The application form can be completed on the school’s website during the open application period. Submission of an application does not guarantee admission of any student nor does it bind the Guardian to enroll the student. This application is required during the open application period to enable the student to be included in the lottery. Only students that are determined to be exempt from the lottery due to Enrollment Preference will be able to complete the registration process during the open application period.

As provided for in the Federal lottery requirements, students of founding board members, students of teachers, and siblings of students currently enrolled or selected in the lottery will be given enrollment preference. These students will be exempt from the lottery. 

Founder/Teacher/Board Member Preference List: The children of founding board members and/or the children of teachers who were not exempt from the lottery process, and who were also not accepted in the lottery, will be placed on a Founder/Teacher Preference List. These students will be given the first opportunity to enroll if space becomes available. As with the regular lottery process, students on this list with the lowest lottery number will be placed first.

Sibling Preference List: Siblings of students accepted in the lottery for whom space was not available during the initial lottery will be placed on a Sibling Preference List. These students will be made an offer of enrollment if/when space becomes available, after students on the Founder/Teacher Preference List. As with the regular lottery process, students on this list with the lowest lottery number will be placed first.

Priority List: Other students who were in the lottery but were not accepted will be placed on a Priority List. If a space becomes available, and there are no students from the Founder/Teacher Preference List or the Sibling Preference List who accept an offer of enrollment, the space will be offered to the student on the Priority List with the lowest lottery number.

As required by the Federal Charter School Program, Spectrum Academy will conduct a lottery if applications received during the open application period exceed the number of spaces available in the school. Guardians must complete their student’s (s) open application within the specified open application period to have their student included in the lottery. 

The date, time, and location of the Lottery will be publicized on the Spectrum Academy website. Guardians are not required to attend the lottery but are welcome to attend. The lottery will be conducted by a school administrator and will be attended by a founding board member and one outside observer, as is required by the lottery regulations. 

Lottery Policy

All students who applied for the lottery during the application period, and who are eligible to enroll will be included in the lottery drawing. Guardians will be notified of their student’s (s) selection in the lottery by an emailed offer of enrollment no later than two (2) business days after the lottery is conducted. The Guardian must notify the school of their acceptance within the timeline specified in the letter. See the sections on Notification of Acceptance of Offer of Enrollment and Completing the Registration Process for important information about deadlines and instructions on accepting an offer of enrollment and completing the registration process.

Lottery-eligible students who were not selected in the lottery are notified within 2 business days of their status by email. Students who were not selected are added to one of three waiting lists for priority in enrolling once a space is available. The students may still be able to enroll as space becomes available.

When a space becomes available for a student, the Guardian will receive an offer of enrollment. The Guardian will have 3 days to respond with their acceptance of this offer. The Guardian may respond via email to accept the offer of enrollment. If a Guardian cannot be contacted or is non-responsive to an offer within the designated time period, the available space may be offered to another waiting student. It is the Guardian’s responsibility to keep the school well informed of any changes to their contact information. Response deadlines are calculated from the first attempted contact.

Guardians who accept admission are provided with access to complete the registration process as well as a firm deadline for submission of all registration materials. If the designated registration deadline is not met, the available space may be forfeited and offered to another waiting student. Students who forfeit the enrollment slot will be able to enroll once added to the Priority List and as space is made available.

Transferring Between Campuses

Policy for Student Transfer Within the Local Education Agency 1. Students selected for enrollment in the Lottery must enroll in the school and grade in which they are offered placement. If a student is drawn for enrollment at both locations within the LEA, they may enroll in the location of their choice. 2. Student transfers within the LEA are not permitted during the first year of enrollment at Spectrum Academy. 3. Transfer requests must be made to the school in which the student is currently enrolled. This can be done by contacting the front office. 4. Transfer requests must be approved by the administration. 5. Transfers are dependent on space available in the desired school and grade. 6. School officials will communicate with each other regarding the transfer request. Families will be notified if the request is approved by the school. Any family or person seeking to circumvent the process by attempting to “trade” spots with another student, contacting the desired school directly, attempting enrollment by failing to disclose existing enrollment at a Spectrum Academy school, or any other method contrary to this policy will automatically have their request for transfer denied and could lose placement at all schools within the LEA. 7. If a student transfers within the LEA they do so with the understanding that their place at the original school will be filled by another student on the waiting list. 8. Once transferred, no other transfer within the LEA request will be approved during that school year.
 

Transferring To/From Another District

Students currently attending a school in their district of residence who wish to enroll at Spectrum Academy must enter the lottery before the lottery date (usually in February of each year) to be considered for enrollment for the next school year.  Please see our lottery policy for details on this process.

Students currently attending Spectrum Academy who wish to unenroll and return to their district of residence or other school must first get verification from their district school that they have a vacancy and agree to the enrollment (if the school year has already started).  Once approval is received, parents need to fill out a withdrawal form, which can be obtained in the office of each school.  If the reason for withdrawal is to homeschool, Spectrum Academy must send notice of this to the district of residence.

Application – A form completed by the caretaker (parent/legal guardian) to enable the student to be in the lottery.  The application form can be completed on the school’s website during the open application period or by calling the school at 888-410-6502. The caretaker is required to provide the following information on the application: student name, requested grade in school, date of birth, mailing address, names of siblings applying for or already attending this school, parent/guardian (caretaker) name, telephone number, and email address.

Applicant – During the application period, students who make an application to be in the lottery.

Accepted Students – Students selected in the lottery.

Enrollment – This is the first day a student is in school. It is not the day on which the student applies to the lottery, nor is it the day when the student is selected in the lottery.

Enrolled Student – A student who receives and accepts an offer of enrollment and completes all enrollment tasks by the designated deadline.

Exempt Students – As allowed for in the Federal Charter School Program guidelines, children of founding board members and teachers (as defined) may be exempt from the lottery. Per Federal lottery guidelines, exempted children of founding board members and teachers may not make up more than 5% of the total enrolled students. 

Final Grade Placement – The grade requested for an applicant and the final grade placement once the student is enrolled may be different based on the review of report cards/transcripts and/or placement tests. 

Founding Board Members – This group is limited to only those on the list submitted to the state.

Preference Lists – Groups of students who will be given enrollment preference in the lottery.  Students on  these lists may include siblings of enrolled students, siblings of students enrolled in the previous year, children of founding board members, and children of teachers.    

1. Founder/Teacher Preference List – This list is comprised of children of founding board members and/or teachers (as defined) who were not exempt from the lottery  and not accepted in the lottery, but who submitted an application prior to the application deadline. These students are given first preference to enroll if/when a space in their grade becomes available. 

2. Sibling Preference List – Applicants who were in the lottery, who were not accepted, but whose sibling was accepted and completed the enrollment tasks by the deadline, and enrolled, will be offered a space in the school based on availability in their grade and on their lottery number. For example:  Five students are selected in the lottery.  Each of these students has a sibling who wants a 3rd grade space. However, only one 3rd grade space becomes available. The sibling in 3rd grade with the lowest lottery number would get the space. The other students will remain on the Sibling Preference List and will be placed as above if additional space become available. Students on the Sibling Preference List will be given priority to enroll after students on the Founder/Teacher Preference List.

3. Priority Students – Students who were in the lottery but whose number was too high for them to be offered a space in the school. These students are given third priority to enroll, after Founder/Teacher Preference List students and Sibling Preference List students. 

Registration Package – Enrollment package provided by the school to students accepted in the lottery.

Resident – A student is defined as a “resident” if, at the time of application, the student currently resides in Utah, or is a member of a military family living outside the state that claims Utah as its state of residence.

Sibling – A sibling of an accepted student who has been selected in the lottery.  Note that a sibling who is not selected in the lottery, but who wishes to be placed on the Preferred List as a sibling to an accepted student, must have made an application to the lottery by the application deadline.

Teacher – Certified to teach in Utah and has a teaching assignment with the school. 

In 2006, a group of parents frustrated with the educational opportunities available for students with autism, took it upon themselves to ensure the academic success of their children. Spectrum Academy opened with 150 students in North Salt Lake. Now there are campuses in North Salt Lake and Pleasant Grove serving over 1500 students from across the Wasatch Front. 

So many things! The short answer is smaller class sizes, differentiated instruction, in-house Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Behavior Specialists, and Mental Health staff. There is a Teacher and Paraprofessional in every classroom. Social Skills curriculum is built into every student's schedule, and we have the expertise to recognize and implement accommodations for the unique needs of each of our students.

Classroom instruction is differentiated based on each students’ needs. This is done to help each student grow and progress from where they are currently.

They provide extra support to students throughout the day, and assist teachers in the classroom. For students, they help de-escalate, take students on breaks if needed, support students at lunch and recess, assist students in and out of carpool, etc. They support teachers with small group instruction, data collection, and individualized instruction. 

Social Skills classes are designed to help our students develop skills to aid them in their relationships with their families, friends and in their communities. In Kindergarten they learn the basics like “What does this face mean? (emotion)”, Elementary progresses with “If you get lost in a store…”,  “How to make a friend…”, etc.. In Middle School students learn about employment, resumes, interviews, hygiene, eating out, etc.. High School is built around transition planning (parents involved) where they are learning life skills, employment skills and helping to create a plan for their future goals; college, technical training, employment, etc.

It varies slightly depending on academic levels, but we try to cap our classes at 15-18 students.

We strive to keep our classrooms simplistic and find ways to draw the focus to the front of the room. Important information is posted at the front of the room such as school rules, daily schedule, level system, etc. Each teacher will group or change tables for the needs of their classes. 

Each classroom has a designated break area that students can use with weighted blankets, and/or noise cancelling headphones. Most rooms have alternative lighting to reduce the mental disruption that can come from fluorescent lights. We also have an entire classroom dedicated to helping students regulate. Our OT room will meet the needs of your student no matter what their regulation needs may be. 

No. We take any student who gets accepted through the lottery system, regardless of diagnosis.

Spectrum Academy has a variety of related services onsite, including:

• Speech Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Mental Health Specialists
• Adapted PE Specialists
• Nurses
• Behavior Specialists
• School Psychologists

Services are determined by the IEP team annually.  Usually students have a designated amount of therapy minutes per month. Services can also be provided via a 504 plan or through the Response to Intervention (RTI) process. Services may be provided as “push-in” or “pull out” services.

Push-in services: The practitioner or specialist works in the classroom with the student(s) individually or in groups to provide related services, and differentiated and supportive instruction while promoting inclusive education.

Pullout services: Student(s) are taken out of the general education classroom and services are provided in another setting like the OT room or Speech therapy office.

Research shows that “push-in” services help students to better generalize skills in the classroom and progress towards goals faster.

The advantages of push-in services include:

• Better generalization of skills when they are practiced in the general education setting with peers
• Fewer transitions during the day or changes in routines which can be disruptive
• Students miss less instructional time when they are not pulled out of class
• The general education classroom is the Least Restrictive Environment
• Specialists are able to model intervention strategies for the classroom staff, who then carry those interventions over across the student’s entire school day

Spectrum Academy’s unique environmental setup and programming, including smaller class sizes, full-time onsite therapists, and therapists’ collaborative relationships with teachers, allow “push-in services” to be the norm instead of the exception. 

Each building has an Occupational Therapy room, including sensory and suspension equipment, for evaluations and treatment sessions and a quiet sensory room to meet the sensory needs of all students. Classroom staff and paraprofessionals are trained by OT staff to safely use equipment to facilitate sensory diets, sensory breaks, and self-regulation strategies to meet a child's specific needs.

Speech Therapists have individual offices that are quiet environments to facilitate small group and individual therapy sessions addressing skills that need to be pre-taught before they can be generalized to the classroom.

Spectrum Academy has many assistive technology resources that are utilized daily in classrooms to accommodate individual students needs; for example, it is not uncommon to see students using noise-canceling headphones, wi-fi headphones for white noise or calming music, adaptive seating (wobble stool, therapy ball)  for movement needs, slant boards, pencil grips, chrome extensions on computers, speech to text, or text to speech software and other individualized adaptations and accommodations as needed.

Spectrum Academy Related Services Providers also provide whole classroom instruction in the Elementary general education classes at least once a month to promote child find of students that may require services and for RTI interventions and collaboration with teachers.

Appropriate behavior in public settings is a requirement of life for members of any society. Public charter schools are instruments of society and, therefore, the community that supports a public charter school district has the right to expect school officials to maintain a safe and secure environment and to ensure that students, school personnel, and visitors to a school campus (including online) conduct themselves in an orderly, courteous, dignified, and respectful manner. This being said, we also understand that our focus as a charter school is on serving students with High Functioning Autism. Students with Autism, by virtue of the underlying points of diagnosis of social deficits and rigidity, often struggle with self-regulation.  Spectrum Academy has implemented Positive Behavioral Supports throughout the school to support our students.  

Other behavior supports that are school-wide are visual schedules, a level system to reinforce expected school behavior, and token economy systems.  When students engage in behavior that is above and beyond for them, they are recognized for that behavior by receiving a Principals Club ticket to be entered for a drawing.  Students are also taught social skills as part of their daily curriculum.  Students are permitted to take breaks when needed, preferably in their classrooms, but they also take breaks in the hall, OT rooms, with their paraprofessionals, or other areas of the school.  

Additional support is given for students who often struggle with behavior.  Small group instruction is given to assist the learning of specific social/behavioral skills that they may be missing. 

For students who consistently struggle with behavior, our Behavior Specialists create Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) by doing a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) to understand the function of the students’ behavior and know what interventions will help the student learn the skills they need to get what they need in a socially appropriate way.  We have a Student Support Team that can assist teachers or paraprofessionals if the student becomes too escalated to maintain a learning environment in the classroom.  The Student Support Team is there to help the student calm down and return to a place where learning can begin again. If ever a student becomes a danger to themselves or others, they are taken to a safe space until they are able to return to safety.  This is always a last resort, and all state guidelines and laws are followed to ensure safety and the best possible outcome for the student.  

We love our students and strive to teach them the behavioral and social skills that will help them be as successful as they can be as members of the school and community.

We don’t offer transportation, but we do try to help you find other families to carpool with. Once enrolled, we can help you find other families in your area. It’s then up to you to reach out and connect with them.

No, we are a free and public charter school.

YES! We are extremely careful with who we allow to have access to our students. Parent involvement is included in our Charter. Families are encouraged to volunteer throughout the school year.​​

BACKGROUND CHECK & CODE OF CONDUCT AGREEMENT
The state requires all volunteers to have a Live Scan background check on file with the school.
Here is how it works:​

1)    Visit your campus front office staff. They'll give you an authorization form.
2)    Schedule an appointment at any YUP Fingerprinting location.
3)    You take the form and your ID to your appointment. Tell them to bill Spectrum Academy for the fingerprinting. They will run your fingerprints.
4)    Once the fingerprinting is complete, inform Britnee Norlem via email (bnorlem@spectrumcharter.org) so she can watch for it. She'll notify you once you are cleared to volunteer. This could take up to 5 days.
5)    Before you start volunteering, you will also need to sign our Volunteer Code of Conduct agreement. This will be given to you at the office.

That's it, you're done! You only need to do this once for the entire time you have students at Spectrum. 

Yes. For more information visit our School Lunch pages:

• Pleasant Grove
• North Salt Lake

We have nursing staff at each campus who will set up a healthcare plan, administer medications and work with you individually about your students’ needs.

Contact the school office:

North Salt Lake 801-936-0318

Pleasant Grove 801-785-9019