Best Special Needs Schools in Olathe, Kansas (2026)

Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe is a state accredited, campus-based school for Kansas students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Olathe program serves preschool through age 21, and admission is decided jointly by the family, the local school district, and KSD through the IEP process. Instruction is bilingual in American Sign Language and English. Student Life offers weekday residential living for students who live too far to travel daily, with students going home on weekends. Outreach and the Sound START birth-to-three program support families and districts statewide. About 60 percent of students use amplification, including cochlear implants.

• State school
• Deaf
• Hard of hearing
• Deaf education

Summit Achievement Center in Olathe is a private special education school for students whose needs cannot be met in a less restrictive classroom. Placement is arranged only through a student's IEP team and local school district; the school does not take direct family enrollments. The Olathe campus opened in 2017 and is one of three Achievement Centers, with sibling sites in Kansas City, Missouri, and Blue Springs, Missouri. Programming is designed to help students return to their home districts. School hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• Private special education
• Behavioral support needs
• Needs not met in a less restrictive classroom
• IEP-team alternative placement