The NYC Autism Charter School was founded in 2005 as a project under the umbrella of New York Collaborates for Autism by two mothers who were committed to creating a school that would offer a high-quality education to its students at no cost to their families. Over the past ten years, the NYC Autism Charter School has grown to eight classrooms currently serving more than 30 students each year. The NYC Autism Charter School is the only public charter school devoted solely to children with autism and is committed to offering a high-quality education option to families across the five boroughs of New York City. Its educational program offers individualized and evidence-based instruction rooted in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and a 1:1 teacher/student ratio in six of its eight classrooms. NYC Autism Charter School shares a building with P.S./IS 50, a district public school located in East Harlem, giving admission preference to children living in East Harlem, and facilitates opportunities for its students to interact with typically developing peers in the local community. The NYC Autism Charter School also provides students opportunities to learn and practice job skills in real work environments through partnerships with local businesses and organizations, such as CLDS, El Museo del Barrio, Facebook, Fairway Market, Harlem RBI, and White Castle.

NYC Autism Charter School experienced significant growth in its first ten years, but the school had a waiting list with hundreds of children. The school participated in the Morgan Stanley Challenge, which helped to frame the organization’s goals for replication. As the school rolled out plans for its first replication site in the Bronx, the school’s leadership recognized the need to review its organizational structure and identify changes that would need to be made as it scaled.

NYC Autism Charter School engaged Impact Catalysts (through its predecessor firm, Root Cause) to conduct a management review that would determine how it could realign its management structure build the capacity to drive replication of NYC Autism Charter School in the next several years. Senior management and program team structures and reporting lines were established, and job descriptions were revised in a collaborative process involving board, management, and line staff.