Student Services

Who can refer a child for consideration for evaluation under Section 504?

Anyone can refer a child for evaluation under Section 504. However, while anyone can make a referral, such as parents or a doctor, OCR has stated in a staff memorandum that “the school district must also have reason to believe that the child is in need of services under Section 504 due to a disability” (OCR Memorandum, April 29, 1993). Therefore, a school district does not have to refer or evaluate a child under Section 504 solely upon parental demand. The key to a referral is whether the school district staff suspects that the child is suffering from a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits a major life activity and is in need of either regular education with supplementary services or special education and related services [letter to Mentink, 19 IDELR 1127 (OCR) 1993]. If a parent requests a referral for evaluation, and the school district refuses, the school district must provide the parent with notice of their procedural rights under Section 504. 

What is Dyslexia?

"Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in learning to read. Dyslexia takes away an individual’s ability to read quickly and automatically, and to retrieve spoken words easily, but it does not dampen one’s creativity and ingenuity." (http://dyslexia.yale.edu/)

Parent Referrals

LISA Academy offers Dyslexia services for all students who qualify to help them learn to their highest potential. 

LISA Academy utilizes Connections: OG in 3D from The Apple Group for Dyslexia services.

CONNECTIONS: OG in 3D® follows the principles and content of a multisensory structured language approach.  CONNECTIONS stands apart from other O-G programs because it incorporates phonemic objects.  By holding the objects, which represent the sound he is learning, the student can actually "feel" the sound, helping him/her make more connections to the brain for remembering the sound.  In addition to visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic teaching.  CONNECTIONS also incorporates teaching sounds by smell and taste, senses that are often overlooked in multisensory programs. This program teaches principles of Phonology, sound-symbol association, morphology, syntax, and semantics through multisensory language instruction (using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile learning pathways) to enhance memory and learning. Click here to learn more about the Apple Group for Dyslexia and its services

more resources regarding Dyslexia

McKinney-Vento Program

The McKinney-Vento program is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school.  Under this program, Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youth. Homeless students may not be separated from the mainstream school environment.  States and districts are required to review and undertake steps to revise laws, regulations, practices, or policies that may act as a barrier to the enrollment, attendance, or success in school of homeless children and youth.   The program is authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 USC 11431 et seq.), (McKinney-Vento Act).  The program was originally authorized in 1987 and, most recently, reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The McKinney-Vento Act defines “homeless children and youth” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The term includes:

•  Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up); living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; living in emergency or transitional shelters; abandoned in hospitals; or awaiting foster care placement
•  Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
•  Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings
•  Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above

LISA Academy offers support to homeless children and youth by providing a District Liaison. This liaison serves families throughout the district with the following:

• help enroll your children in school
• provide school supplies (as needed)
• provide basic hygiene items
• help with school clothes (as available)
• pay extracurricular and other school fees
• help with housing & employment searches
• provide referrals to other community services

Referral For Transitional Housing

Please contact our McKinney-Vento district liaison with any questions:

Heather Simmons
McKinney Vento Liaison

LISA Academy Public Charter Schools
10825 Financial Centre Parkway, Suite 360
Little Rock, AR  72211

Email: hsimmons@lisaacademy.org
Phone#: (501) 916-9450
Fax#: (501) 916-9523

Please click here to learn more about LISA Academy's English Language Learner program. 

LISA Academy offers a wide range of mental health services to students across our campuses. Please click here to view our District's Comprehensive School Counseling Plan.