{"id":483177,"date":"2026-11-01T13:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T13:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/483177\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T13:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T13:52:18","slug":"local-school-for-adults-with-learning-disabilities-expands-job-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/483177\/","title":{"rendered":"Local school for adults with learning disabilities expands job training"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a recent crisp October morning, Jake Ramirez greets customers as they peruse the pop-up market he\u2019s working. When customers stop by his T-shirt stand, Ramirez is quick to list sizes and colors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The week before, he emceed the 2026 gala for the San Antonio Life Academy, a day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDDs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ramirez, 24, has been enrolled for a couple years now. On this day, he\u2019s one of a dozen or so students running an outdoor market in the parking lot of Mount Cavalry Lutheran Church in Alamo Heights, where SA Life Academy is housed.<\/p>\n

While Ramirez takes care of the T-shirt stand, Grace Soto, 21, sells hand-made earrings. Other stands have homemade dog treats, breads, salsas and other goodies. Rising Stars coffee truck sits at the end of the lot, where students sling americanos and lattes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just try to make sure that we\u2019re just being welcoming,\u201d said Ramirez, who has autism. \u201cGreeting everyone in the community, making sure they feel comfortable here at SA Life Academy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Called \u201cstars\u201d by the staff, SA Life Academy students take all sorts of classes when they\u2019re on campus, including art, health, yoga and more. Recently, the academy has been expanding pre-vocational training and learning opportunities, meant to prime \u201cstars\u201d for life and \u2014 possibly \u2014 jobs beyond the grounds of the Mount Calvary church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"San Antonio Life Academy Student Yazmine Aguirre models earrings with the SA Life Academy logo as she helps checks customers out with their picks from the market. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Founded in 2017 by a pair of advocate parents, SA Life Academy\u2019s mission is helping adults with learning disabilities \u201creach for the stars\u201d by living full and active lives.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oct. 15 pop-up market marked a little over a year since the academy launched Rising Stars Coffee<\/a>, a fully-stocked coffee truck manned by students as an extension of the career development program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are working on their pre-vocational skills like customer service, inventory. They make all the products that they\u2019re selling, and they also work on teamwork, kind of how businesses run,\u201d said Samantah Kidwell, executive director and head of school at SA Life Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of the proceeds from the market and coffee truck go back to the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do any job coaching or employment right now,\u201d said Kidwell. \u201cBut that\u2019s kind of like what our next end goal would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, several students hold part-time jobs and regularly volunteer outside of the program. Three students have found jobs after going through the academy\u2019s career development track, like Becca Major, a 28-year-old who recently got a restocking job at H-E-B.<\/p>\n

\"\"San Antonio Life Academy student Becca Major calls customers orders out of the Rising Stars Coffee truck on opening day outside of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church last fall. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

She says it\u2019s a job she enjoys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the people I get to work with, like my coworkers and managers,\u201d Major said. \u201cI like that if I don\u2019t know where something goes, I can ask my manager and they\u2019ll help me. I also like to make my own money, too, and I feel honored that I get to be paid for the hard work I get to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kidwell wants to keep growing SA Life Academy\u2019s career development opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Around 2028, she plans to open Cindy\u2019s Cottage, a brick and mortar storefront where students could get more hands-on retail and customer service experience. Last year, Kidwell said the store could open by 2027, but the project\u2019s been delayed as the program tries to secure funding.<\/p>\n

Students also participate in career fairs, and student ambassadors have recently been sharing what their experience at SA Life Academy is like with local business groups.<\/p>\n

Lisa Gutierrez, an associate teacher, said that despite their challenges, her students always give their best effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t even have to ask them,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t look at disabilities. They look at the ability, and they look at the person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meeting a critical need<\/p>\n

SA Life Academy has had a waitlist from families looking for care and education opportunities almost every year since it was founded in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students range in age from 18 to 56, but most are in their twenties, said Kidwell. She explained that most enroll after aging out of the public school system, where students with IDDs can usually continue getting services until they\u2019re 22 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"SA Life Academy students had the opportunity to assist customers and sell their products at a recent pop-up market outside of Mount Calvary Church. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Trying to meet some of the demand, SA Life Academy opened its seventh classroom this year and is working toward opening an eighth class.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program currently serves around 170 students. Last October, the academy had 164 adult students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, the program has a waitlist of new families who want a spot and currently enrolled families who want extra days. Classes are also small, usually capped at 12 students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But demand in the San Antonio area is vast. <\/p>\n

A 2018 study<\/a> from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation found that roughly 21,600 adults in Bexar County had autism spectrum disorder or an IDD. At the time, only 10% of those adults were receiving services through the Alamo Area Council of Governments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report also estimates that the number of residents with autism spectrum disorder or an IDD will grow to about 27,000 by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a handful of other organizations providing continuing education and programming for adults with IDDs through nonprofits, local universities and government agencies, but families say there are still gaps.<\/p>\n

In a more recent analysis from 2024, the IDD Champions Coalition \u2014 which includes SA Life Academy, the Brighton Center, Respite Care of San Antonio and other groups that serve individuals with IDDs \u2014 surveyed 800 families of people with learning disabilities. They found a huge gap between caregivers\u2019 needs and the availability of services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coalition found that 75% of families struggle to access services when they need them, and 80% of caregivers had no adult care plan. At the same time, most caregivers felt it was difficult to obtain and maintain a job, leading 32% of them to quit their jobs in order to meet care demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For families with these needs, even a few days or hours a week of outside care go a long way. <\/p>\n

\"\"SA Life Academy Student Kayla Ring, left, assists customers as they browse hand-made clay dishes and decorations for sell at the pop-up market outside of Mount Calvary Church on Oct. 15, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Unlike traditional schools where students may attend class every weekday, SA Life Academy welcomes students a few days or hours each week \u2014\u00a0 depending on families\u2019 level of need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than a place of respite for their families, SA Life Academy staff want the program to be a place where students can lead vibrant lives. That\u2019s part of the thinking behind Cindy\u2019s Cottage, the markets and Rising Stars Coffee, open to the public every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next pop-up market will take on a Christmas theme, going from 9 a.m. until supplies last on Dec. 15 at the Mount Cavalry church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visitors are likely to see Ramirez in his newsboy cap, greeting patrons and chatting with his peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ramirez says he would like to get a job someday, but he likes being useful however he can.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019ll be able to do what I can,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to really do my part for the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a recent crisp October morning, Jake Ramirez greets customers as they peruse the pop-up market he\u2019s working.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[162624,85,162625,89,82,84,83,92,93,158789],"class_list":["post-483177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-adults-with-idds","tag-adults-with-learning-disabilities","tag-rising-stars-coffee-truck","tag-sa-life-academy","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-top-story","tag-typefeature","tag-wc-2000-2500"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}