the United States to offer Autism Intervention, Conductive Education, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Sensory Integration and Speech-Language Pathology services.

What is an Autism Education Plan (AEP)?

What Is an Autism Education Plan (AEP) & How Can It Help My Child Access the Ohio Autism Scholarship?

In the past, all students needed an individual education plan (IEP) to qualify for an Autism Scholarship in Ohio; but for many autistic students, when the public school evaluated them, the school did not feel that the students’ disability was getting in the way of their academic progress and would not give them an IEP…even though the students already had medical or psychological autism diagnoses.

To address these students behavioral, emotional, sensory, vocational, executive functioning, and therapeutic issues, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) developed an Autism Education Plan (AEP), so parents had another way to support their students’ needs.

An AEP is a document that outlines services for a child with autism. It’s used in the Ohio Autism Scholarship Program (ASP) to help families choose private or alternative public service providers. Because AEP’s are so new, many parents and even schools are unfamiliar with them.

If you are looking for additional assistance, through a nonpublic school or private provider, for your autistic child and your home school district does not think your child qualified for an IEP, please consider and ask about an AEP. The qualifying pathway is to the right or you can access it at:

https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Other-Resources/Scholarships/Autism-Scholarship

Again, since the AEP is so new, many schools are unfamiliar with it, what it includes, and how to write it. For the Autism Scholarship, the home school district needs to complete the AEP, so it can be submitted to the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) for approval before the scholarship can be approved, finalized, and available for student services.

For families and public schools that need assistance or more information on the AEP. Sample AEP forms are below and may be used as a template. Just remember that the goals and objectives should target non-academic needs and activities such as: behavioral, emotional, sensory, vocational, executive functioning, or therapeutic concerns.

Download AEP Planning Form & Plan (Must be printed on school letterhead)

Student does not have an active lEP including students home educated)

School District understands IDEA requirements provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) at 20 U.S.C. 1400, and related federal regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 300 (October 13, 2006) and affirms that the school district has satisfied its obligations under IDEA to a student presenting a private diagnosis of autism.

After district affirms it has satisfied requirements under IDEA:

If the district determines there is an adverse educational impact due to autism, the district develops an IEP in accordance with IDEA that details appropriate educational and related services
The IEP and ETR are submitted to the Autism Scholarship System by the district
The provider submits the application and supporting documents
OR
If the district determines there is no disability and no IEP is developed, the district develops an AEP
AEP includes one or more services listed on the DEW checklist and any other information the district, at its discretion, wishes to provide
AEP is submitted to the Autism Scholarship System by the district
The provider submits the application and supporting documents

Twas One CRAZY Night Before Christmas

NHA Certainly Had One Crazy Night Before Christmas for Its Annual Christmas Musical!

Thank you to our wild, crazy, and (at times) mixed up and musical New Horizons Academy (NHA) students and cast members, who delivered wonderful and wacky Christmas performances on December 17 at Pettisville Missionary Church.

This year, NHA Music Teacher Melissa Valentine put together a show we will never forget! What other Christmas musical would include the Ghostbusters and Who Let the Dogs Out?, alongside a living nativity and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Why Twas One Crazy Night Before Christmas, of course! According to composers John Jacobson and Mac Huff, “Take a light-hearted look at Christmas in the typical American household. ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a…wait a minute!?! What’s going on here – Mom’s running pass plays in the kitchen, Sis is doing her best Martha Stewart imitation, Dad and the Uncles are taking root in front of the TV, and the kids are hmmmm??”

Well, over 100 of our special needs kids sang, danced, played, drummed, and joked to:

Christmas Time is Comin’,
Sleepin’ on the Floor at Christmas,
The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round All Christmas Eve,
2024 NHA Starting Line-Up,
Who Let the Dogs Out?,
Who You Gonna Call? GHOSTBUSTERS!,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?,
Slippers Again for Christmas,
Something to Believe In,
Silent Night,
Saxophone Solo by David Rose &
Guitar Duet by Jack Syverson and Teacher Claire Graber.

If you missed this wild and wacky Christmas show, check out all of the Christmas photos, taken by Hannah Downing of HND Photography, on NHA’s Facebook page or head over to our YouTube channel for your own special, encore performance!

NHA Vocational Skills & Work Study Expansion

New Horizons Academy (NHA) is so excited to announce its Vocational Skills & Work Study Expansion at its Springfield Campus in Holland! With the completion of the Skills Lab renovation, SO MANY vocational opportunities have opened up for our special needs students.

Springfield Skills Lab & Coffee Cart
After over a year and a half of fundraising, renovations, and inspections, NHA has officially unveiled its new Skills Lab for students’ daily living skills practice and work study use. Thanks to the Roach Foundation and other funders, the Skills Lab includes one room with a full coffee-making station to support our Coffee Cart and Blessings in a Box Program and another room with a washer and dryer to practice daily living and laundry skills.

Blessings in a Box
In addition to the Coffee Cart, the Skills Lab is also supporting our Blessings in a Box Program in the Springfield Township and Greater Toledo Area. The Blessings in a Box Program was created to give our students the opportunity to go out into the community, and bless local businesses and organizations with coffee that is brewed and delivered by our students. Blessings in a Box helps our students to develop stronger communication, customer service, and vocational skills while also getting to know their community better and providing great coffee.

Blessings in a Box kicked off in late September with trips to Proclaim FM and Springfield Fire Station #51 and followed up with deliveries to Anne Grady Services in December and The Epilepsy Center of Northwest Ohio in mid-January. Our goal is to continue to brew and deliver coffee to local businesses in the Holland/Toledo area each Monday throughout the school year.

Special Grounds Coffee Truck & Mobile Skills Lab
Thanks to the Zeisloft Family Trust, the Special Grounds Coffee Truck is now on the road every week to Springfield! The coffee truck is a real–life mobile skills lab for our special needs students. It allows our students to practice their food service, brewing, communication, customer service, financial management, and other work skills in a community setting. Stop out, and have our students (along with their job coaches and staff) serve you Special Grounds coffees and sweet treats! For a complete weekly coffee truck schedule, check out our Special Grounds Coffee Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SpecialGroundsCoffeeCo/

NHA Now Accepting Applications for 2025-26

All three New Horizons Academy (NHA) locations are STILL accepting new students for this spring semester and are now starting to accept applications for the 2025-26 school year! NHA is so pleased to announce that it is accepting new students for its regional special education PK-12 school campus at 220 Lawrence Ave. in Wauseon, its Greater Toledo Area Campus at 6201 Trust Dr. in Holland—just off of Airport Highway, and its Career Center and Special Grounds Coffee Shop at 854 S. Shoop Ave. in Wauseon. For more information or to begin the application process, complete the online interest form at https://newhorizonsacademy.org/family-resources/apply/

If you are looking for the right special education placement for your preschool to high school student, a place where your child feels like he or she fits in, consider NHA or its Career Center in Wauseon or its Holland or Springfield Township Campus. At NHA, kids come first. We exist for our students; our students do not exist for the school. Students don’t have to fit into the classes. The classes and programs are designed to meet the student’s individual needs. Please complete the interest form (https://newhorizonsacademy.org/family-resources/apply/) to set up a tour, and find out if we are the right fit for your special needs student.

NHA’s Wauseon & Springfield Township Campuses:

Are regional preschool to 12th grade special education schools
Serving students from 25 different school districts across 9 Northwest Ohio counties
Have a 1:2.5—average staff to student ratio
Specialize in individualized, personalized education
Provide strong academics, community involvement, life skills classes, and vocational training
Offer early intervention, (EI) conductive education (CE), sensory integration, occupational therapy (OT) & speech/language pathology (SLP)
Participate in the College Credit Plus (CCP) Program
Are Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Schools
Accept both the Autism & Jon Peterson Scholarships as payment in full.

NHA’s Career Center & Special Grounds Coffee Shop:

Prides itself on small classroom sizes (4-7 students)
Works with young adults up to age 21
Targets functional academics, vocational skills training, and work study placements
Provides on-site work study placements through its Special Grounds Coffee Shop including kitchen and food prep, counter and customer service work, and maintenance and cleaning
Helps transition high school students and special needs young adults into community work study programs with job coaching and transportation provided

Our mission is to help your child achieve the greatest independence possible through early intervention programs, classes, community activities, life skills training, vocational placements, and job coaching.

Steps to Enrollment:

Complete the online interest form: https://newhorizonsacademy.org/family-resources/apply/
Submit a copy of your child’s IEP & ETR for review.
Schedule a school tour, interview, and student assessment.
If accepted, complete student enrollment paperwork, and provide proof of residency.
Complete and accept the Autism or Jon Peterson Scholarship.

For more information on New Horizons Academy or to schedule a tour, complete the online interest form (https://newhorizonsacademy.org/family-resources/apply/), and our admissions team will get right back with you. Classes begin in August, so begin the enrollment process today!