AERO Special Education Cooperative

What AERO Special Education Cooperative does

A.E.R.O. Special Education Cooperative (District 806) is a public school cooperative organized under the Illinois School Code, founded in 1963 and headquartered in Burbank, Illinois. It serves students with cognitive, behavioral, physical, and developmental disabilities across eleven member school districts in the Stickney, Worth, and Lyons Townships corridor through a referral-only enrollment model. The cooperative operates eight specialized educational programs—S.T.A.R. (ABA-based autism), P.R.I.D.E. (behavioral/emotional), Multi Needs, Connect (post-high school transition), Communication Development, Early Childhood, Functional Academic Learning, and related clinical services including OT, PT, speech-language, nursing, social work, behavior specialists, assistive technology, and adapted physical education.

The cooperative's physical infrastructure centers on the 150,000-square-foot A.E.R.O. Therapeutic Center, a purpose-built facility opened in 2023 featuring sensory-friendly classrooms, therapy spaces, life-skills rooms, and secure indoor/outdoor areas. The technology stack is conventional ed-tech—Google Classroom, ParentSquare, RevTrak payment portal, Microsoft My Apps, Applitrack for hiring, with Skyward Family Access rolling out—rather than proprietary platforms; assistive technology for students is provided via consultation rather than in-house product development. No AI or ML capabilities are present.

The business model is a public-sector cooperative funded through member district contributions, state and federal grants, and Illinois state reimbursement, with no direct tuition charged to families. Governance is provided by a Governing Board of one board member from each member district plus an Executive Board of district superintendents, creating a structurally locked-in customer base that is, by design, capped at eleven districts.

Name

AERO Special Education Cooperative

Legal name

A.E.R.O. Special Education Cooperative

Website

https://aerod806.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Burbank

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Member District Contributions: Funded through local school district contributions from the eleven member districts, state and federal grants, and state reimbursement. The cooperative is a legal entity under the School Code of Illinois.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

A.E.R.O. Special Education Cooperative delivers specialized educational programs and related therapy services to children with cognitive, behavioral, and physical disabilities. Operating from a 150,000-square-foot purpose-built therapeutic center in Burbank, Illinois, the cooperative serves eleven member school districts across the Stickney, Worth, and Lyons Townships area through multidisciplinary teams of special education teachers, therapists, and support staff.

Product overview

A.E.R.O. Special Education Cooperative is a low-incidence special education cooperative serving 11 member school districts since 1963. The organization operates primarily from its 150,000-square-foot A.E.R.O. Therapeutic Center in Burbank, Illinois, which opened in 2023 and houses multiple specialized educational programs. The core product portfolio includes eight distinct educational programs: S.T.A.R. (Students Teachers Achieving Results) using ABA principles, P.R.I.D.E. (alternative behavioral program), Multi Needs, Connect (post-high school transition), Communication Development, Early Childhood, and Functional Academic Learning programs. These programs are complemented by comprehensive support services including Assistive Technology, Behavior Specialist, Nursing, Occupational/Physical Therapy, Speech-Language, Social Work, Transition Services, Adapted Physical Education, Pre-Vocational Training, Vision/Hearing Itinerant Services, and a Free Breakfast/Lunch Program. The organization serves students with diverse cognitive, behavioral, and physical needs across portions of Stickney, Worth, and Lyons Townships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• A.E.R.O. Therapeutic Center: A 150,000-square-foot, purpose-built facility in Burbank, Illinois designed to meet the unique needs of students with diverse cognitive, behavioral, and physical needs. Features sensory-friendly classrooms, therapy spaces, life skills rooms, indoor and outdoor play areas.
• A.E.R.O. Aviators

Products and services

• A.E.R.O. Therapeutic Center
• S.T.A.R. Program (Students Teachers Achieving Results)
• P.R.I.D.E. Program (Personal Responsibility through Independence and Developmental Education)
• Multi Needs Program
• Connect Program
• Communication Development Program
• Early Childhood Program
• Functional Academic Learning Program
• Assistive Technology Services
• Speech and Language Services
• Occupational and Physical Therapy Services
• Transition Services
• Behavior Specialist Services
• Nursing Services
• Free Breakfast and Lunch Program

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Melmark: Multi-state nonprofit provider of residential, day and outpatient services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, autism and acquired brain injury. Comparable to A.E.R.O.'s Multi Needs and adult transition (Connect) programs but operates a broader residential model rather than a K-12 cooperative.
• Giant Steps Autism Services: Private, Illinois-based nonprofit school and adult program for students with autism spectrum disorder using ABA-based methodology. Competes for the same autism cohort that A.E.R.O. serves in its S.T.A.R. program, but as a single-site private operator rather than a multi-district cooperative.

Broad incumbents

• Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health: Large national nonprofit operating K-12 special-education schools, behavioral-health residential programs and adult services. Provides comparable programming to A.E.R.O.'s emotional/behavioral (P.R.I.D.E.) and autism lines but at much broader scale and geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL): Illinois public special-education cooperative serving Lake County member districts with programs for autism, severe/profound disabilities and transition-age students - effectively the same cooperative model A.E.R.O. runs, just in a different collar county.
• Cooperative Association for Special Education (C.A.S.E.): Illinois special-education cooperative already named in A.E.R.O.'s own data as the partner providing Vision/Hearing Itinerant Services. Operates the same shared-services model for member districts across the Chicago suburbs, making it the most directly comparable peer.
• Southwest Suburban Special Education District (SASED): Chicago-area special-education cooperative providing autism, behavioral, deaf/hard-of-hearing and transition programs to member K-12 districts. Uses the same cooperative funding/governance structure as A.E.R.O. and serves an overlapping southwestern suburban geography.

Regional players

• Transitional School District 309: Illinois special-education cooperative in the Rockford area offering programs for students with emotional/behavioral, autism and developmental disabilities. Same public-cooperative structure as A.E.R.O. but serves a geographically separate downstate region.
• Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED): Illinois special-education cooperative serving north suburban Chicago districts - structurally identical to A.E.R.O. (member-district model, multi-program continuum) but in a different geographic catchment, so non-competing but operationally comparable.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AERO Special Education Cooperative