Heartspring School Admissions
Our therapeutic residential program & day school for autism, intellectual disabilities, and other neurodevelopmental disorders helps children gain independence.
Is Our School the Right Fit?
Students We Serve
Ages
- 5-22 with current openings for students 7-18
Diagnoses and Conditions
- Students must have a primary neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis. Most often this includes:
- autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or
- intellectual disability
- developmental disability
- We accept students with mild to moderate, non-life-threatening medical conditions such as food/environmental allergies, seizure disorder (with protocols in place and no loss of breathing), and gastro-intestinal conditions. Minor cardiovascular complications, diabetes, and asthma will also be considered.
- We specialize in helping students with communication challenges who may communicate verbally or with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), including devices and communication books.
Behaviors
- The Heartspring Therapeutic School serves students with challenging, aggressive, or self-injurious behaviors (exceeding the resources available to the student locally)
When Heartspring Isn't the Right Fit
Diagnoses and Conditions
- Students without a neurodevelopmental disorder
- Students with a primary diagnosis of a psychiatric condition such as schizophrenia, or a conduct, personality, or bipolar disorder (without a co-occurring diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder)
- Medically fragile students (G-tubes, CPAPs, ventilators, tracheostomies, or are unable to independently navigate their environment)
- Students who have ever experienced auditory or visual hallucinations
Behaviors
- Students with behaviors such as:
- Cutting, or suicidal and homicidal attempts and/or ideations
- A history of using weapons, fire-setting, and/or cruelty to animals
- Pre-planning violent behavior and/or specifically targeting peers/staff
- Sexually deviant/aggressive behaviors
- Substance use/abuse
How is the Heartspring program funded?
School District
Many students who attend Heartspring are placed through the students’ IEP teams and funded by their local school district.
Insurance
Some students qualify for funding through government or private insurance.
Child Welfare/Government Agency
Students may have multiple agencies assisting in their placement and funding and have a case worker guiding the family/guardians through the process.
Private Pay
Some families pay privately with personal resources.
Start Your Heartspring School Admissions Journey
Step 1
Inquiry
The inquiry stage allows families and other agencies to learn about our program, gather information, and start discussions with our Admissions team. This step also helps determine if we’re the right program for your child.
Step 2
Application Review
The application phase allows our Admissions and School Leadership teams to review your child’s educational, behavioral/psychological, and medical history to determine if they’d be an appropriate fit for our school. We request virtual observations or videos of students so their behavior can be clinically reviewed by our staff.
Families, funding agencies, and school districts work together through this process alongside our staff to gather records and provide additional information for our evaluation. This is also where we’ll confirm your child’s funding source(s) for our program.
Step 3
Enrollment
Enrollment offers are based on a best-fit model, and not a first-come, first-serve basis. This means we factor available openings in the classroom and group home, age of the student, and the best available fit according to the child’s strengths, needs, and IEP goals. When the Heartspring Therapeutic School has availability and confirmed a child’s acceptance and funding to our program, families and agencies will receive an enrollment date offer via email.
If an opening is not immediately available, students with confirmed funding will be added to our waiting list. It is important to stay in regular contact with our Admissions team while on the waiting list.
Licensing & Accreditation
Heartspring is accredited by the Kansas State Department of Education, the Kansas Department for Children and Families and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitors Program (SEVP).
Heartspring is certified/accredited by various state departments/agencies to serve students from multiple states, in addition to international students. For a complete list of accreditations, please contact the Admissions Department.
Special Education Resources for Parents
To further explore your child’s educational rights, you can visit one or more of the following websites for additional information and resources. You may also want to visit your state’s Department of Education website to find specific regulations that may apply.
- Association of Directors of Development, Admissions, and Marketing (ADDAM) Student Inquiry Tool
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- National Center for Learning Disabilities
- Special Education and Advocacy
- Wrights Law
Heartspring is not affiliated with, nor makes any guarantee or endorsement, for these companies/organizations.
Our Admissions Team
Cara Rapp
Director of Admissions & Student Outreach
Brooke Ford
Admissions Case Manager