Congratulations to NHA’s 2024 Graduates

New Horizons Academy (NHA) is pleased and proud to announce the members of its 2024 graduating class!

On May 19, five NHA graduates will receive their high school diplomas and celebrate their high school accomplishments at NHA’s Career Center (854 S. Shoop Ave., Wauseon, OH 43567). The community is invited and welcome to attend! All graduates are asked to arrive by noon.

The Class of 2024 includes:

Syndel Barker
Kyler Campbell
Dylynn Jadwisiak
Daymon Plassman
Omira Santillanes

Syndel Barker—Is the daughter of Leslie and Dana Vogel. She attended NHA for the last seven years. Syndel lives in the Paulding Exempted Village School District, worked hard in the Special Grounds Kitchen as a part of her work study, and completed her academics in December, 2023 after a semester of community work placement. She has earned her Science, Community Service, and Fine and Performing Arts Graduation Seals, and she plans on continuing to work hard at her Paulding County community job (as she put it, making friends and earning her own money).

Kyler Campbell—Has been making his own decisions since he turned 18 and is this year’s NHA Salutatorian. He attended NHA for the last nine years. Kyler lived in and worked with both the Stryker Local School District and the Wauseon Exempted Village Schools. He participated in and worked hard in the conductive education program and completed his academics in October, 2023. Kyler earned his Citizenship and Fine and Performing Arts Graduation Seals.

Dylynn Jadwisiak—Is the son of Jeffrey and Christina Jadwisiak. He attended NHA for the last five years at the Springfield Campus in Holland. Dylynn is an NHA legacy graduate, having followed in the footsteps of his older brother alums Christian and Arek. He lives in the Springfield Local School District and participated in several volunteer community placements. Dylynn earned his Science and Fine and Performing Arts Graduation Seals and hopes to work with children and be a paraprofessional one day.

Daymon Plassman—Is the son of the late Otis and Tonya Plassman. He attended NHA for 10 years. Daymon lived in both the Wauseon Exempted School District and the Napoleon Area Local Schools. He worked briefly in the Special Grounds Roasting Room and completed his academics in January, 2024. Daymon earned his Science, Citizenship, and Fine and Performing Arts Graduation Seals, and he is considering attending Northwest State Community College.

Omira Santillanes—Is the daughter of Adelina and Silverio Santillanes and is this year’s NHA Valedictorian. She has attended NHA for the last 11 years. Omira lives in the Wauseon Exempted Village School District, has worked hard in the conductive education program, and has really learned to advocate for herself and what she wants. She has earned her Science, Citizenship, and Fine and Performing Arts Graduation Seals. She is still exploring her work options with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) after graduation but hopes to work part-time at Special Grounds Coffee.

Congratulations to our 2024 graduates!

Celebrating Global Youth Services Day & Earth Day

Thanks to Serve Ohio, Americorps, the Ohio Commission on Service and Volunteerism, Millcreek-West Unity Local Schools, Hilltop High School’s National Honor Society, and Nelson Lawn Concepts for celebrating Global Youth Service Day (#GYSD2024) and Earth Day with our New Horizons Academy (NHA) students on April 19 and 22.

The students, staff, and volunteers immersed themselves in art and green therapy, decorating pots and planters to beautify their community in Wauseon and Holland. Both NHA Campuses in Wauseon and Springfield will gift and thank community groups, nonprofits, and public service organizations for their dedication and care to Northwest Ohio. NHA students truly helped to make their school, community, and the world a greener, more beautiful and thankful place to live, play, and grow.

NHA Still Accepting Applications for 2024-25

New Horizons Academy (NHA) still has openings for students for the 2024-2025 school year in specific classrooms. NHA is finalizing its 2024-2025 student enrollment at all three of its locations, so please get your applications in TODAY!

Currently, NHA serves special education students from over 25 different school districts from across nine Northwest Ohio counties through 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. 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.

NHA’s Wauseon & Springfield Township Campuses:

Are regional preschool to 12th grade special education schools
Have a 1:2—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
Provides job coaching and transportation to community work sites
Community work site partners include Ace Hardware, Chief Supermarkets, the Fulton County Airport, Goodwill Industries, Home Restaurant, and with others coming on weekly.

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:

Call the school at 419-335-7272 for more information.
Submit a copy of your child’s IEP or AEP & 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, contact Admissions Coordinator Ronda Rupp at 419-335-7272 or via email at rondar@sarasgarden.org.

NHA Holds Amazing Holiday Hoedown

The NHA students celebrated the holidays with family & friends at a Down Home Christmas Holiday Hoedown!

Thank you to all of our cowboys and cowgirls for stomping and dancing their way into our hearts and offering family and friends another reason to believe in Christmas miracles at New Horizons Academy’s 2023 Annual Christmas Musical and Holiday Hoedown on December 12 at Pettisville Missionary Church.

This down home, toe tappin’ country Christmas was made possible by our talented students and dedicated NHA staff and teachers, especially Music Teacher and Director Melissa Valentine. Without all of her hard work, vision, dedication, and creativity, the show would not have gone on. She found or created the absolute perfect role for each of our students’ abilities and personalities and corralled and coached over 100 of our special needs preschool to high school youth through the entire holiday hoedown.

This year, we may not have had a white Christmas; but we sure had a ROCKABILLY one, complete with cowboys, reindeer, square dancing, and even Elvis himself (Well, actually, double the fun with TWO Elvis impersonators!). Who would have thought that Christmas spirit was so wrapped up in country Rockabilly style? NHA, that’s who!

If you missed this special Christmas show, check out all of the photos on New Horizons Academy’s Facebook page HERE or check out our YouTube channel for your own special, encore performance HERE.

NHA Coffee Fundraiser a Huge Success

New Horizons Academy held their very first Special Grounds Coffee Fundraiser to support both our Wauseon and Springfield campuses. We had 84 students participate in this fundraiser and they sold 1,220 bags of coffee!

Our students not only sold 1,220 bags of coffee, but they assisted in labeling all the coffee bags sold and helped sort and organize the bags of coffee for parent pickup/delivery of the coffee bags.

Since our students’ scholarships only cover a portion of their academic, behavioral and therapeutic services, all fundraising proceeds will be used to support our students’ emotional and mental health through stress management, relaxation, sensory, problem solving and behavioral activities.

We are very thankful for the time and effort that was put in from the students and their families during the NHA Coffee Fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who bought a bag of coffee or donated to the school.

Special Grounds Coffee takes pride in getting the freshest roasted coffee in your hands. We hand-roast green coffee beans locally to ensure fresh, rich flavors while blending cultures and tastes of the world into each cup. In addition to providing much needed vocational experience to individuals with disabilities, Special Grounds invests back into the community through programs like our Coffee FUNdraising Program to benefit other schools and non-profit organizations.

If you know a school or organization that would be interested in doing our Special Grounds Coffee FUNdraiser, please contact Tara Dumas at 419-335-7272 or email at tarad@sarasgarden.org.

Thank you again to everyone who supported our very first NHA Special Grounds Coffee FUNdraiser!

Handcrafted Hope Sale at Special Grounds

Mark your calendars! Our New Horizons Academy students have been working hard on new items made from the burlap coffee bean sacks from Special Grounds Coffee and they are planning on having a sale. With March being Disabilities Awareness Month, we wanted an additional opportunity for our students to display their creative sides through our Handcrafted Hope program.

Event Date:	Thursday, March 28, 2024
Event Location:	Special Grounds Coffee Co.
Event Address:	854 S. Shoop Ave., Wauseon, OH
Event Time:	9:00 am – 11:30 am

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All proceeds from this event will be used towards the purchase of additional life skills and vocational equipment for our students at New Horizons Academy, providing additional opportunites for our students to lean new skills and helping them reach their full potential.

NHA Now Accepting Applications for 2024-25

All three New Horizons Academy (NHA) locations are NOW accepting new student applications for the 2024-2025 school year! NHA is so pleased to announce that it is accepting new student applications 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 new Career Center and Special Grounds Coffee Shop at 854 S. Shoop Ave. in Wauseon. Currently, NHA serves special education students from over 25 different school districts from across nine Northwest Ohio counties. Call TODAY to find out more about NHA and its academic and vocational programs. Classes begin in August, so begin the enrollment process NOW.

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 in Wauseon, our Holland or Springfield Township Campus, or through the new Career Center. 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 visit us today, and see 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
Have a 1:2—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
Provides job coaching and transportation to community work sites
Community work site partners include Ace Hardware, Chief Supermarkets, the Fulton County Airport, Goodwill Industries, Home Restaurant, Bittersweet, and Grieser Trucking with others coming on weekly.

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:

Call the school at 419-335-7272 for more information.
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, contact Admissions Coordinator Ronda Rupp at 419-335-7272 or via email at rondar@sarasgarden.org.

2023-24 NHA Yearbook Sponsorship

We are so thankful to our sponsors for making this past year’s yearbook project possible.

Our goal is to once again provide our students and their parents with this very special memento. We hope to raise funds through sponsors in order to keep the costs of the yearbooks as low as possible, so that more students and their families will be able to afford one.

We invite you to consider being a sponsor of this very special project!

We also gladly accept general donations for those not interested in being recognized as sponsors.

COST: $150.00

This level of sponsorship includes a 3.75″ x 4.25″ (approx.) color advertisement in the yearbook, recognition on our website and recognition on social media with a link to your business’ social media page or website.

DONATE NOW

COST: $90.00

This level of sponsorship includes a business card sized color advertisement in the yearbook and recognition on our website.

DONATE NOW

COST: $30.00

This level of sponsorship includes your business or name listed in the yearbook and website.

DONATE NOW

Advertisements are requested to be received by April 30, 2024.
Ads can be emailed in .jpg/.jpeg format to karab@sarasgarden.org.
Ads may be dropped off at Sara’s Garden or New Horizons Academy.

Sara’s Garden is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, please keep your email donation receipt as your official record. We’ll send it to you upon successful completion of your donation.

NHA Students Provide Love in a Box

Every Wednesday, a few students from New Horizons Academy have been brewing and hand delivering boxes of coffee purchased from Special Grounds Coffee to local businesses. This will give our students the opportunity to get out into the community and assist them in developing stronger communication and vocational skills and also providing some great coffee for these businesses to enjoy.

Our first day of this new program was on September 27th. Eli and Josiah were the first 2 students to assist in helping brew and deliver coffee to Hothules & Associates and Riley Tractor Parts.

The students have enjoyed going out and blessing additional businesses and organizations each week and learning more about what they do; such as Haas Door, the Wauseon Fire Department, Pettisville Grain, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Rupp Seeds, Ace Hardware and Grieser Transportation.

We will continue to brew and deliver coffee out to businesses each Wednesday throughout the school year. Thank you everyone for your continued support to our students and school.

NHS Playground is Complete!

It’s time to play! The students at our Springfield campus now have a safe, outdoor space to play! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this project a reality. We are so grateful to all the foundations, organizations, businesses and individuals who donated and took part in the fundraising events that made this all possible.

The kiddos at NHS have loved having a beautiful green space with amazing playground equipment to use at school. It is also a great space for teachers to take their students out and have activities on the enclosed grass surface.

We now have a playground where children of all types of abilities can play together; one that addresses the needs of typically developing children as well as children with neurological, intellectual and physical disabilities. We are so thankful to finally have an inclusive playground that accommodates all children and challenges each of them at their own developmental levels.