Autism academy finds home

Vista Academy has a perfect record when it comes to ensuring autistic children learn the skills needed to stay enrolled in their full-time schools.

The non-profit academy has been in operation for more than three years, and all 21 students who have gone through Vista are now thriving in their schools.

“What makes Vista different than the other service providers in the community is our goal is to integrate the children back into their regular learning environments,” Vista executive director Ashley Sali said. “So we would like to have them here for a year or two to build the skills they require to integrate successfully and stay meaningfully enrolled in their full-time education.

“We are here to help bridge the gap between early intervention and typical schooling, so we run a program here that goes from kindergarten to Grade 5.”

Vista was able to accomplish its stellar mark of success while operating out of its founder’s basement, too. Henrietta Penney is the woman behind Vista, and she couldn’t be more excited now that the academy has a space of its own in downtown Kelowna.

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