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Best Special Needs Schools in Villa Rica, Georgia (2026)

Compare 2 special needs schools in Villa Rica. Explore the ranked list and find a program that feels right for your child.

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School listings in Villa Rica

1

Ithica Elementary School

Listed
Villa Rica, GAGrades PreK-5Tuition-free

Our campus at Graben-Garrett Farm in Villa Rica, about 45 minutes west of Atlanta, serves more than 800 students from Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade. Ithica Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Villa Rica cluster of Carroll County Schools, with about 100 teachers and staff. Ithica holds National STEM school recognition and receives Title I funding. STEM shows up all week. Students rotate through a STEM Learning Lab exploratory, and we run robotics, a math team, Science Olympiad, family STEM nights, a library makerspace and gardening on campus. Gifted students are served through our Quest program. Children can also join more than 20 clubs and activities, including the Baby Bolts dance team, Road Runners, chess, chorus, art club, Girls Who Code, Jr. Master Gardeners, tennis, a student news crew and a Tome Reading Bowl team, and we offer an afterschool program. Our counselors teach problem solving with Kelso's Choices, lead small groups of up to six students, and take 3rd to 5th graders to visit local college campuses each year.

  • Public elementary school (PreK-5)
  • STEM
  • Gifted education
  • Public school
View details
2

Villa Rica Elementary School

Listed
Villa Rica, GAGrades PreK-5Tuition-free

Villa Rica Elementary School serves about 475 students from Pre-K through fifth grade in Villa Rica, a rural community about 45 minutes from metro Atlanta. We are one of four public elementary schools in the Villa Rica Cluster of Carroll County Schools and run a schoolwide Title I program, with 35 full-time teachers plus a counselor, a media specialist and an instructional coach. Each K-5 student has a Chromebook, every classroom has an interactive board, and Pre-K students work with tablets and Chromebooks daily. Our Wildcat Wonder Zone rewards students for meeting their goals and includes a sensory table. Instruction emphasizes literacy and math, and the school earned Carroll County Schools District STEM Certification in 2023. Students can join Junior Beta Club, Academic Team, Science Olympiad, STEM Club, Club Tome for readers, Road Runners, Purple Pearls, Art Club, Chorus and Honor Chorus, and Drama Club. Families also have access to our after school program, school meals, district bus transportation and the Wildcat Media Center.

  • Public elementary school (Pre-K to 5)
  • STEM
  • 1:1 Chromebooks
  • Public school
View details

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Planning guides

Plan your next school conversation in Villa Rica

Use these guides before you contact programs, schedule tours, or ask your IEP team how a proposed setting will support your child's goals.

Georgia Special Needs Scholarship guide

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How to choose a special needs school

Prepare school-tour questions, compare supports and family communication, and record what each program can show you.

IEP process guide

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Comparing school options in Villa Rica

Villa Rica Elementary on Peachtree Street and Ithica Elementary on Whitworth Road, the two schools on this page, both belong to Carroll County Schools. Most of the city sits in Carroll County, but part of Villa Rica crosses into Douglas County, so your street address decides which school system writes your child's IEP.

Below are the special education numbers for both schools, how Carroll County's free PALS preschool works, how to ask for an evaluation, and which Georgia scholarships a Villa Rica family can use for private school.

Local resources checked .

Frequently Asked Questions About Special Needs Schools in Villa Rica

Do Villa Rica public schools serve autistic students?
Yes. Neither Villa Rica Elementary nor Ithica Elementary is an autism school, but both serve students with IEPs, and autistic children here usually receive specialized instruction, speech and social skills support through Carroll County Schools' exceptional children's services. If your child needs a more structured classroom than the neighborhood school offers, the IEP team, which includes you, decides where those services happen.
How many students at Villa Rica Elementary and Ithica Elementary have IEPs?
Federal civil rights data for 2021-22 shows Villa Rica Elementary with 56 students on IEPs and 4 on 504 plans out of 373, and Ithica Elementary with 93 on IEPs and 5 on 504 plans out of 780. In 2023-24 federal data, Villa Rica Elementary enrolled 475 students at about 13.6 per teacher, and Ithica 781 at about 14.5. Ask each principal how resource and inclusion classes are staffed.
Which school system serves my Villa Rica address?
Douglas County's own financial report describes Villa Rica as a city located mainly in Carroll County, with a portion inside Douglas County. Families on the Carroll side register with Carroll County Schools, whose board office is on Independence Drive in Carrollton. If you live on the Douglas side, Douglas County's school system handles enrollment and special education. Check your address before you send an evaluation request.
Is there a free special needs preschool in Villa Rica?
Carroll County Schools runs Preschool Assessment and Learning Services (PALS), a program for children ages 3 to 5 with disabilities or delays in cognition, speech and language, motor, social or adaptive skills, vision or hearing. PALS is free for children who live in the Carroll County School System attendance area. Parents, teachers, day cares, doctors and Babies Can't Wait can all refer, and services can happen in a local preschool, Head Start, day care or a special education classroom.
How do I request a special education evaluation in Carroll County?
Write to your child's principal asking for an evaluation and keep a dated copy. Georgia's rule gives the district 60 calendar days from the day it receives your signed consent to finish the initial evaluation. Breaks of five or more consecutive school days do not count, and summer is excluded while most teachers are off contract, so a spring request can carry into the fall.
Can a Villa Rica child with dyslexia or ADHD get help at school?
Yes. A Carroll County evaluation can find a child with dyslexia eligible under specific learning disability, or a child with ADHD under other health impairment, when the child needs specialized instruction. Students who only need accommodations, such as extra time or a seat near the teacher, usually get a Section 504 plan. In Georgia, a 504 plan for ADHD or dyslexia that was in place the prior school year can also count toward the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship.
Can a Villa Rica family get state money for private school?
Possibly, from either of two state programs. If your child had an IEP, or a 504 plan for a listed condition, while attending a Georgia public school last year, look up the Special Needs Scholarship award letter in GaDOE's online Scholarship Calculator, then choose a private school on the state's participating list. The separate Promise Scholarship, worth up to $6,500 in 2026-27, depends on whether your address is zoned to a school on the state's lowest-performing 25% list. GOSA's 2026-27 list includes Villa Rica Middle but not Villa Rica Elementary or Ithica Elementary.
What should I ask on a Villa Rica school visit?
Ask how many students with IEPs each special education teacher serves and how much of the day they spend in general education classes. Ask who provides speech and occupational therapy and how often. At a large school like Ithica, with roughly 780 students, ask how staff help a child with car rider lines, lunch and recess. At any private school, ask whether it participates in the Special Needs Scholarship.

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