Waiting List Process
In keeping with Ohio law, once the list of applications to Autism Model Community School (AMS) exceeds maximum capacity, students are placed on a waiting list and admitted by lot.
Once your student has gone through a lottery process, they are assigned a number on the waiting list. A school representative will then contact you to schedule a student intake.
At the intake you’ll meet some of our staff and tour our campus.
At the same time, two special education teachers will assess your student to ensure the best placement at our school once an opening becomes available.
Staying Up to Date
As students learn and grow, their goals and accommodations change. For this reason, it’s important to keep your student’s info up to date.
This includes…
- Current IEP
- Current ETR (note: if an ETR expires a student will no longer be eligible for special needs services in Ohio)
- Contact Information
It’s very important to let AMS know when any of your contact information changes.
This will ensure we are able to contact you with questions we may have about your student’s application, to schedule an intake, and when an opening becomes available at our school.
3 Attempts to Contact
If the school is unable to make contact with you in regards to your student application after three, documented attempts, your student will be removed from the waiting list.
(Unfortunately, this situation has happened before.)
Student Classroom Placement
Some things we consider for proper placement of your student are…
- ETR Eligibility Determination
- Current IEP goals and provided services
- Current age
- Current performance levels in Reading, Math and Writing
- If your student has a Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports Plan (PBIS)
- If your student is verbal or nonverbal
Waiting List Timeline
Due to the nature of our student population and the age range of individuals we serve (5-21), it is not possible to tell how quickly the waiting list will move.
Factors affecting the waiting list and classroom availability occur when…
- AMS moves currently enrolled students into a classroom opening if the educational team determines this move will benefit the current student.
- Waiting list students are considered for placement after current student movements take place.
- Per Ohio law, if a sibling of a student has an application submitted, they will be moved to the top of the waiting list.
- Parents/Guardians move out of our service area
- Current students return to a traditional public school
- Students age out of service (age 22)
- Students graduate from AMS
- Parents remove their student from the waiting list
FAQs
I have not heard from the school for a while, is my student still on the waiting list?
Your student will remain on our waiting list indefinitely unless…
- You ask to have your student removed from the list, or
- AMS has no way of contacting you in regards to your student application
How often do you do a waiting list lottery?
Lotteries are done once the number of applicants on the waiting list exceeds 10 or more or when AMS has received 10 or more applications since the previous lottery.
If I am not ready to enroll my student, will I be taken off the waiting list?
If you are offered a placement at AMS and you, or your student, are not ready to enroll yet, you may request to be put on to the bottom of the waiting list. Your application will be revisited at a later date.
If my student is offered a placement at Autism Model Community School how long do I have to decide?
AMS’s policy is to allow parents three days to decide if they would like to accept placement at our school. If a decision is not communicated to the school during that time we will have to move to the next student on the waiting list.
I came in for an intake—does that mean my student will be offered placement soon?
No, it does not. Intakes are done throughout the year to determine the best placement of your student once an opening becomes available at our school and for parents/guardians to have a better understanding of our facilities and the services we provide for students.