FAQs

The difference is in our rich, 65+ year history of educating children with learning differences, coupled with our transformative, whole-child approach, and accepting environment. Julie Billiart Schools are unique in the fact that our kids receive seven hours of direct intervention each day. All of our teachers are certified, intervention specialists. Included in the cost of tuition, our students receive onsite speech, occupational, music, and art therapies. All JB campuses feature a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst to guide and support faculty and parents.

Julie Billiart Schools are co-educational day schools for grades K-8. We accept applications on a rolling basis for all grades. Some JB schools have a waitlist for certain grades.

Yes. Julie Billiart Schools are deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and accept children from all faith backgrounds. Students are expected to participate in religion class, weekly prayer services, and mass when celebrated during the school day.

Yes. Julie Billiart Schools partners with Lands' End for comfortable uniforms. Many of our families participate in a uniform swap each year to exchange gently used uniforms as kids grow. Order your uniform, here.

Depending on where your family lives, bus transportation may be available. Certain public school districts provide free transportation to Julie Billiart Schools. Contact your home school district transportation department for more information. For families that wish to drive their children to school or coordinate carpool transportation with other families, our drop-off/pick-up procedures are both convenient and safe.

Julie Billiart Schools are accredited by the Ohio Catholic Schools Accrediting Association (OCSAA) as part of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland through the State of Ohio and follow the Cleveland Catholic Diocese and Ohio Department of Education course of studies. Course work includes language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, physical education, and religion. For more information about our curriculum and academics, click here.

All completed applications are reviewed by our Administration Team. If eligible, your child will then be invited to the school for an individualized assessment and observation.

Admission decisions are based on your child’s readiness and potential to benefit from our program. The school principal will typically notify the family within 7-10 days of a decision.

If your child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from your home school district, he or she is qualified for one of two scholarships offered by the state of Ohio. Visit our Scholarships page for more information

If space is not available at your school of interest at the time of the admission decision, your child will be placed on a waitlist and notified when space becomes available. Because of our small class sizes, we encourage families to complete and return the admissions application as early as possible.

We also encourage families to explore potential openings at other JB campuses. Regardless of the location, families can expect the same exceptional education programs and services at all three schools.

No. Julie Billiart Schools welcome all faith traditions, however, students are expected to participate in religion class, weekly prayer services, and mass when celebrated during the school day.

Typically, yes. There is a $50 non-refundable fee to submit an application. This fee is a reduced processing fee that allows our team to thoughtfully review your application and helps to cover the cost of our secure application system.

However, we have currently waived this fee. Now is a great time to apply to Julie Billiart Schools.

Every JB student has an official diagnosis that qualifies him or her to receive special education services. Diagnoses, and IEPS, are helpful because they communicate common language, issues and needs.

However, we do not require students to have an educational or medical diagnosis – although available scholarship funding is contingent upon an IEP.

We do have a small population of twice exceptional (2e) children who need extra emotional and social support. While we can differentiate and meet the needs of 2e, we don't have a specific gifted program.

No. Julie Billiart Schools offers rolling admissions, which means we can accept a student at any point in the school year if space is available. Tuition is prorated to the time of enrollment. Note that some campuses have a waitlist for certain grades.

We encourage you to apply as soon as you’re ready so that we can begin to process your application. Applications are reviewed in the order in which they’re received.

Julie Billiart Schools exist to serve students who have a learning difference that is not adequately being met in the student’s current school setting. Through our application and assessment process, students are evaluated to ensure they are a good fit with Julie Billiart Schools.

A “good fit” is a mutual decision by our Principals and parents of the applicant. We look for children who are willing to try a new school environment, who are open to flexibility and change, who strive to get along with their peers, and who remain open to the learning process.

We expect the same collaboration, openness, and flexibility from parents. Students must adhere to our student handbook and code of conduct

Yes. Applicants for Kindergarten must turn five on or before August 1 of the school year in which they will enter Julie Billiart Schools. All enrolled students must be able to use restroom facilities independently.

Our certified intervention specials and onsite board certified behavior analysts are accustomed to a variety of behaviors and strategies that students bring to JB. We understand and have empathy for students who use the functions of behaviors to avoid or distract from situations in which they feel like they can’t succeed.

In many cases, when children are in an environment like JB, these behaviors can be reversed. Our BCBAs work closely with teachers and parents to provide behavioral supports that help students process emotions in a healthy way. However, we can’t adequately serve students whose behavior physically or emotionally threatens the learning process, or the safety of our students, faculty and staff.

Our program is not designed to serve students with persistent or severe behavior problems. When your child comes to observe, we may invite our BCBA to the meeting to help identify what services we can offer your child. If you’re concerned about your child’s behavior and whether or not it would impact his or her success at JB, please reach out to us via email at admissions@jbschool.org.

Julie Billiart Schools is a provider of two state scholarships - the Autism Scholarship and the Jon Peterson Scholarship. Depending on eligibility, families should first apply for one of these scholarships, as they often cover a large percentage of our tuition.

After completing a scholarship application, families can apply for additional financial aid as needed. Please know that financial aid is available to all families who demonstrate need, and that it is offered on a first-come basis.

New applicants should apply for financial aid when they begin the enrollment process, provided they are applying for the current year. For those applying a year ahead, the deadline is March 31 for Kindergarteners and February 28 for all others.

Families seeking financial aid will complete the online application available on FACTS. Julie Billiart Schools reviews completed financial aid applications in the order in which they are received and determines eligibility for aid.

For more information, click here.

If this is your first time applying for a Jon Peterson or Autism Scholarship, you can apply when your child is accepted to Julie Billiart Schools. Our Principals will help you through the scholarship application process during your acceptance meeting.

For more information, click here.

Typically, yes. There is a $30 fee to submit a financial aid application. However, we have currently waived this fee.

Yes. Each year, our Financial Aid Committee considers applicant’s income, assets, debts, and other financial responsibilities. After reviewing these items, many families are eligible to receive financial aid; therefore we strongly encourage everyone to apply for financial aid each year.

Yes. All financial information is held in strict confidence by our third-party system, FACTS, and the Financial Aid Committee.

Yes. Each student's financial need will be recalculated annually. Therefore, parents are required to reapply each year. All financial aid awards are contingent upon payment in full of the prior year's account.

Yes. Parents can choose from monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or one time up-front payments. They may choose a payment due date of the 5th or 20th of the month.

As a whole, Julie Billiart Schools are funded through the generous support of donors and community partners. Julie Billiart Schools’ staffing model and highly-specialized environments and supports mean that more than 80 percent of our costs are fixed.

As a network, Julie Billiart Schools are deeply committed to keeping tuition and fees as low as possible by raising support and controlling our operating costs.

The cost for the 2023-2024 school year is $32,445 per student. This cost is offset by scholarship and/or financial aid dollars.

For more information, please click here.

An annual academic fee, uniforms, textbooks, some extracurricular costs, and Beyond Camp, Aftercare are not covered within JB tuition. For more information, please click here.

For more FAQs about school hours, transportation, curriculum and academics, visit our general FAQ page.

The generosity of our donors helps all areas of Julie Billiart Schools. Gifts help to support daily operations, programs, and tuition assistance to those families that would otherwise not be able to afford a Julie Billiart School education.

Yes, you can designate which school benefits from your donation. Our easy, secure online form allows you to designate a campus. If sending a donation by mail, please send in a note indicating which school you would like to designate the gift or write in the memo line on the check.

All gifts, regardless of size, are vital in helping Julie Billiart Schools meet its financial obligations and goals.

Contributions to The Julie Fund are vital because they support the daily life of the School, funding a portion of our operating budget. Annual Fund gifts help us ensure the JB Way.

Members of the Board of Directors, faculty and staff, current parents and parents of alumni, alumni, grandparents, and friends are all invited to participate with a gift that is meaningful to them.

Yes! As a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, all monetary gifts to Julie Billiart Schools are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Upon receipt of your donation, the Advancement Office will send you an official acknowledgment of your gift.

JB respects the privacy of its donors. We do not sell, trade, or share our donor list with any other organization. In addition, Julie Billiart School subscribes to the Donor Bill of Rights, which was created by the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel (AAFRC) and others. Our staff also subscribes to the AFP Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice. All credit card transactions are processed securely using Blackbaud Merchant Services. We do not store or save your credit card data on our servers.

Yes. We are extremely mindful of the anxiety and potential regression that can come from this situation. Not only our intervention specialists but also our therapists will be assisting in this process. Intervention specialists and speech therapists will work together to devise a plan and provide support and interventions to lower anxiety or bring a student back up to speed. We also have our art therapist, who can continue to provide one on one support to help students cope with what's going on and provide appropriate support so that anxiety doesn’t play a part in academic development.

We’re going to use both classrooms (two for each grade) and group kids in small cohorts of 10 or less. We will work to reduce any switching of classrooms and may choose to have teachers switch rooms rather than kids. We’ll be grouping kids based on ability over anything else (like mask-wearing, gender, etc.) to stay in line with our educational model. Just like every school year, at the beginning of the year, we do some reteaching and reassessments to determine where students are at. We will continue to do that this year and split students into small groups based on where they need to be for their ability.

Yes. We are still monitoring and measuring both academic and social/non-academic IEP goals. Our teachers continue to put in place academic, social, and behavioral tasks and scenarios to support your child’s IEP goals and to assist in data collection. As we continue our collaborative approach to educating the whole child, we’re working with parents to include them in the data collection process during distance learning.

We do have a shutdown plan in place - we know that we’re able to quickly turn to an all-virtual learning experience and have plans in place to do this. However, we must take direction from the local board of health at the time of infection or spread to determine what the shut down will look like. In our conversations with the board of health, they do not expect shutdowns. If we do have to close at any point, we will turn to a full virtual experience for all kids.

You can review your submitted application, or add documents to your submitted application, by logging in through our application portal. You’ll be asked to log in using the username and password you used when creating your account. If you have any issues logging in, please email admissions@jbschool.org. If you cannot add your documents, please email them to admissions@jbschool.org.

Our Screening Activities are held at various JB campuses multiple times each year. Applicants are invited to the next available Screening Activity, regardless of location. The location of a Screening Activity has no bearing on which campus a child will attend.

At this time, masks are optional for our students, faculty, and staff. You are encouraged to send your child in whatever is more comfortable for him or her. We rigorously clean our classrooms and school spaces and practice safe distancing as much as possible. Please see our COVID-19 Policies and Protocols for updated information.

The Screening Activity is a critical component of our evaluation process and allows us to ensure that we can meet your child’s needs. If you cannot attend the Screening Activity immediately following the application submission, you will be invited to attend a Screening Activity in the future. Screening Activities are held multiple times each year.

Those attending a Kindergarten Screening Activity must have completed applications with updated, submitted IEPs and ETRs. If you are awaiting an updated document from your school district of residence, please let us know so that we can invite you to a future Screening Activity.

We fully understand that children, especially those with learning and social differences, may have trepidation about this day. We promise to treat your kids like we do all of our students. Our goal is to make students feel calm and supported so that we can learn more about their unique needs. We’ve been leaders in special education for nearly 70 years, and have supported thousands of children through this process. Know that this screening is only one part of our determination. We are not evaluating or testing your child. We are evaluating whether or not Julie Billiart Schools have the services to support your child.

We know that children can experience tremendous growth from year to year. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with your child again in the future if you think that JB has the services to support him or her. We can re-screen one year from the date that your child was first screened.

No! If your child is attending a Screening Activity, we already have his or her updated application, IEP, and ETR on file. You do not need to send anything else with your child.

Please dress your child in comfortable, school-appropriate clothes. While Julie Billiart Schools do require uniforms for current students, we do not expect prospective students to wear uniforms.

Tuition for 2024-2025 is $35,340 per student.

It is no surprise that our schools are seeing increased costs due to inflation. Schools and service providers feel this in our operations, our ability to provide quality services, and our ability to fairly compensate our teachers and therapists. Your children thrive because of the incredibly talented teachers we put in the classroom and the unique services that we provide.

JBS will continue to allocate more than $1 Million in need-based financial aid each year.

The decision to increase tuition is not made lightly. We carefully consider financial projections, review changes in the cost of curriculum, adjustments to our benefits, and update compensation to meet demand, before determining the appropriate tuition adjustments. It is important as an organization that we remain financially healthy. Ultimately, after reviewing projected cost increases, our leadership team and our Board of Directors made the decision to adjust tuition rates.

In addition to the base services your child has always received, we are constantly working to improve the services and support your child receives at Julie Billiart Schools. This past year alone we’ve enhanced our curriculum, expanded our staff, and updated our technology.

We understand there has been a huge need to focus on mental health services in our schools. At JBS we’ve seen the need, and responded to it, by implementing our BASE system to better identify which of our students need additional support. In addition, we have hired a network-wide school counselor to be available to all students.

We are also committed to supporting our parents. We offer access to support services in the form of special education webinars, legal consultations, and access to mental health and behavioral support resources.

You may see incremental increases over the years to adjust for inflation, but you should not expect a significant increase each year. Our goal is to provide cost-based tuition and need-based aid. We work hard to keep a JBS education affordable and accessible for families.

We have purposely not increased Beyond Camp tuition for the summer of 2024 to keep it affordable for all families. We will continue to offer Beyond Camp at Akron, Lyndhurst, and Westlake. Though state scholarship funding won’t be available to cover the cost of camp, there are outside sources to help offset the cost. We have compiled a list of resources for our families. Those can be found on our Beyond Camp web page. Registration will open early 2024.

Thank you for asking! Both Autism and Jon Peterson families are encouraged to raise their voices about the needs of our kids. You can join Julie Billiart Schools in our efforts to increase scholarship amounts. Help us put our kids' needs on the map and put them in front of the people who are making decisions about their access to education. We will also share opportunities to join us in writing letters of support and advocacy to legislators. You can learn more here.

If you are able to make a contribution to our schools, you can donate here. Your donation will go toward financial aid and will help other families access a JBS education for their children. We welcome any financial contributions as well as donations of time, stories and testimonials of support, and letters of advocacy.

As always, you have a voice in your child’s education. This is a partnership, and we value your feedback. If you have any questions about how this decision was reached, please reach out to Judy Kreger, CFO and/or Lannie Davis-Frecker, President/CEO. We welcome dialogue.

Julie Billiart Schools enroll students who turn five on or before August 1st. Many of our students are five and even six years old when they begin Kindergarten at JB.

To explore enrollment into Julie Billiart Schools, follow the Admissions Process included on our website. Our Kindergarten space is limited to 12 students at each campus, and spots fill quickly. Interested families should submit an application, along with a child's IEP and ETR, in order to move forward with the admissions process.

JB best serves children with mild to moderate autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADD/ADHD, expressive language delays, receptive language delays, written expression difficulties, anxiety disorders, and executive function deficits. All JB students have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and qualify for state scholarship funding. Our setting is not structured for children who need more intensive social, academic, and/or behavioral support.

JB students, even at the Kindergarten level, are expected to verbally communicate their wants and needs. As children grow through our program, we continue to work on expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language. We also offer onsite speech therapy in small group settings.

Our setting is intentionally designed to offer small ratios and direct intervention while still creating a sense of independent learning. Students who require a 1:1 aide or paraprofessional may not be ready for our environment, as our students are expected to independently attend, demonstrate expected behaviors, and complete classwork and homework. Students should be able to safely navigate the school, use the restroom independently, and keep themselves and others safe.

Our Admissions Team is happy to review all of this information with you at an Admissions Information Session or during a 1:1 call. Reach out to admissions@jbschool.org or call 216-716-8318 to schedule!

Every JB student has an educational diagnosis that qualifies him or her to receive special education services. Diagnoses, Individual Education Plans (IEP) and/or Autism Education Plan (AEP) are helpful because they communicate common language, issues and needs. Although an official medical or educational diagnosis is not required, scholarship funding is contingent on an IEP. IEPs are written by a child's school district. To learn more about IEP and AEP and the special education process, please review our enrollment guide.

The tuition for the 24-25 school year is $35,340. All of our families receive tuition support in the form of scholarships and/or financial aid. Our Admissions Team is happy to provide an out-of-pocket estimate for your family. Email admissions@jbschool.org or call 216-716-8318 to learn more.

Julie Billiart Schools keeps tuition and fees as low as possible to make our award-winning education feasible for families of all backgrounds. More than $1 Million in financial aid was awarded to 26 percent of the student body in the 2022-23 school year. 100 percent of our families receive support from Ohio Department of Education (ODE) scholarships. JB is a provider of both the Ohio Autism Scholarship and the Jon Peterson Scholarship.

K-2 sets the foundational skills that help students prepare for upper grades. Math, science, and English language arts are rounded out by social studies and religion. Our hidden curriculum helps fill gaps that our kids may have. While neuro-typical kids start school with a basic understanding of social skills or are able to quickly grasp these concepts through observation, non-typical children often benefit from more explicit instruction in these areas. We intentionally integrate concepts like compromising, taking turns, not shouting, making appropriate eye contact, active listening, waiting, and being flexible into our curriculum. You can read more about our K-2 curriculum, here.

We offer rolling admissions, so there is no strict deadline to apply. However, due to our intentionally small class sizes, our Kindergarten seats fill quickly. The first Kindergarten Screening Activity is held in March. Applications submitted prior to March 1 will be eligible to be invited to this activity on a first-come, first-served basis.

All Kindergarten applicants will be invited to a 2-day screening activity held in March at Julie Billiart Schools. Our highly qualified Screen Team, composed of Intervention Specialists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Behavior Analysts, and Administrators, work together to engage your child in a warm, friendly school setting. We explore your child's academic abilities through developmentally appropriate tasks and assessments to better understand your child's academic levels. The most important part of our screening is the social and emotional component, as we want to ensure that Julie Billiart Schools has the appropriate supports in place to help your child thrive. We do not expect perfection, and understand that students come to JB with a wide range of academic and social skills. We observe a student's fine motor skills, problem solving abilities, coping strategies, self advocacy, work stamina, and work ethic. We also love to see how they interact with their peers, answer questions, and follow directions.

Check out our Kindergarten Readiness Webinar Series! Our Intervention Specialists, Therapists, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and Administrators created a free, four-part series to help families of little learners explore:

• The elements of Kindergarten
• How to prepare children for Kindergarten
• What to look for in a Kindergarten for children with learning and social differences
• How to know when kids are ready for Kindergarten
• And so much more!

Watch episodes of the series, here.

Our Kindergarteners attend a full day of school beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 2:45 p.m. For the first two weeks of school, we typically start with half days to help transition our students into the full-day setting.

It always helps to prepare kids for what they can expect. Our Intervention Specialists and Therapists have created this social story. Please feel free to share it with your child ahead of the Screening Activity!

2025-26 tuition costs will be announced later in the school year. Begindergarten tuition will mirror K-8 and include the same services and accomodations.

Every JB student has an official diagnosis that qualifies him or her to receive special education services. Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Autism Education Plan (AEP), are helpful because they communicate common language, issues and needs.

However, we do not require students to have an educational or medical diagnosis – although available scholarship funding is contingent upon an IEP or AEP.

Yes. If your child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Autism Education Plan (AEP) from your home school district, he or she is qualified for either the Jon Peterson Special Needs Program or the Autism Scholarship Program offered by the state of Ohio. Visit our Scholarships page for more information

Begindergarten is a full-day program, however, the first two weeks of the school year will be half-day to support the child's transition to a full-day schedule.

Yes. Aftercare is available for all JB students. Aftercare runs from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. and is $10 per hour.

Aftercare includes a snack before engaging in outside/inside play, games, art, and supervised academic work.

Begindergarten curriculum will consist of:

• The P.L.A.Y. Project
• The Creative Curriculum
• Handwriting Without Tears
• We Thinkers (Social Thinking Curriculum)

The Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Fund is the Julie Billiart Network Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). An SGO is an organization exempt from federal taxes whose primary intent must be to award academic scholarships to low-income students to attend schools in grades K-12. Primary intent means the organization must spend >50% of expenses on scholarships. Low income is defined as income below 300% of poverty level.

Only donations made to a certified scholarship granting organization are eligible to receive a tax credit on an individual’s State of Ohio tax return. The Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Fund is fully certified with the State of Ohio as a scholarship granting organization. Donations made directly to the school’s annual fund are not eligible for the credit.

The benefit of a tax credit allows the taxpayer to direct where their tax dollars go. The State of Ohio tax laws allow a tax credit up to $750 per individual or $1500 for married couples filing jointly for donations made to certified scholarship granting organizations. This credit is available to individuals who have an Ohio tax liability. The credit is a dollar-for-dollar credit, but limited to the lesser of 1) $750 per individual; or, 2) $1500 for married couples filing jointly; or, 3) your total tax liability.

All individuals with earned income will pay income taxes to the State. Even if you expect a refund in the previous year, you paid State income taxes. To estimate the current year’s liability, contact your tax preparer or review your previous year’s tax return. Your State's tax liability is not necessarily the amount deducted from your paycheck or the amount refunded to you or owed to the State. Instead, the tax liability is the total amount owed to the State before determining whether there is a refund or an additional amount to pay. In order to estimate if you will have a tax liability in the coming year, review your tax liability from the previous year’s State of Ohio tax return (in last year’s return, this amount would be on 1040 IT, line 8c.) After considering whether there have been significant changes to your income this year, reviewing the prior year’s State of Ohio tax return will help to estimate whether you will have a similar liability in the current tax year. Contact your tax preparer with questions. If you prefer to wait until exact liability is known, the State of Ohio now allows all donations made by the tax filing deadline to count as a credit for the preceding year’s tax return.

No. The State of Ohio will allow all donations made on or before the state tax filing deadline (typically April 15) to count as a tax credit claim against the income tax for the preceding taxable year.

Yes. The Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Fund applies to the State of Ohio tax liability. The liability is calculated before credits are applied for withholdings made by your employer or before applying other tax credits. As long as the liability exceeds $750 per individual or $1500 for married couples filing jointly, you may be eligible for the Sunflower tax credit. Please note, however, the tax credit is not refundable. Although credits are stackable, the Sunflower tax credit in combination with other State tax credits may not exceed the tax liability.

A tax deduction reduces a taxpayer’s overall taxable income. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar credit against the taxes paid to the State of Ohio up to the limits allowed by the credit. All SGO donations are directed to the Sunflower Tax Credit Fund rather than to the State.

No. As a 501(c)3 organization, the Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Fund may not accept donations that are designated for a specific student.

No. Any donation amount may be made, but the tax credit available through the State of Ohio is limited to $750 for an individual or $1500 for married couples filing jointly.

Each donor is personally responsible for maintaining the contribution acknowledgement receipt provided by the Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Fund and Julie Billiart Schools. That receipt can be used to claim the tax credit through the State of Ohio.

There is not a specific application to receive Sunflower Ohio Tax Credit Funds. All JB students are eligible to apply for general financial aid in addition to their scholarship award. The financial aid application process begins once a family receives their admissions decision.