The Heart of Stark: Golden Key Center for Exceptional Children stays true to its mission

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From a summer camp to now a school, the Golden Key Center for Exceptional Children has evolved to meet the changing needs of children with special needs.

The Golden Key embarked on its journey in 2007 as a summer camp catering to special needs children.

Nearly two decades later, it has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving into an accredited, non-public charter school at 1431 30th St. NW in Canton dedicated to educating preschoolers through eighth graders with autism and other developmental disabilities.

More: The Heart of Stark: Canton's Golden Key Center renovation and expansion moving ahead

How Golden Key Center started

The inception of the Golden Key traces back to an ongoing conversation between Terry Frank, who at the time was an autism intervention and educational specialist at Stark MRDD (now Stark County Board of Developmental Disabilities), and her friend Katherine Catazaro-Perry, a registered nurse and mother of a child with Down syndrome.

They often discussed the absence of after-school programming for special needs children and their shared passion for addressing the gap. Thus, the Golden Key Center for Exceptional Children was born, initially as a summer camp in collaboration with Stark MRDD.

The Golden Key later became an official nonprofit in 2008, with an established board of directors, including businessman and philanthropist Guy Cecchini. He knew co-founders Frank and Catazaro-Perry were looking for a place to rent and he offered a building he owned at 30th Street NW in Canton for $1 a year in rent.

Reflecting on the Golden Key’s beginnings, Frank shared how one heartfelt inquiry prompted the school’s development: “When we started our childcare program, we were serving three students. Those families asked us: ‘Why can’t they go to school here?’ We started exploring it and it really evolved from there.”

As the school responded to the evolving needs of its students, its curriculum expanded from serving kindergarten through third grade, to then fifth grade and later eighth grade.

One parent, profoundly impacted by their son's experience at the Golden Key, shared:

“The Golden Key provides peace of mind that our child is guaranteed to be treated with respect and dignity even though he may be different from his peers. Within the first 90 days after enrolling in the program, he went from a five-word vocabulary to well over 100. That was the moment we knew we found the right place for our son!"

When a family comes to the Golden Key for assistance, they are often stressed and looking for a school that can meet their child's unique needs.

As a provider of the state of Ohio’s Jon Peterson Scholarship and Ohio Autism Scholarship, no family pays out of pocket for the education, intervention services and therapy support their children receive at the Golden Key. Taking the financial stress out of the equation allows families to focus solely on their children’s education.

The Golden Key Center in Canton today

Today, the Golden Key is the area's largest private special needs school, serving nearly 130 students from 22 local school districts in preschool through eighth grade. The school serves both verbal and nonverbal children and places students in classrooms based on ability, not age, unlike a traditional school system.

Students receive education, intervention, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, music and arts programming, tech and library science, social skills intervention, food therapy, relational and behavioral support and nursing services all under one roof.

One unique program even focuses on addressing eating difficulties common among children with autism. Staff are trained in sequential oral sensory therapy to help expand students' diets.

In 2012, Golden Key purchased the 30th Street NW building it was renting from Cecchini with assistance from five local charitable foundations.

It was through the generous support from local foundations and other community partners that Golden Key underwent a $2.4 million renovation and expansion in 2022 to add more classrooms and restrooms, additional office and therapy spaces, a functional gym for increased physical activity programs and a functional living space to teach independent living skills.

Since the expansion, Golden Key has increased its enrollment by 20%, now up to 126 students. Despite this growth, there's still a lengthy waiting list, highlighting the ongoing need for specialized education in the community.

Next steps for the Golden Key Center

Most recently, Frank announced her retirement as executive director after 17 years.

Golden Key’s operations director Gina Bannevich has been named successor. Her connection to Golden Key runs deep as her own son spent his formative years there before moving on to high school.

When asked if the Golden Key has reached its fullest potential, Bannevich shared: “Based on the calls we get, no, we are not done growing. There’s such a need in the community for the education and services we provide.”

Learn more about the Golden Key at www.goldenkeyschool.com.

Stark Community Foundation helps individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits achieve their philanthropic goals. Learn more at www.starkcf.org.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cantons Golden Key Center for Exceptional Children sticks to mission