Admissions Staff

The admissions process at Heartspring School takes time, patience and passion

Christie Lewallen and Cara Rapp

From the first phone call to a child’s enrollment day, Heartspring admissions staff guide families, school districts, social services agencies and others through the admissions process. Heartspring serves children ages 5-21 who have a variety of special needs and unique challenges. Many children come to Heartspring with developmental disabilities such as autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, mental retardation, speech and language impairments, visual impairments, deaf/hard of hearing, cerebral palsy, challenging behaviors and those with multiple disabilities.

The Heartspring admissions staff includes Cara Rapp, Director of Admissions and Christie Lewallen, Admissions Associate. They most often receive phone calls or email inquiries from families who are looking for a residential placement for their child. The admissions department is a family’s first point of contact and provides valuable information to them, such as information on local community resources, even if they live several states away. They also provide valuable assistance in understanding special education law.

Being helpful and informative is very important, but Heartspring staff goes beyond by genuinely caring. “We are (often) just a sounding board, someone they (the parents) call when in crisis and they don’t know where to turn,” says Rapp. “Parents need hope.” It is conversations like these, where the admissions staff provides ongoing support and assistance, making their job rewarding.

When parents first call Heartspring, they typically ask how they can be successful in getting their child enrolled. This is a difficult question to answer because it isn’t always an easy process. “I tell parents that ideally, both parties (the parents and the school district) agree to place the child outside of the district,” states Lewallen. This can mean a residential placement, such as Heartspring. “However,” Lewallen continues, “if one of the parties does not agree to this type of placement, it can be a lengthy process,” including gaining extensive documentation, meeting with attorneys, outside professionals and consultants, attending court proceedings, paying legal fees and more.

Rapp has worked with many families, assisting some in the admissions process for several years. “It depends on the circumstances,” Rapp says. “Sometimes I might work with a family for two weeks, from the first point of contact until enrollment day. Other times, I have worked with a family for over two years before they were successful in getting their child enrolled.”

“This can be an emotional rollercoaster for parents,” Rapp says. Parents often recognize that their child is not receiving a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) through their home school district. Therefore, their child is not progressing or improving. The services, therapies and programs are often not meeting the child’s individual needs. Potentially, the child can have severe aggression, often has no means to communicate and displays very little social skills. It’s at this point that many parents realize a residential placement is necessary for their child.

Most parents must be a strong advocate for their child. It becomes their mission to get their child placed residentially, often fighting every step of the way. However, once their child is placed successfully, guilt may replace the drive that the parents were used to. Parents may question if they did the right thing. But over time, these parents begin seeing progress in their child. They see that their child is cared for and is accomplishing what was never thought possible. All of these things ensure that their child has a better quality of life and is becoming more independent.

For Heartspring student Erol aggressive behaviors have decreased, for which his mother Sibel is grateful. Rapp remembers Erol when she toured the school where he previously attended. “I will never forget the first time I went and visited Erol. I saw this darling little boy. His smile was worth a thousand words, but he wanted to greet me by a head-butt or a kick in the shins. I felt that he had so much inside of him to offer, it was a matter of finding his voice.”

The success stories of each child drive the admissions staff to continue helping families and agencies who are looking to Heartspring for education and care. The progress that each child experiences after enrollment make the admissions process a true labor of love.