Challenger School - Holladay

The Carmen B. Pingree Autism Center of Learning in Salt Lake City is one of Utah's longest-established schools for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Pingree provides preschool, elementary, and secondary classrooms using evidence-based autism practices, and is part of Valley Behavioral Health's autism services continuum. Families also access parent training and sibling support resources connected to the Pingree program.

Challenger School has operated private campuses since 1963 and runs 27 locations across the West, including six in the Salt Lake City area. The Salt Lake campus sits at 1325 South Main Street with easy freeway access, safety gates, a security guard, and hours from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The campus offers preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school. Preschool programs mix music, reading, math, art, drama, social time, science, and physical activity. The kindergarten program balances play and structured learning, and elementary students are taught to think critically within a values-based curriculum. Admission requires a campus visit, an in-person interview and evaluation, and a placement test for kindergarten through eighth grade applicants. Children must be at least 2 years 9 months for preschool in Utah and toilet trained. Acceptance is not guaranteed, and class placement is based on scholastic expectations, student motivation, and comportment.

Elizabeth Academy runs its Primary School campus on Connor Street in the Millcreek area of Salt Lake City, serving children from 12 weeks old through 8th grade in multi-age Montessori classrooms. The school is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accredited by Cognia. Inclusion here is structured rather than incidental. Alongside typical and gifted students, the school enrolls a deliberate share of children with documented special needs, roughly 15 percent of the student body. Middle school runs as a combined 7th and 8th grade cohort with a 10 to 1 teacher ratio. Children who need more support can be added to one of two service tiers. Early Intervention covers infant, toddler, and early childhood students at $8,000 per year, and Integrated Services covers elementary and middle school students at $6,000 per year. In both, an educational team of parents, teachers, therapists, and administrators writes a Student Success Plan that sets the goals and the service areas. Speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and music therapy are delivered inside the classroom during the school day rather than by pulling a child out, and Integrated Services adds reading therapy, evidence-based academic intervention, and weekly social, emotional, and behavioral support. Therapists hold their sessions at the same time each week to keep the routine predictable. Base tuition for 2026-2027 ranges from $15,200 for a four half-day early childhood schedule to $23,000 for five full days in the infant and toddler program, with lower elementary at $16,000, upper elementary at $16,300, and middle school at $16,600. Kindergarten through 8th grade attend five full days. The school accepts the Carson Smith Scholarship, the Children's First scholarship, and Utah Fits All, and offers merit scholarships plus need-based assistance administered through FACTS. Admission begins with a campus tour, then an application, a family meeting with an administrator, and a $50 placement screening, with fuller developmental testing arranged when a broader picture of need is required. Fit is defined narrowly and openly. The program reports gains for students with milder learning disabilities such as ADHD and dyslexia, for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities including Down syndrome, and for students with high functioning autism. It is not recommended for children with moderate to severe autism, and the school cannot serve children with severe mental health, behavioral, or medical needs. Call (801) 281-4848 to reach the Primary School.