Digging into the Admissions Process:

Determining Best Fit

Once a school team has made the determination that a student’s IEP can only be implemented in a “private separate day school,” a referral packet is developed with the student’s assessments, IEP, and other relevant documents. The packet is received and initially reviewed by the Admissions Compliance Transition Specialist to ensure it has the necessary components. Next, the directors and a teacher review the documents. Once the team has deemed the student an appropriate fit on paper, the Admissions Specialist will coordinate an observation of the student in their current placement.

Following that observation, if the student still appears to be a good fit, our team will schedule a visit to Trellis for the student and family. During the visit, as the family tours the building and speaks with staff, the prospective student works with Trellis staff to explore our space and demonstrate their responsiveness to our methodology.

After a student visits, an admissions decision letter is drafted. Often, the proposed enrollment date for a student will be up to one month in the future from the drafting of the decision letter. This will give us sufficient time to hire and train staff for the new student.

Families who choose to privately place their child at Trellis must submit specific documentation to the Admissions Transition Compliance Specialist for the team to review. Suggested documents include:

• A current IEP

• Team meeting reports for the most recent IEP meetings

• An occupational therapy assessment

• A speech-language assessment

• An educational assessment

• A psychological assessment

• A functional behavioral assessment

• A behavior intervention plan (BIP)

• Any protocols or plans mentioned in the Supplementary Aids (e.g., if a student is on a toileting protocol or has a brushing or postural control protocol).

• Any assessment reports for other services (e.g., adaptive physical education, physical therapy, music therapy, etc.)

• Any doctor’s notes/reports related to any medical conditions a student may have (e.g., seizures, hearing or visual impairment)

• Immunization record

Following a record review, if the student is an appropriate fit and space exists in a classroom to meet the student’s needs, our Director of Education will contact your family with a contract and enrollment date.