Mississippi Mother Builds School Where Every Child Matters, Launches Campaign to Serve 400 Families

ELLISVILLE, Miss. - EntSun -- The Knox Academy fundraising campaign's mission is both to expand its campus into a full K–12 school to meet the needs of its growing 400+ student waitlist, and to build a replicable model that other communities can adopt — so Knox becomes the first of many, not the only one.

ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Knox Academy, the only ABA provider in Jones County and a K3–7th grade school serving children with autism and developmental disabilities, today announced a $500,000 first-phase capital campaign (https://www.givesendgo.com/knox-academy-whole-c...) toward a $4.5 million purpose-built campus on a recently secured 12-acre property. The school was founded by Julie Gilliland after she went looking for a place that could serve her son, John Knox, and couldn't find one. So she built it.

"Knox Academy didn't start as a school. It started as a fight for my son," said Gilliland, the school's founder, owner, and administrator. "Help me build a school for our kids, and I'll help you build a movement for all kids who need what we have."

The numbers tell the story plainly: 40 children enrolled, roughly 400 families on the waiting list. Knox is the only local provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy in Jones County, and demand has long since outpaced the school's current footprint. Families in south Mississippi face limited local options and long travel distances — but the deeper problem isn't only geographic. The model in which academics, therapy, and care happen under one roof barely exists anywhere, urban or rural.

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Phase 1 — $500,000 — opens the new campus to its first students on the 12-acre property Knox recently secured, and marks the start of a larger, multi-phase effort to build out the full school. It establishes a working footprint on the new land so Knox can begin serving families now while subsequent phases scale toward the full $4.5 million vision. The campaign's mission is both to expand the Knox campus into a full K–12 school to meet the needs of its growing 400+ student waitlist, and to build a replicable model that other communities can adopt — so Knox becomes the first of many, not the only one.

Knox Academy's approach integrates academics with ABA therapy, developmental support, wellness, nutrition, and movement — all delivered on-site in a Montessori-inspired environment rather than through fragmented appointments across the region. Knox partners with the University of Southern Mississippi psychology department, Bright Steps Therapy, Jones College, and other community organizations to serve families in an underserved area.

The school's growth has drawn federal attention. In recent meetings in Washington, D.C., Gilliland met with Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Representative Mike Ezell, and Representative Michael Guest — all four offices are preparing letters of support for Knox's federal grant applications across early-childhood, behavioral health, and community-facility programs. A community event tied to the nation's 250th-anniversary celebrations is planned for July.

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CAMPAIGN LINK: https://www.givesendgo.com/knox-academy-whole-child-campaign

About Knox Academy (https://www.knoxacademy.org)

Knox Academy is a K3–7th grade school in Ellisville, Mississippi, serving children with autism and developmental disabilities through a whole-child model that combines Montessori-inspired education with integrated, on-site therapies. Founded by Julie Gilliland and named for her son, John Knox, the school is the only ABA provider in Jones County. Its guiding belief: a school designed for every learner.