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Overview for Parents

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Program Overview

Signed into law on March 10, 2005, the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship is a state funded program that provides private school scholarships worth up to $6,442 to K-12 students with disabilities.

Report finds program a success

In January 2008, the Legislative Auditor General released an audit of the scholarship and found that the "Carson Smith Scholarship is meeting its program goals." The audit included surveys of current and past Carson Smith parents, 100% of whom felt that the program should continue. 89% of parents felt that their child's academic performance improved while at a Carson Smith school.

>Learn more about the report

>Read the full report

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Scholarship Amounts
If it is determined that your child would receive three or more hours of special education service per day in a public school, he or she qualifies for a Carson Smith Scholarship worth $6,442.50.

If your child would receive less than three hours of special education service per day, he or she qualifies for a Carson Smith Scholarship worth $3,865.50.

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Is my child eligible?
To be eligible for a Carson Smith Scholarship, a student must meet the following requirements:

  1. The student’s custodial parent or legal guardian must reside within Utah.
  1. The student must have one or more of the following disabilities:
    • Mental retardation
    • Hearing impairment
    • Speech or language impairment
    • Visual impairment
    • Serious emotional disturbance
    • Orthopedic impairment
    • Autism
    • Traumatic brain injury
    • Other health impairment
    • Specific learning disability
    • Development delay
  2.  
  3. The student must be school age.
  1. The student must meet ONE of the following two requirements:
    1. Be enrolled in a Utah public school in the 2007–08 school year, have a current IEP, and be admitted to an eligible private school,

    OR

    1. Be enrolled in or be admitted to an elgibile private school, and have an assessment team determine that the student would qualify to receive special education services if enrolled in a public school.

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How to Apply for the Scholarship

If your child is eligible to receive the scholarship, the next step is to submit a Parent Application.

Here's where you submit your Parent Application:

  1. If your child currently attends a public school, you must submit your Parent Application to the special education department of the school district or charter school where your student is currently enrolled.

OR

  1. If your student is not enrolled in a public school, submit the application to the Special Education Department of the school district in which the private school your student will be attending is geographically located.

>Print the Parent Application

>Get instructions on how to fill it out

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When to Apply for the Scholarship

Application Deadlines
Since the Carson Smith Scholarship is awarded quarterly, parents
may submit applications throughout the year. However, in order to receive the full scholarship amount, you must submit your application by July 1st!

The following timetable illustrates the application deadlines and the subsequent date that the first scholarship payment will be sent to your child’s school.

Table 1: Application Deadlines

If your application is submitted on or before this date...

Then your first scholarship payments will be received by...
And you will receive the following portion of the scholarship in the first year:
July 1st
September 1st
Full amount
September 1st
November 1st
3/4 amount
December 1st
February 1st
1/2 amount
February 15th
April 15th
1/4 amount

Explanation for using Table 1
If you applied for the scholarship by the first deadline (July 1st), then you would get the full scholarship amount starting at the beginning of the school year.  If you missed the first deadline but got your application in by September 1st, then you would receive 3/4 of the full scholarship amount with the first payment being sent to you by November 1st.

Scholarship Duration

Once awarded the Carson Smith Scholarship, a student will receive the scholarship for three years, provided that the student continues to meet eligibility requirements and continues to be enrolled in an eligible private school.

After three years, an assessment team, consisting of the student’s parents, classroom teacher, and special education personnel from the student’s private school and school district, will decide whether the student is still eligible for the scholarship. The assessment team may extend the scholarship in three-year increments until the student graduates from high school or turns 22, whichever comes first.

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Eligible Private Schools
Below is a list of 46 private schools that are eligible to receive Carson Smith scholarships in the 2008-09 school year.

>See each school's complete contact info

>Learn how schools can become eligible

If your preferred private school is not on this list, please contact that school’s administrators and encourage them to apply for Carson Smith eligibility. Schools can get info about becoming Carson Smith eligible here.  Applications for Private Schools (not parents or students) are due by May 1st of each year.

 

American Heritage School of South Jordan

South Jordan

K-12

801.254.3882

www.americanheritage-sj.org

American Heritage School of Spanish Fork

Spanish Fork

K-8

801.798.3444

www.american-heritage-sf.org

American Legacy Academy

American Fork

K-6

801.756.4020

www.americanlegacyacademy.org

Blessed Sacrament School

Sandy

K-8

801.572.5311

www.blessedsacschool.org

Cache Valley Learning Center

Logan

K-8

435.753.8811

www.cvlc-logan.org

Canyon School for the Arts

Orem

K-8

801.225.5065

www.canyonschoolforthearts.com

Caritas Academy of Classical Christian Education

K-12

Washington

435.986.1440

Carmen B. Pingree School Center for Autism

Salt Lake City

K-6

801.581.0194

www.carmenbpingree.com

Children's Christian School

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.971.5085

www.ccsutah.com

Christian Heritage School

Riverdale

K-12

801.393.4475

www.christianheritageschool.org

Clear Horizons Academy

Provo

K-5

801.437.0490

www.clearhorizonsacademy.org

The Colby School

Park City

K-7

435.655.3966

www.thecolbyschool.org

Dorius Academy

Layton

7-12

801.776.4532

Evergreen Montessori Academy

South Ogden

K-6

801.479.7799

www.evergreen-montessori.com

I. J. & Jeanne Wagner Jewish Community Center

Early Childhood Center

Salt Lake City

K

801.581.0098

www.slcjcc.org/11

Iqra Academy

*Students with a current ISP only

Salt Lake City

K-6

801.886.2310

J. E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.486.3197

www.cosgriff.org

Juan Diego Catholic High School

Draper

9-12

801.984.7650

www.skaggscatholiccenter.org

Judge Memorial Catholic High School

Salt Lake City

9-12

801.363.8895

www.judgememorial.com

Kearns-St Ann School

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.486.0741

www.ksaschool.org

Kid's World

Salt Lake City

K-12

801.243.4991

Layton Christian Academy

Layton

K-12

801.771.7141

www.lcaeagle.org

Liahona Preparatory Academy

Pleasant Grove

5-12

801.785.7850

www.liahonaeducation.com

Madeleine Choir School

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.323.9850

www.madeleinechoirschool.org

The McGillis School
Salt Lake City
1-8
801.583.0094
www.mcgillisschool.org

Montessori at Riverton

Riverton

K-8

801.253.4000

www.montessori-at-riverton.org

Montessori Learning Center

Lindon

K-8

801.796.7672

www.montessoriutah.com

New Horizons Academy

Brigham City

2-12

435.734.0551

Ogden Valley Montessori

Eden

K-6

801-391-1656

www.ovms.org

Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.364.5624

www.lourdesschool.org

Oxford Academy

Draper

K-12

801.501

www.oxfordlearningsource.com

Park City Academy

Park City

K-9

435-649-2791

www.parkcityacademy.org

Realms of Inquiry

Salt Lake City

K-12

801.467.5911

www.realmsofinquiry.org

Reid School

Salt Lake City

K-9

(New students, K-8)

801.466.4214

www.reidschool.com

St. Andrew Catholic School

Riverton

K-8

801.984.7500

www.standrewut.org

St. Francis Xavier Catholic School

Kearns

K-8

801.966.1571

www.stfrancisxavierschool.org

St. John the Baptist Elementary School

Draper

K-5

801.984.7108

www.sjbelementary.org

St. John the Baptist Middle School

Draper

6-8

801.984.7614

www.sjb-middle.org

St. Joseph Elementary School

Ogden

K-8

801.393.6051

www.stjosephutah.com

St. Joseph Catholic High School

Ogden

9-12

801.394.1515

www.stjosephutah.com

St. Marguerites Catholic School
Tooele
K-8
435.882.0081
www.utahcatholicschools.org

St. Olaf School

Bountiful

K-8

801.295.5341

www.stolafs.org

St. Sophia

Salt Lake City

K-6

801.424.1297

www.saintsophiaschool.us

St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School

Salt Lake City

K-8

801.277.6702

www.stvincents-school.org

Stillwater Academy
South Jordan
7-12
801.484.9911
www.turnaboutteens.org

Success Point LLC

Draper

2-8

801.545.8814

www.success-pointe.com

Wasatch Christian School
South Ogden
K-6
801.392.5784
www.wasatchchristian.org

 

 

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Contact Information for Help
If you have any questions, please contact us:

Laura Anderson

Parents for Choice in

Education Foundation

Email: laura@carsonsmithscholarship.org

124 South 400 East, Ste. 230
Salt Lake City, UT 84107

(801) 637-4111 - mobile
(801) 532-1448 - main office

(801) 433-1443 - fax

 

Travis Rawlings

Utah State Office of Education

250 East 500 South
PO Box 144200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200

(801) 538-7601

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Please do not send your Parent Application for the Carson Smith Scholarship to Parents for Choice in Education.  They should be sent to the special education department of the school district or charter school where your child attends school.  Click here for more details.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links

> Utah State Office of Education Carson Smith Webpage

> Program Overview

> Parent Application

> Application Instructions

 

Info for

Private School Administrators

Find out how your private school can become Carson

Smith Eligible

CLICK HERE

 

"There's not a

day that I walk through the

doors of his school without thanking God for school choice and the Carson Smith Scholarship.

My son is living proof of the difference it makes."

Kathy Gullikson

mother of a Carson Smith Scholarship student