The Phillips Academy

POLICY/PROCEDURE TITLE: Admission Policy                                    

 

The purpose of this policy/procedure is to:

Objective: Describe the admission policy and procedures of the Middle/High School Program. 

 

 

The Phillips Academy Middle/High School Program provides for the educational and emotional needs of students from 11 to 21 years of age. Students served as those who have been identified through the IEP process as having any or all of the following: attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, specific learning differences, emotional disability (anxiety, depression, PTSD), mild intellectual disability, and autism..

 

Students with other special education qualifying conditions may be admitted if all members of the IEP team agree that The Phillips Academy’s range of programs and services offer the most appropriate placement for the student and The Phillips Academy’s teaching staff has the necessary credentials.  

 

Admission Policy: 

Referrals are accepted from any recognized public or private agency, or from any caregiver, or physician.  Students should have an IEP in order to be considered for placement. If they do not, psychoeducational and academic assessments must be provided. All  applicants are considered for admission regardless of race, sex, color, religious or fraternal affiliations, or national origin.

 

A student may be admitted to The Phillips Academy if the following requirements are met:

 

1. The student is physically manageable by current staff (TPA staff  do not engage in physical restraints or holds and is not equipped to support students’ with this level of need)

2. Staff and caregivers consider the school to be a good fit to address the needs of the student.

3. Caregivers read and accept all conditions stated in the Enrollment Contract.

4. *Tuition and means of payment are agreed upon. Placements are usually, but not exclusively,  district funded. 

 

Admission Procedure:

 

1. Contact by School District or Caregiver.

2. Conference held with Caregiver

3. Prospective student may be observed at present placement.

4. Prospective student visits The Phillips Academy and spends time in the designated classroom

5. The Executive Director and/or Principal confer with the family to evaluate the student's experience during the visit and the family’s assessment regarding the appropriateness of placement.

6. The Executive Director and/or Principal meet with staff, to determine appropriateness of placement.

1. The Executive Director and/or Principal contact the school district and/or the caregiver with an offer of placement if appropriate or provide an explanation for declining to offer placement.

8. The Caregiver completes the required forms.

9. The appropriateness of the student’s placement is further evaluated during a 30-day diagnostic period. 

10. An IEP will be scheduled within 30 days of the student’s placement to review the
          appropriateness of the placement.  

 

*TPA has historically only accepted students who have been referred to the non-public school through the district or who may attend through a settlement agreement.  The school is piloting a new policy in which we will begin considering a small number of private pay placements for students for whom a non-public school is deemed the most appropriate and least restrictive level of service and a district referral is not forthcoming.  TPA will follow best practices with private pay families to include a 30-day review, quarterly progress reports, annual IEPs to review and re-evaluate the appropriateness of placement, and the provision of a 20-day notice if TPA should, at any time, determine that they cannot meet the student’s needs or a less restrictive setting becomes more appropriate.