Exceptional Student Education

The Villages Charter School is proud to offer an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program for qualifying children who have an identified disability or who are in the Gifted Program. Our goal is to help all students reach their potential by meeting their unique needs by fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment.

ESE programming is guided by legislation on both the state and federal levels. Students who have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) have specific Civil Rights protections. All information about the rights of these students and their parents/guardians is detailed in the Procedural Safeguards, accessible in the link below.

As part of the federal Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Child Find mandates that schools must identify and evaluate students who may have a disability at no cost to families. Students can be referred for an evaluation by members of their family or any school personnel who believe that the student may have a disability associated with his or her education.

At The Villages Charter School (VCS), all students participate in an inclusion education model. This means that all services are provided for students with an IEP in the general education classroom setting. While VCS does not provide all services or programs for students with disabilities, the Sumter County School District (SCSD) has programming available for any student need. SCSD is our Local Education Agency (LEA) who maintains administrative control over VCS and serves as a conduit for most of the funding to operate VCS.

Our ESE staff members are dedicated to educating families on the intricacies of various processes and strive to ensure they are well-informed of their rights within each procedure. Feel free to contact our building principals with any questions: