Special Education

The purpose of Child Find is to identify, locate, and evaluate children from birth to 21 years of age with known or suspected disabilities.  Child Find is a free referral service available through local education agencies and Education Service Center (Region XI) designed to determine whether a need for special education and related services exists as a result of those disabilities.

Children learn at different rates, but some children have significant difficulty in one or more areas of development.  We are here to help you access services to meet the unique learning needs of your child. If you are concerned your child may be learning differently from others, please call our office at 817-987-1819.

Arlington Classics Academy is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of all students with disabilities in the least restrictive learning environment that is appropriate. The Arlington Classics Academy special education department follows all federal, state, and local regulations. 

To qualify for special education services and supports, students must go through a referral and evaluation process in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and have a disability such as the following:

• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Intellectual Disability
• Specific Learning Disability
• Autism
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Emotional Disability
• Deaf/Blind
• Other Health Impairment
• Visual Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Speech/Language Impairment
• Non-Categorical Early Childhood/Developmental Delay
• Multiple Disabilities

Special education is offered at no cost to parents to meet the needs of a child with a disability.

The instruction offered through special education has been changed in content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of a child that will result from that child's disability and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.

Special Education

• Federal and state law requires children with disabilities have available to them a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living
• Special Education means specially designed instruction to meet the individual needs of a child as a result of his or her disability
• Related services are special services needed to support students’ special education services so they can make progress to meet their academic and functional goals.  Services may include occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling services, orientation and mobility services, and/or transportation services

Specially Designed Instruction

Specially designed instruction (SDI) means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of a child that results from the child’s disability and to ensure access of the child to the general education curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards adopted by the State.

Referrals may be initiated by (but not limited to):

• Parent or Legal Guardian
• School Personnel
• Preschool Teachers/Directors
• Physicians
• Outside agencies/therapist/ECI

Students receiving services through ECI will be transitioned into the public school system starting as early as 120 days prior to their third birthday.

To make a Child Find referral, please call our office at 817-987-1819. Parent involvement and agreement is obtained prior to any assessment. Information is confidential and the privacy of the child and parent is protected.

Based on the results of the evaluation, placement decisions will be determined. Placement options could include instruction and therapy services in a special education classroom, instruction in a general education classroom with special education support, or speech therapy services.

Arlington Classics Academy provides a continuum of services for students who are eligible for special education. Services are designed for the successful implementation of each student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) in the least restrictive environment. The IEP outlines the specially designed instruction a student with disabilities receives as a result of his/her disability.  

Speech

Speech Language Pathologists are available to provide therapy to eligible students for voice, fluency, articulation, language, and pragmatic deficits.  This service may be provided to students in conjunction with additional special education services or in isolation. 

Instructional Resource (pull-out services)

Special education personnel provide direct instruction, driven by the student’s IEP, in the special education classroom.  Students are working on accessing and making progress in the enrolled grade level curriculum.

Inclusion Support

In this setting, special education personnel and general education teachers share responsibilities in teaching students with IEPs in the general education classroom.

Homebound Services

Homebound services are for students who are confined to home or hospital for 4 or more school weeks.  A licensed physician must document the medical reason on the appropriate forms.  The ARD committee determines the amount of instructional time provided. This is one of the most restrictive environments in which services can be provided. 

Services are available to special education students based on certain criteria per TEA. Please note that homebound services are not appropriate for students who are struggling in the traditional school environment and do not have a confining medical condition. Additional information is available at each campus:

For special education students, contact your campus administrator.

For further questions concerning eligibility and procedures, you may contact the Special Education Coordinator, Regina Davis, via email at regina.davis@acaedu.net or at 817-987-1819.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
            ~Adopted by the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002

Arlington Classics Academy dyslexia program is designed to provide a short-term, intensive reading intervention for struggling readers who qualify for services in accordance with the TEA guidelines as per the 2024 update to the Dyslexia Handbook.  Services are offered to qualifying students in grades K-8. Students are instructed using systematic, sequential, multi-sensory instruction in a small group setting. The goal of these services is to provide students with the tools needed to access the general education curriculum.

For further information, please visit the ACA Dyslexia Services page. 

Transition planning is helping students with disabilities and their families think about their lives after high school. Planning also helps identify long-range goals and designing the high school experience to ensure that students gain the skills and connections they need to achieve these goals.

The Texas Transition and Employment Guide provides youth, young adults, parents and professionals with secondary transition resources to facilitate a young person’s progress towards post-secondary goals to education, employment, and community living. This guide will continually be updated. 

Transition and Employment Guide

The Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Process is a web-based template that summarizes state and federal requirements for special education by topic. Schools may use the Legal Framework as a reference in managing the special education system's procedures and records to ensure accountability that each student is provided the benefits of a free appropriate public education and that relevant special education data is accessible and used in managing system change for continuous student performance and program improvement. 

For more information, please visit the Region 18 Education Service Center website.

El marco jurídico para el proceso Niño-Centrado es una plantilla en un formato electrónico que resuma los requisitos estatales y federales para la educación especial por asunto. Las escuelas pueden utilizar el marco jurídico como referencia en los procedimientos especiales y los expedientes del sistema educativo de manejo para asegurarse que proporcionan a cada estudiante las ventajas de una educación pública apropiada, libre y que los datos relevantes a la educación especial son accesibles y utilizados en el cambio de sistema de manejo para el funcionamiento del estudiante y la mejoria continua del programa. 

Para mas informacion, favor de visitar la pagina de web del Centro de Servicio de la Region 18. 

Records Request

• All Parent requests, please email your request to blanca.aguilar@acaedu.net
• All Texas public school requests must be submitted in TREx
• Any Texas institution that does not have access to TREx, please email your request to blanca.aguilar@acaedu.net
• Any out-of-state requests, please email your request to blanca.aguilar@acaedu.net 

Location of Special Education Records Office

Academic Services
2912 W. Arkansas Lane ♦ Arlington, TX 76016

Special Education Records Public Notice: Destruction of Special Education Records

In accordance with Federal and State regulations, Arlington Classics Academy is giving notice of intent to destroy the special education records of students who graduated and/or ended services SEVEN YEARS PRIOR TO THIS CURRENT YEAR.

With proof of identity, the parent, guardian, or adult student may request student files between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the  Special Education Office. These records may be needed for social security benefit applications or other purposes.

1. Seven year old special education files not requested by NOVEMBER, will be DESTROYED in DECEMBER of each year.
2. A notice will be published in the local newspaper in October of each year, making a PUBLIC NOTICE of this procedure. 
3. ACA has 10 business days to release records after the request has been submitted and/or the consent for records has been signed.

TEA Special Education in Texas

Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism

ARC of Northeast Tarrant County

Region XI

Texas Behavior Support Initiative

Texas Project First Site for Parent

TEA Special Education Resources (Recursos de educación especial)

Notice to Families Regarding Special Education Updates (SB 139)

Aviso a las familias sobre las actualizaciones de educación especial (SB139)

Compensatory Services Information

Información de servicios compensatorios

Special Education Information Center (SPEDTex)

The Special Education Information Center (SPEDTex) provides resources and interactive features for increasing family awareness of disabilities and special education processes, with the goal of improving partnerships between schools and families.

Contact information:
Phone: 1-855-773-3839

Email: inquire@spedtex.org                    Live Chat: www.spedtex.org