{"id":252022,"date":"2026-04-30T03:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252022\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T03:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:46:10","slug":"south-florida-special-needs-school-finds-new-home-inside-church-after-rent-hike-the-kids-are-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252022\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida special needs school finds new home inside church after rent hike: “The kids are happy”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A South Florida<\/a> school for children with special needs, once at risk of shutting down after a steep rent increase, has found a new home thanks to a local church stepping in to help.<\/p>\n

Beyond Expectations Academy now serves more than 80 students inside Pinelands Presbyterian Church, which offered unused space during the week.<\/p>\n

For families like the Quinteros, the change has made a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n

“Since they moved over here, Kevin has been extremely happy,” said Alex Quintero, whose 21-year-old son attends the academy.<\/p>\n

Kevin is nonverbal, but his father says his excitement is clear.<\/p>\n

“You can see it in his face, his body language,” he said. “He looks forward to coming here.”<\/p>\n

According to co-owner Urania Caldera, about 70 percent of the students at the academy are nonverbal, making consistency and environment critical to their development.<\/p>\n

“The kids are happy. I think we have found a safe and happy home for them,” Caldera said.<\/p>\n

The owners credit the community & CBS News Miami for their new home<\/p>\n

CBS News Miami first reported on the academy’s struggle last September<\/a>, when its longtime landlord raised the rent by nearly 50 percent after a decade at the same location.<\/p>\n

School leaders feared the worst: that students would have to be split into different facilities, disrupting essential therapies and routines.<\/p>\n

“Therapy hasn’t been interrupted, and that is a major component of us being together,” Caldera said.<\/p>\n

Her husband and co-owner, Sergio Caldera, credited community support and the exposure from CBS News Miami for helping them find a solution.<\/p>\n

“I want to thank CBS News Miami. They helped us get the word out, and the community pulled through,” he said.<\/p>\n

That support came from Pinelands Presbyterian Church, where Pastor Emmanuel Gonzalez said welcoming the school was an easy decision.<\/p>\n

“We were absolutely excited,” Gonzalez said. “What they’re doing is an act of mercy: to take care of the children and to teach them.”<\/p>\n

The academy now occupies an entire wing of the church that had previously gone underused. The new arrangement has also eased financial pressure: the school is paying about half of what it previously spent on rent.<\/p>\n

For parents, the move means stability and continued access to essential services.<\/p>\n

“My daughter receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and behavioral therapy here,” said parent Nermayda Perez.<\/p>\n

Another mother, Destiny Sepulveda, said that without the academy, she would have had few options.<\/p>\n

“If this place did not exist, I would probably be homeschooling my son right now,” she said.<\/p>\n

School leaders say the experience has strengthened their commitment to the community they serve.<\/p>\n

“Beyond Expectations is definitely here to stay,” Caldera said.<\/p>\n

For the families who rely on the academy, the new location represents more than just a building; it’s a place of hope, healing, and a second home.<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A South Florida school for children with special needs, once at risk of shutting down after a steep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13709,2302,28,30,29,123,46334,807],"class_list":["post-252022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-autism","tag-church","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-miami","tag-school-closures","tag-south-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}