Best Special Needs Schools in Placentia, California (2026)

George Key School serves students in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District who have complex medical needs and other significant challenges. Two mottos guide our classrooms: "All Students Can Learn" and "Presume Competence." Our curriculum gives students exposure to grade-level academics with a heavy focus on communication, independence, and life skills. Students learn to read with Readtopia, an evidence-based literacy program that uses classic literature and current events, with readers matched to each student's instructional level. Throughout the day, staff teach language through augmentative and alternative communication systems. As written in their IEPs, students receive speech therapy, occupational therapy, and adapted physical education, along with gross and fine motor activities. We also run an adult transition program. Campus life includes a sensory garden with flowers planted at wheelchair height, an annual Jog-a-Thon in April, a Halloween haunted house organized with our Parent Student Staff Organization, and a holiday party hosted by the Yorba Linda Rotary club.

• Public special education school
• Complex medical needs
• AAC communication instruction
• Readtopia literacy curriculum