Before you start searching
Two things make the search dramatically shorter, and most families do neither of them first.
- Have the evaluation in hand. A current evaluation lets a school tell you honestly whether they serve this profile, instead of both of you guessing through a tour.
- Decide what you are solving for. Decoding intervention, a mixed profile, an emotional reset, or a specific grade span. These lead to different schools, and a list built without deciding is a list of everything.
If you do not yet have an evaluation, the evaluation process covers how to get one and what it should contain.
Where to look
Association of Learning Disabled Schools
ALDS accredits schools serving students with learning differences. Its member list is a filtered starting point rather than an open search, which is exactly what you want.
International Dyslexia Association branches
Branches keep regional lists of schools and providers, and branch contacts can usually tell you which schools currently have space.
Regional Education Service Centers
Texas is divided into regional service centers that support districts on dyslexia. They are a useful call for understanding what is available locally, including inside public districts.
Local dyslexia parent groups
The most candid information you will get about any school comes from families two years ahead of you. Ask what they wish they had known before enrolling.
Your own public district
Some districts have strong programs and employ certified therapists. Rule it in or out on evidence rather than reputation.
Filtering the list before you tour
Touring is expensive in time. A fifteen minute phone call can remove half a list.
- Ask which structured literacy program they use. If nobody can name one, you are done.
- Ask about faculty credentials. How many hold a CALT, LDT or LDP, and who would teach your child.
- Ask the grade span. A school your child ages out of in two years is a different decision.
- Ask about the admissions profile. Some schools will not serve certain co-occurring needs. Better to hear it now.
- Ask about tuition and aid in the same call. Both numbers, together, or the answer is not useful.
- Ask about openings. A school with no seat in your grade is next year at the earliest.
What to look for in a school covers the tour itself in detail.
Comparing schools honestly
After three or four tours the schools blur together and the decision drifts toward whichever one felt warmest. Write things down, and compare on the same axes.
| Compare on | What a strong answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Program | A named structured literacy curriculum, daily or near daily |
| Who delivers it | A named person with a verifiable credential |
| Group size | Small enough for direct instruction, stated as a number |
| Progress data | Named measures on a stated interval, shared with parents |
| Other teachers | Trained in how these students read and write |
| Outcomes | They can describe where students go next, specifically |
| Total cost | Tuition, fees and any required outside therapy, together |
If nothing is close enough
Most families do not live near a specialized school, and for most students that is not the end of the plan.
- Combine public school with private therapy. This is the most common arrangement in the country and it works when both pieces are real.
- Advocate harder within the district. An evaluation, a written plan and documented progress data change what a district provides.
- Consider a general independent school with strong support and outside therapy alongside it.
- Look at homeschooling with a trained provider. Homeschooling a child with dyslexia covers what that requires.
- Revisit the question yearly. Schools open, programs change and your child changes. A no this year is not a no forever.
Where this information comes from
This page draws on the organizations below alongside the clinical experience of the therapists who teach at Key School. Where the sources disagree, or where a policy is still changing, we say so in the text instead of picking an answer for you.
- Program accreditation standards for schools serving students with dyslexia Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators
- Accreditation of private schools in Texas Texas Private School Accreditation Commission
- The Dyslexia Handbook, on district obligations and placement Texas Education Agency
- Branch directory and school referral guidance International Dyslexia Association
