April is Autism Awareness month. To commemorate this day, The Bay School students collaborated to create a mural made entirely from salvaged blue jeans. For all student exhibits, our parent volunteers strive to find art materials in the plentiful supply of discarded items already existing all around us. Families enjoy donating things that would otherwise be thrown away. It is exciting to see these items become something beautiful. This is an art movement that is growing, called up-cycling.

In July 2013, The Bay School proudly opened its doors for the first time at our new location on 1026 Capitola Road in Santa Cruz! The Bay School thanks Barry Swenson Builder for inviting us to help design a brand new state-of-the-art facility featuring five bright and spacious classrooms, two new student kitchens (including a stove top to practice cooking skills), a large central conference and training room, a recreation room to facilitate group activities and exercise programs, several ADA-accessible student bathrooms (one with a shower to help students increase independence with personal hygiene routines), and a private landscaped outside play area surrounded by majestic oak trees.

With the summer quickly approaching, The Bay School is seeking new opportunities to raise funds in order to help outfit our new school site with new supplies and equipment.

Hanna C. Rue, Ph.D., BCBA-D is the Executive Director of the National Autism Center. She holds a joint appointment as Vice President of Autism Services for May Institute. Her responsibilities include overseeing the second phase of the National Standards Project, a multi-year initiative that resulted in a groundbreaking 2009 report which identified best practices in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). She is currently leading a national team of expert panelists, article reviewers, and consultants in evaluating data from over 400 treatment articles for adults (i.e., 22 years of age and older) with ASD, as well as for individuals identified as “at risk” for developing an ASD. The NSP-II will also update the findings for individuals under the age of 22.

In December 2011, The Bay School held a fundraising event during our second annual First Friday Art Tour. The collection of art featured in the exhibit “From the Heart – a mosaic harmony” was the beautiful result of individual student contributions blended to create mosaics of many forms.

In October 2011, The Bay School invited family members to participate in the school’s annual Harvest Festival.

In May 2011, The Chardonnay II Sailing Company graciously donated a private charter to honor the dedicated teachers and instructors at The Bay School.

On April 19, 2011, TBS parents surprised the instructors, teachers, and administrators of The Bay School with a Staff Appreciation Fiesta!

In January 2011, we showcased the art of our talented students downtown Santa Cruz during the First Friday Art Tour.

The Bay School was thrilled to feature the artwork of talented 12-year-old student Matthew on one of the May Institute’s 2010 holiday cards.