Scholar Academy

Scholar Academy is a tuition-free public charter school in Tooele serving kindergarten through eighth grade.

Its special education team works with students whose disabilities affect their ability to access and make progress in the general education curriculum. The school draws a hard line between special education and general academic help: special education is specially designed instruction provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, not tutoring or extra practice, and a student qualifies only by having a disability recognized under IDEA that impacts educational performance and requires specially designed instruction. Students who struggle without meeting that bar are supported through classroom interventions, small-group instruction, and other general education supports instead.

Parents who suspect a disability are directed to raise concerns with the classroom teacher first. Targeted support then runs through the school's MTSS process, where an MTSS or CMT team monitors progress data and decides whether to move to an evaluation for IDEA eligibility. The school does not issue medical or educational diagnoses, which must come from qualified healthcare professionals. A guide to how an IEP differs from a Section 504 plan, along with the Child Find notice, is available to families.