Nonprofit autism school expands with new location in Magnolia

When the Thrive Center for Success first opened in 2022, the tuition-free, charter school shared space with a local church in The Woodlands. 

It became the first of its kind in Texas, said Elizabeth Goldsmith, the executive director and founder. 

On YourCourierNews.com: Woodlands senior becomes only student in the world to earn perfect score on environmental AP exam

More than 100 letters were sent to the institute in support the first year it opened. As of Thursday, the school has a total enrollment of 125 students, with 250 potential students on a waitlist. 

The demand was so strong that the nonprofit Thrive with Autism needed to find a “forever home,” Goldsmith said. 

Helping children with autism

Thrive with Autism is a nonprofit formed to help children with autism gain access to individualized high-quality education, therapies, and other services needed to help them reach their full potential, according to the organization’s website. 

In August, the organization began its first year in a new facility off Dobbin Huffsmith Road in Magnolia. 

“It’s a dream come true,” Goldsmith said. “It was exactly what I was looking for.”

Upon entering the facility, visitors must cross through two gates and a wooden bridge above a pond area. Soon, the pond area will have a fountain installed, said Lori Schomber, operations director for the school. The facility itself is nearly 30,000 square feet, with two floors and room for expansion. 

The school started off with nine classrooms and it keeps growing, Schomber said. 

When it first opened, the school taught pre-K through 5th grade, with plans to add grade levels each year up to 12th grade. The school began teaching sixth-grade students for the 2023-24 school year. 

There are three levels of education at the school — foundational, transitional and academic. 

Each level is geared towards teaching students closer to their grade levels.

The school currently serves the Conroe, Klein, Magnolia, Montgomery, Spring, Tomball, and Waller school districts. There are plans for another school in Houston, Goldsmith said. 

On YourCourierNews.com: Conroe ISD is set to launch new $16.5M transportation facilities, expand bus operations

The organization is planning a ribbon cutting for the Magnolia institute on Nov. 10. 

As of the 2018-19 school year, 71,951 Texas students received special education services due to the disability condition of autism. Students with autism represent approximately 13 percent of all Texas students receiving special education services, according to the Texas Education Agency’s website. 

‘Why not Texas?’

It all started when Goldsmith couldn’t find the right school for her son, Sean, 11. It wasn’t until she discovered The Els Center for Excellence in Jupiter, Florida. 

When Goldsmith toured the facility, created by the Els for Autism Foundation, she was amazed at what she found.

The school was a tuition-free charter school that accepted all students with autism. It incorporated intensive applied behavior analysis therapy into the curriculum, had highly trained staff to work specially with autistic students, and had a low students to teacher ratio to allow for individualized help.

Students could access multiple types of therapy and recreational activities on-site, making it easier for families to get the help they need.

She thought to herself, “Why not Texas?”

Goldsmith, who founded Thrive with Autism in 2019, began meeting with community leaders to create a one-stop-shop for children with autism to get an education, as well as any necessary therapy, and social activities.

The Texas Board of Education approved the organization’s charter application in 2021. 

The plan was to create an environment specialized for children with autism to help reduce anxiety and meltdowns, Goldsmith said. 

The school is open-enrollment and a randomized lottery, she said. Parents are able to apply between December and February, where the randomized lottery begins the first of February. 

“We want the best for our children,” Schomber said, whose son, Cooper, is a student at the school. “So we want to make sure this place is thriving and continues to grow.” 

‘What the school is able to provide’

Schomber’s son enrolled into the school in second grade, unable to read, she said. 

“That boy, two nights ago, was grabbing a book and showing me that he can read now,” Schomber said as she held back tears.

It’s all because of what the school has to offer, she said. Before, her son was unable to “sit still to save his life, his sensory-processing, ADHD, just all over the place,” she said. 

“And once he came here, the group of kids that support him, don’t make him feel different and give him a chance to excel,” Schomber said. “And that’s so huge to have that. And had (Goldsmith) not come up with this all those years ago, there’s so many families that just wouldn’t have that. To be able to have that here is just crucial.” 

Every staff member, from front-desk staff to paraprofessionals in classrooms, is highly trained in working with children with autism, Goldsmith said. 

In the classroom, the organization helps grow their paraprofessionals and special education teachers by giving them the experience they need.

Krista Richey, for example, has a goal to become a board certified behavior analyst. The school has several board certified members on staff and five that are in graduate programs to become certified.

Richey is nearly halfway through her program, she said. 

“It’s a lot, but being able to be hands-on with kids, get the experience and have that supervision from our (board certified staff) is something that wasn’t offered to me in a traditional public school,” Richey said, who’s a special education teacher at the school. “I had to seek that all on my own…whereas here, I don’t have to struggle with that.”

Before joining the staff at the school, Richey started autism program at the district that she came from, she said. When she found out about the school, she was giving private tutoring lessons to a student soon to be enrolled. 

“I was able to get with his mom and help them make the decision to move him here,” she said. “And I was able to watch him grow and see all the things that I was doing for students, that affected me personally…I wanted to be a part of that.”

Everyone that works at the school is in the same boat, Richey said. 

“We’re all special education teachers, we’re all advocating, we’re all fighting and putting the needs of our kids first,” she said.