San Jose’s Morgan Autism Center is due to close escrow at the end of August on a property just across the street from its facility on St. Elizabeth Drive. The purchase of the 1.86-acre property at 1470 McKinley Ave. marks the first step in the expansion plan the center has dubbed “Dream Campus 2.0”
The $5 million expansion is estimated to take three years to complete and will include four school spaces and a dedicated adult program facility.
The center decided to undertake an expansion after seeing regional autism rates double in the nine years since it opened its current campus. It currently serves 65 students from 24 school districts through its school program for ages 5-21, and 56 adults in its program for those age 22 and older, with its oldest client being 66 years old.
“With an estimated 1 in 34 children diagnosed with autism, the expansion will increase our capacity, create intentional learning and program spaces and support future enrollment across both school and adult programs,” the center’s executive director Josh Drake said in a release.
The expansion also includes construction of a 31,000-square-foot elevated park on the center’s current campus through a partnership with the Magical Bridge Foundation, which is also planning to build its first inclusive playground in San Jose on the center’s grounds.
Morgan Autism Center has served the Bay Area’s profoundly autistic community since 1969, moving to its current location, the former St. Elizabeth’s Day School, in 2017.
On the whole, said Drake, Dream Campus 2.0 will enable the center to “be a model for others in how best to meet the needs of individuals with significant autism.”
For more information, visit https://www.morgancenter.org/dream-campus-2-0.