The school was founded in 2002 as an addition to therapy clinic to serve children ages 12-14 as a transitional school with just 2 students. The original mission of the school was to provide a school where students would get academic remediation as well as occupational and speech therapy for a period of 1-2 years. Students would then mainstream back into a more traditional educational setting.

In 2005, at the request of our families, the focus of the school changed from short-term, middle school to a long-term school for grades K-4 with the addition of a 5th grade in 2007. In its origins and up until August 14, 2010, The Arbor School was a  privately-owned entity under a different name.

In 2009, the owners made the decision to divest themselves of the school. At that time, the opportunity came about to change to a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) school. This became official on August 14, 2010, with the signing of the financial agreements, the appointing of a board of directors, and the hiring of an executive director. 

During the 2012-2013 school year, the decision was made to add high school classes to the program.  Also in 2013, the board voted to change the name of the school to The Arbor School of Central Florida. Since that time, we have moved into a new building, hired full time in-house therapists, added personal computers, iPads, interactive educational technologies, music, and off-site job skills training to our programs.