Special Education
Discovery Academy embraces the philosophy of personalized instruction, believing that special education students can be best educated in the regular classroom. Our teachers accept responsibility for all students in their classroom and make modifications and accommodations,adjust teaching techniques and class activities, to meet the learning abilities of all children. Special education staff supports the regular classroom teacher with this process, and operate in a co-teaching model to best serve the needs of the individual students.
Child Find Policy
The Academy is participating in efforts to assist the State of Ohio in identifying, locating, and evaluating all children who may have disabilities which may hinder their ability to receive free and appropriate public education. School districts across the state of Ohio are also participating in this effort to identify disabilities such as hearing impairments, visual impairments, speech or language impairments, specific learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, multiple disabilities, mental retardation, or other health impairments, physical impairments, autism and traumatic brain injuries. We are committed to affording all children their right to a free and appropriate education, regardless of any disability a child may have. However, in order to accomplish this, we must know that a need is present. Many children with disabilities are not visible because they do not function in the mainstream of the community. Examples of this may be children of homeless individuals or children of migrant families. In some cases, parents are not even aware of the fact that their child has a disability and are also unaware of services which are available.
The Academy is interested in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. If you know of a child who may have disabilities, contact the school leader for more information at 419-214-3266.
Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program
The Jon Peterson Special Needs (JPSN) Scholarship Program provides scholarships to students who are eligible to attend kindergarten through 12th grade and have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) from their district. The amount of each scholarship will be based on the primary disability condition identified on the student's Evaluation Team Report (ETR) and will not exceed $27,000. Students must be enrolled in the scholarship program for the entire program year to receive the full scholarship amount.
The passage of House Bill 49 eliminated student application deadlines for the JPSN Scholarship Program. Students will have the ability to apply for JPSN Scholarship year-round beginning September 29, 2017.
Autism Scholarship Program
The Autism Scholarship Program (ASP) gives the parents of children with autism who qualify for a scholarship the choice to send the child to a special education program other than the one operated by the school district of residence to receive their education and the services outlined in the child's individualized education program (IEP). Any student who has been identified by their district as a child with autism and for whom the district has created an individualized education plan (IEP) qualifies for the Autism Scholarship program. The student must have a current IEP from the district of residence that is finalized and all parties, including the parent, must be in agreement with the IEP. A child is eligible to apply to participate in the program when the child turns three.