By Holly Rusch
Daily Journal staff
The WINGS Learning Center celebrated the opening of the school for individuals with moderate to severe autism Jan. 31 at the San Bruno Park School District’s previous Rollingwood Elementary campus.
WINGS Learning Center is leasing the school property from the district as a part of a consolidation that has seen the closure of three San Bruno Park elementary schools — Rollingwood, El Crystal and Crestmoor. Administrators and San Bruno officials celebrated the partnership at the ribbon-cutting event.
School administrators began transitioning from their previous facility in August 2023 and students came in starting October 2023, Emily Carambat, WINGS family liaison coordinator, said.
WINGS Learning Center, which serves individuals ages 5 to 22, currently enrolls 22 students with moderate to severe autism, tailoring the educational curriculum to each student — many come to the school from all across the Peninsula.
“Our main priority is functional life skills, independent skills, vocational skills. Our goal is really to make our kids be as independent as possible when they leave here,” Carambat said.
Andriana Shea, vice president of the San Bruno Park School District Board, said the decision to lease the property, rather than sell it, was a “better fit for our neighborhood.”
“This is a largely residential neighborhood, where generations of families came to school here. So there was a lot of concerns from the residents and the surrounding neighborhoods of, ‘what will they do with the property?’” she said. “Based on the feedback that I've heard from this community, the community is happy that it's being used as a school.”
Councilmember Marty Medina, who attended the event, said another benefit to leasing the school to WINGS, rather than selling the property, is that the money can go back into the district to pay San Bruno Park School District teachers — currently the second lowest paid teachers in the county.
Typically, school districts will fund the cost for students to attend WINGS, according to Carambat, although a few families pay out of pocket. There is a waitlist for attendance.
Four different classrooms serve students with a range of educational needs, she said. The school’s emphasis on a holistic education as well as an educational curriculum is well-suited to the new campus, which has a large outdoor area — a change from the previous facility — and space for students to practice practical tasks like doing laundry or ringing up purchases, as well as occupational therapy and a workout space.
WINGS Learning Center also aims to provide a change from the experience many parents have in public schools potentially ill-suited to properly serve students with autism.
“Parents come in here with a lot of, being guarded and fearful because of their experience where they were. But once they understand our program and come and observe and see what their child is doing and the little milestones that they're making, because of this individualized program, that's what that's what we're all about,” Carambat said.
Paige Stageberg, a WINGS Learning Center parent, can attest to the staggering difference that the school has made in her son Archer’s life. It can be an extremely difficult experience to find the right resources for a child with autism, she said — even attaining the diagnosis can be a challenge.
“As a parent, you're literally in the dark. It's the most painful experience as a parent to know something is going on with your kid and just not even know who you're supposed to ask, and that there's just not enough people trained in this to recognize it,” she said.
But the staff at WINGS, alongside its step-by-step approach to setting goals for children with autism, can be a lifeline for families who are oftentimes “told by everyone you meet all the things your kid can't do,” Stageberg said.
“They're working with Archer to write with the marker. They're working on prewriting skills, and that is something that no one has even considered,” she said. “And they're like, ‘we think if we don't do it now we're gonna miss a window, but we think he can do it.’ I think I told about 8 million people that day.”
The school is also a space of community for the parents and siblings of children with autism, Molly Billalon said of her experience since enrolling her son David.
“They want to help David with academics, life skills, all of these things, but they also support the family and they provide a community for parents. Because the problem is that parents aren't OK. Parents that have kids with autism are not OK, and we are isolated. Not only are our children isolated, we’re isolated. And when we came to WINGS, I was able to find friends who just get it,” she said. “This is how you do autism, is with this. It's multidisciplinary, everything's all in one space, and they make it fun for our kids.”
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