- May 17, 2025
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Crista McDonough was homeschooling her son, Nathan McDonough, when she learned about Pathways for Life Academy.
Nathan McDonough was diagnosed with autism and a general anxiety disorder when he was 2-and-one-half years old.
Learning about a school that would cater to Nathan McDonough’s needs academically so he could obtain a standard high school diploma while also teaching him social, behavioral, emotional and life skills he would need later on in life was a game-changer.
“It sounds cliché, but it was like the light at the end of the tunnel,” Crista McDonough said.
Pathways for Life Academy, a private school for students with learning differences in sixth through 12th grade, offers teachers and staff who will work with the students to ensure they graduate with a diploma, address behavioral issues, teach life skills and more.
After her son was diagnosed with autism, Crista McDonough knew finding the right educational opportunities for him would be tricky — but crucial.
She found a special education program for preschool in Orange County that helped him prepare for kindergarten, and he thrived. She expected the same as he went off to kindergarten.
But two weeks into his kindergarten year, Nathan McDonough, came home with a semi-severe injury without an explanation from the school as to how it happened.
Crista McDonough was scared.
Nathan McDonough couldn’t speak for himself. Her concern for his safety became paramount, so she decided to pull him from school and homeschool him.
When Crista McDonough discovered Pathways for Life Academy, she was relieved. But Nathan McDonough only was in fourth grade, and Pathways for Life Academy is for students in sixth grade through seniors in high school.
Crista said the school was worth the wait.
“He has done beyond great here,” Crista McDonough said of Nathan McDonough at Pathways. “To know that he’s safe there and I never have to question that. He’s safe with the staff. He’s safe with the teachers. That’s a huge thing in the autism community.”
Patty Myers, executive director of Pathways for Life Academy, said the school often can be life-changing — not only for the students but also for their families.
She said some families have sent their child to eight or nine different schools throughout elementary school trying to find the right fit before enrolling in Pathways.
Myers wanted a school that would be inclusive to all learning differences and address students as individuals in a small learning environment.
This school year, 17 students are enrolled, and Myers said the school, which leases space from Quest Church, has the capacity to enroll about 40 students.
Pathways for Life Academy opened in August 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to Quest Church in Gotha in the 2023-2024 school year.
Now in its fifth year, the school is hoping to expand its staff and raise more funds to accommodate more students. Myers said the school is working on fundraising to be able to provide scholarships to students who might not be able to afford the approximately $24,000 tuition. She said she doesn’t want to turn students away because of finances.
“My goal for the school is I’d like it to be free or nearly free,” she said.
Crista McDonough said often, families of children with autism or learning differences concede the idea that their child likely will not receive a high school diploma.
But Pathways for Life ensures its students make it across that finish line to graduation.
“I wanted to create a space that kids don’t just get a diploma,” Myers said. “They learn life, social, executive function skills. I really wanted them to graduate with more than a piece of paper. … It’s student-driven with parent partnerships.”
Myers said the school produced three graduates last school year. One went on to enroll at Beacon College, another was pursuing enrollment at an inclusive program at the University of Central Florida, and the third wanted to find employment working with horses. This year, another three students will graduate. Two of the three will attend Beacon College, and one will attend Myers’ Building Pathways, a nonprofit that offers day programs for individuals with unique abilities to gain the life, social and job skills needed to contribute to their community.
Myers meets with each high school student every quarter to ensure they are on track for graduation and they have graduation plans. She meets with every senior once per month.
Every day, students are learning more than traditional academics such as math, science, history and English.
Middle school students have social-skills class, life-skills class, as well as an elective such as physical education or art. At the high school level, those social and life skills are more infused throughout their academic schedule. A graduation requirement is a financial literacy class.
They complete chores, balance a budget, learn how to grocery shop, learn how to cook, spend the money they earn at the school store to learn about banking and more.
Every Friday is Fun Friday, meaning all the students regardless of grade level come together to socially interact in activities. The classes rotate making lunch for all the students. On Friday, April 11, students were making individual lasagnas and garlic bread for lunch. At the end of the day, students receive their “paychecks,” shop at the school store and record their income and purchase in their checkbook.
Myers said although some students can exhibit challenging behaviors, the teachers and staff work with them and the families to address the behaviors. They won’t simply ask the parents to pick up the student on the tougher days.
“(The teachers and staff) don’t just come in and it’s a clock in and out thing,” Myers said. “They’re investing in their lives.”
Crista McDonough said she thought her son would struggle with waking up every morning, but he’s always excited to go to school. On his first day at Pathways, he was awake and ready to go before she was.
“When I dropped him off, he was basically like, ‘Peace out,’” she said with a laugh.
Crista McDonough said every day she asks Nathan McDonough what his highs and lows of the day were, and he’s always excited to share the best moments of the day and there are rarely low moments.
She said she’s seen her son progress socially, and he’s gaining a sense of confidence he didn’t have before.
He feels encouraged as a saying at the school is “you can do the hard things,” which she said Nathan McDonough is starting to “really internalize.” Before, if he thought he couldn’t do something, he would opt to sit out, but now, he has more of a willingness to try, which goes a long way in life, Crista McDonough said.
Nathan McDonough has diagnosed dysgraphia, a learning difference affecting a person’s ability to write. Crista McDonough said she never pushed Nathan McDonough to write as much when she was homeschooling him because she didn’t want to stress him out. At Pathways, they have pushed him to work on his writing, which has resulted in him going from struggling to write a sentence to writing half a page on current events without any complaints. He’s also working on a signature. Crista McDonough said to some, those may seem like small things, but to her son, they’re big accomplishments.
“I know it sounds minor, but there’s so many times we actually need our signature that we just don’t think about because it came pretty naturally,” she said. “He’s starting to resemble a signature, and that’s so cool. I’m so proud of him.”
The school also offers moments for the parents to come together. For example, monthly the mothers gather to discuss different topics and to build a sense of community where they can lean on each other.
“We can feel like we are the only ones who see our children for who they really are, and so that’s one of the biggest things that changes with our children being here,” Crista McDonough said. “They are seeing our children for who they really are, not the diagnoses, not what they can’t do. It’s what can they do.”
