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FAQs

DePaul School of Northeast Florida

Q & A

DePaul is an elementary and middle school for students in grades 2-8 with dyslexia or dyslexia symptoms.

DePaul uses the Orton Gillingham approach, a multisensory program, and other research-based instruction customized for each student. DePaul is NOT a school for tardy/attendance remediation or behavioral remediation. 

If your child is affected academically by dyslexia or a related learning difference, is willing to participate in class, and has good conduct and attendance, DePaul may be the perfect fit. We screen all students for conduct, attendance, and learner profile before they can enroll. Please see the 4-step enrollment process in your tour folder.

About 9 months before the school year starts, parents begin touring DePaul and applying for tryout days. The process is 4 steps:
1. Tour
2. Apply for a tryout day by submitting the student’s most recent report card showing conduct and attendance, a copy of his/her psychoeducational evaluation (or IEP if you don’t have one)
3. If invited, student attends DePaul for a day and undergoes a brief academic diagnostic
4. If the Admissions Team accepts and a seat is open, an invitation is issued giving parents 3 business days to fill out an enrollment/registration form and submit a $250 deposit to claim the seat.

If DePaul is full and you want to be on the waiting list, complete the first three enrollment steps:
1. Tour

2. Apply for a tryout day

3. Complete the tryout day and receive an admissions determination

There’s no need to fill out an enrollment/registration form or submit deposit until your student is accepted and we notify you that a seat is open for them.

DePaul’s waiting list is not perfectly chronological. If a third grader moves away and leaves an open seat, the next person on the waiting list who fits their specific combination of classes (Homeroom 3rd, Reading 1st, Math 2nd, for example)—not necessarily the person who has been on the list the longest— can move into that slot.

No. DePaul is a learning environment for dyslexia. For a diagnosis, please see a child psychologist or neurologist for a psychoeducational evaluation. We recommend Dr. Edward Taylor or Dr. Michael Sisbarro.

Yes! All DePaul teachers are trained in the Orton Gillingham approach.

About 600 seats available in dyslexia schools in greater Jacksonville. Thirty thousand plus students need seats in a school for dyslexia in Duval County alone. Therefore, all DePaul seats are for children with dyslexia or similar learning differences.

All parents should expect to pay $300+ monthly for DePaul, even with a best-case-scenario scholarship package. Please see the glossy scholarship flyer in your tour folder for more info. You should also expect to pay the annual enrollment fee out of pocket ($250 for new students, $100 to re-enroll, $525 program fee for all).

Note: All scholarship programs will audit the attendance of every recipient each year. Maintain good attendance to keep your scholarships.

No school can guarantee this. DePaul makes every effort to meet students where they are academically and help them grow. Several other factors influence progress, including:

  • Student’s willingness to participate
  • Excessive tardies/absences
  • Major life events
  • Behavioral distractions
  • Undiagnosed/untreated learning differences
  • Adequate rest/overall health
  • Lack of needed medication/medication adjustments

 

No. Please consult a doctor about all medication decisions.

DePaul is NOT a school for behavioral OR truancy remediation. DePaul supports children affected academically by dyslexia or a related learning difference. It becomes problematic when teachers, administrators, and other students are continually sidelined from instructing students by unwanted behavior.

DePaul students must:

  • go to class on their own and follow instructions and rules
  • participate to the best of their ability
  • avoid distracting other students or interrupting teaching for non-emergencies
  • respond to direction and redirection with evident personal growth
  • maintain good conduct 
  • stay awake in class
  • be prompt and have regular attendance unless there is a documented, excused absence
  • be potty trained

We regularly give students and parents breaks, advice, and tools to handle school frustrations. DePaul has a zero-tolerance policy for bullying of any kind. This applies to students, staff, and parents.

 

Acceptance and enrollment are two different things. Once we notify you that a seat is open and you can enroll, you have three business days to submit an application/enrollment form and a $250 deposit to hold that seat for your student.

Keep your acceptance letter—it has a checklist for you.

A limited number of tryout days are available, so each student is allotted one per year. If you must cancel or reschedule your tryout day, please message us ASAP at info@depaulschool.com.

Approximately 16:1.

These are a big part of DePaul’s multisensory curriculum, and they change yearly. Recently, we’ve offered Dance, Music, Art, Cooking, Drama, Gardening, Sign Language, P.E., Baseball, and more.

Monday-Thursday, we have homework that is appropriate in length and scope for students with dyslexia. For example, students may read anything they like for 20 minutes every night, and each week they will have a software exercise, a spelling worksheet, and a short math exercise.

An optional Homework Help program is also available Monday - Thursday from 3:15-4:00 for a small monthly fee. Let us know during Onboarding if you’d like to sign up!

 

Students take a morning brain break with snack, and go outside for 30 minutes of recess in clear weather. Every student is also assigned a P.E. class.

There’s NO fighting for accommodations at DePaul. DePaul is an accommodation! Since all students have learning differences, this environment is matched to student need as closely possible. We:

  • Fit each student for classes on their academic level, teach the curriculum to mastery, then advance them to the next level when they are ready 
  • Allow extra time on assessments
  • Realistically estimate the time it takes kids to do homework and complete classwork
  • Engage kids in a variety of creative lessons and real-life applications
  • Feature flexible seating for kids with wiggle worms

Students take regular assessments to measure progress. Parents receive growth data in Reading and Mathematics at the end of the school year. Parents meet with teachers formally twice a year to discuss student progress. You will also get an agenda to sign nightly, and schoolwork will come home in a weekly packet.

Almost every DePaul student has a scholarship of some kind, and we work hard to keep this school affordable. Visit www.depaulschool.com and click on Admissions and Financial Aid or see the financial aid info in your tour folder for details. Even with scholarships, all parents should expect a monthly payment.

No.

DePaul has always been a school for dyslexia and reading based learning differences. Thousands of students with dyslexia in this area have serious unmet academic needs; DePaul has about 100 seats for these students each year.

Lessons are a multisensory experience of dynamic visuals and sounds, and there’s lots of variety in our school day. This program doesn’t fit every learner profile. We determine suitability on a case-by-case basis.

School starts at 8:15 AM, with dismissal at 3:15 PM.

 

Parents have until 3:30 PM to pick students up with no extra charge. If you need extended hours, we offer three programs, each with a different cost:

  1. Extended Day Morning Care: Drop your child off as early as 6:45 AM.
  2. Homework Help: Every Monday-Thursday from 3:15 to 4:00 PM, students may remain in a classroom working on homework with teacher assistance.
  3. Extended Day Afternoon Care (Monday-Friday): Students may stay as late as 5:30 PM under teacher supervision. Once their homework is completed, they have free play until an authorized person picks them up.

DePaul often has optional sports classes, like baseball or cheerleading, but no sports teams. Florida private school and homeschooled students may participate in sports and extracurriculars at their zoned public school, however. For more info, Google the Craig Dickinson Act, also called the Tim Tebow Law.

Yes! DePaul is accredited on the state and national levels through the Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF) and the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA), and meets all requirements for scholarship programs utilized by our students.

We also have an independent board of directors—local leaders, business owners, and parents who oversee the direction of the school. We are members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.

DePaul is not part of a school district or chain. We are a true local business!

Meet the Board

At present, there are no high schools for dyslexia in greater Jacksonville. However, DePaul students have done well in high schools that best fit their needs. For some, that’s public school. For others, it’s a private or specialized school.

Those who complete their DePaul program on grade level have the potential to earn a standard diploma at the high school of their choosing. Many DePaul Lions go on to get degrees at various colleges, universities, and trade schools.

Parents can talk openly with staff about their child’s potential and high school plans early in their 8th grade year—we can help you explore options.

We are also proud of our growing community of alumni—please keep in touch with us after graduation!

For now, we serve grades 2-8 only. We highly recommend Lindamood Bell for adults.

Since 1980. The first DePaul School was founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1970. So many Jacksonville parents sent their children to the boarding program that they realized Jacksonville needed a school for dyslexia!

So, a group of parents worked with the original DePaul in Louisville to establish DePaul School in Jacksonville first as a Saturday program, then a summer program. In 1982, our full-time day school opened its doors.

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