Phoenix charter school for kids with autism starts work on new campus

PHOENIX – A Phoenix charter school for children with autism held a wall-breaking ceremony Friday for a new facility.

The Arizona Autism Charter Schools campus on 14th Street north of Indian School Road will serve K-12 students starting in the 2020-21 school year.

Student ambassadors helped break walls during the ceremony to signal the start of the building’s transformation into a school.

State Sen. Sylvia Allen was among those on hand for the event.

Arizona Autism Charter Schools was the state’s first tuition-free public school for kids with autism when it opened in 2014.

It has been operating out of two Phoenix venues, an elementary campus and an upper school.

The new 63,000-square-foot campus will eventually serve 350 students and include areas for behavioral, medical and clinical services plus parent training and after-school programs.

“Children with autism often have many specials needs and we want those essentials to be at their school to further enhance their success and well-being,” Diana Diaz-Harrison, the school’s founder and executive director, said in a press release.

“I’m also excited that we will now have all of our AZACS students at one, central campus where we have room to grow and eventually help at least 100 additional children and families.”

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