Autism Collier Charter School, scheduled to open in August 2025, announced in late March that it will share space during its first year with BridgePrep Academy, another charter school at 3161 Santa Barbara Blvd. in the Naples area.

ACCS was approved by the Collier County Public School Board in October 2024, and a search for a location had been underway since. The new charter school plans to start its first year with 80 students and is designed to offer parents of students with autism a new educational option.

In announcing the location, ACCS Board President Jen Mitchell expressed gratitude to BridgePrep Academy for partnering with ACCS “to bring this much-needed educational option to families in Collier County. Their willingness to share space with ACCS demonstrates a shared commitment to expanding access to specialized education for students with autism.”

She said since the facility is already an established school, minimal modifications will be required to meet the needs of ACCS students.

“Additionally, it is centrally located, making it easily accessible to families from across the county,” Mitchell said.

Sharing space for year one

Emily Kafle

ACCS Principal Emily Kafle said ACCS hopes to buy or build their own space in the future, but in order to get started with year one, the decision was made to pursue shared space with an existing facility.

ACCS and BridgePrep Academy will be the only CCPS charter schools to share space, according to Chad Oliver, chief communications officer for the school district.

According to Kafle, the layout of the building aligns itself nicely with dividing the space evenly between the two charter schools.

“We’re literally just kind of cutting it in half,” she said. “BridgePrep will have the front 11 classrooms, and [ACCS] will have the back 11 classrooms, which equals about 11,000 square feet.”

Regarding spaces such as the gymnasium and cafeteria, Kafle said they will be shared but not used at the same time. She said ACCS also will have a green space outside the building that is not currently used by BridgePrep.

“We want to incorporate that as much as we possibly can for our students daily, for activity, movement and gardening,” Kafle said. “We want nature to be a huge part of their instructional experience.”

Kafle, past director of special education for Collier County Public Schools for more than five years, said the ACCS operating budget for year one, previously estimated at $2.8 million, will be $3.6 million, which comes from the Florida Department of Education and is passed through CCPS.

Enrollment, originally planned for 65 students, has grown to 80 for the first year, Kafle said, chosen by lottery from more than 177 applications. She said the majority of applications came from parents whose students previously had been home schooled.

The 39-member ACCS staff will include eight classroom teachers, 16 exceptional student education assistants, support staff, a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapists and board-certified behavior analysts, Kafle said.

She said applications had been highly concentrated in the primary grades, with fewer applicants for middle and high school. K-3 are standalone grades/classrooms, while grades 4-5 are combined and grades 6-8 are combined. Ninth grade will be a standalone class, and grades 10-12 will be combined.

A tuition-free public option for students with autism

ACCS, like all charter schools in the county, is sponsored by the Collier County school district with the state and enters into a contract with the district to pay an administrative fee that helps pay for district staff that helps support charters.

The new charter school will be the only tuition-free public option in Collier County, aside from enrollment in a traditional public school, for autistic students. Able Academy is a private school option charging tuition for grades K-12, along with clinics including Mindful Masterpieces, also K-12, and Stepping Stones, which covers only elementary grades.

Kafle said last fall when CCPS Board approval was announced that ACCS is meant to be not just a school, but a support system for both students and their families that will include extracurricular activities and other opportunities for entire families to be involved.

“We’re hoping for our students to experience growth in all areas — academic, social, emotional, behavioral communication — while really homing in on that family aspect so it’s not just for the students but for their families,” she said. “We’re excited to also offer before- and after-school care, which is something that’s not available for our kids with significant disabilities in the public school system.”

Jen Mitchell

Mitchell, a former Collier County school board member, said last fall that she hopes CCPS will see ACCS as a partner in the district’s work to help meet the needs of all students.

“They (CCPS) do a fantastic job addressing their special needs population, but what we found is that when you really target that very specific audience, you can really improve outcomes for those students,” Mitchell said.

Kafle added that as the plans developed, it was important to the founders that the school be a charter and not a private school.

“The reason that going the charter route was important to us is that it’s tuition-free,” Kafle said. “Being a public charter guarantees that our teachers are certified and also ensures that students are instructed in state standards.”

Kafle said ACCS will have Applied Behavioral Analysis, or ABA, principles in place and will have “high expectations and rigor” when it comes to academics, with parents and students protected by state and federal regulations, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Asked last fall when CCPS approved the charter how important this educational option will be for students on the autism spectrum, CCPS Superintendent Leslie Ricciardelli said in a written response that the ACCS charter application noted that while Collier County boasts excellent schools and strong support for students with disabilities, the charter school will provide another choice for parents “specifically tailored to the needs of students with significant autism and their families.”

“As an educator who started my career working with students with disabilities, I understand the unique needs of students with significant cognitive, motor and behavioral challenges,” Ricciardelli said. “I support any program with the ability to provide children with the opportunity to meet their full potential both academically and socially.”

There are currently more than 7,500 students with special needs, including autism, enrolled in Collier County public schools, according to district officials.