Meet Nick Schuerman and Krystal Lowe of Victory Autism Academy in Goodyear/Avondale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Schuerman, Owner and Executive Director of Victory Autism Academy.

Nick, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Education runs in my family with my dad being a retired principal, mom a retired elementary PE teacher, and my brother a high school math teacher. I’ve been in education for 20 years, both in the district and the charter sector. I have been in administration for the past 12 years and recently founded and opened my own charter school “Victory Collegiate Academy” in Maryvale, a “village” in Arizona, one of the most underserved populations in all of Arizona. My heart and passion has always been serving the underprivileged communities with 19 of my 20 years in education spent in Title 1 (poverty) schools.

Long story short, my son Conner, now 10 years old, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Disorder, Articulation Disorder, Coordination Disorder, and ADHD at a very young age. When I started my charter school in Maryvale in 2017/2018, I hired Krystal Lowe as my Special Education Director/Teacher. Krystal came with a plethora of experience working with children on the autism spectrum. Her and I would talk a lot about opening a private autism school over the course of the first couple of years and that pipe dream became reality this fall of 2020 with Krystal as the principal now at Victory Autism Academy myself as the Executive Director.

I was tired of seeing district and charter schools not meet the needs of these kids. Some do a decent job with the resources they have for children on the spectrum but a decent job isn’t good enough for these kiddos, thus Victory Autism Academy was born.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has NOT been smooth whatsoever, especially with COVID-19 happening. I remember sitting in a meeting with Krystal and several founding staff members, on several occasions, deciding if we needed to wait another year or cancel altogether. Being on lock down hindered our ability to build relationships with the community and our potential families. We were unable to hold community events, which is our bread and butter for marketing and recruiting.

Also, along with COVID-19 and everything being shut down, school districts were non responsive and in my opinion, some were out of compliance with meeting the needs of special education children. This really hindered our potential families from being able to get the testing needed to get the proper diagnosis on their child’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) to be able to receive the needed scholarship to afford our private day school.

Long story short, we are bursting at the seams with students and have started a waiting list for this year and next.

Victory Autism Academy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a private day autism school in the Goodyear/Avondale area. Every single student has a primary diagnosis of autism on their Individualized Education Plan. We draw students from as far west as Buckeye, as far north as Surprise, as far west as Phoenix, and as far south as Laveen. There is no other school like us west of the 101.

We have 50 students and are maxed out on space with a waiting list in just about each grade.

Victory Autism Academy offers small class sizes, with 12-15 students per classroom and groups students based on abilities and needs. The overall student to staff ratio is an average of 3 to 1. All classrooms have a certified special education teacher, a support teacher, and a behavior coach. This will ensure that all students receive individualized instruction throughout the day. We also have a full time SLPA and COTA on staff as well. We have a sensory room, calm down room, life skills room, and will soon have sensory playground.

On site, we offer Animal Therapy, Music Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Wilderness Adventure Therapy, Exercise/Yoga Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Art Therapy.

Our Mission: Provide students on the autism spectrum, a whole child education that will not only improve their quality of life but also prepare them for future success.

Our Vision: To be courageous in everything we do.

Our Core Beliefs: Enrich, Inspire, and Empower children on the autism spectrum

Enrich – Our goal is to provide an educational setting with programs and tools to improve and enhance life skills for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families. We aspire to make life more meaningful and rewarding.

Inspire – We dedicate ourselves to being a positive and uplifting school that encourages, promotes and celebrates success in all individuals. We believe each person on the autism spectrum has the opportunity to make a positive difference in this world.

Empower – We strive to empower individuals on the autism spectrum to achieve their highest quality of life academically, emotionally, physically and socially.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This is a hard one for me to answer. I have so many proud moments, all of which are related to student achievement and growth but opening up this autism school and being able to provide a service that you don’t get in district or charter schools, for children on the autism spectrum is definitely at the top of my list.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1781 N. Central Ave. Goodyear, AZ 85338
• Website: victoryautismacademy.com
• Phone: 623-248-8624
• Email: [email protected]

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