Peace By Piece Learning Center Inc., a nonprofit school for children with autism and related disorders, announces the deadline for parents of children with disabilities to file for the 2009-10 McKay Scholarship program.

Children with disabilities have a tremendous number of unique needs. While many good programs exist in the public school system, the public schools do not have the ability to meet every need of every disability.

The McKay Scholarship program allows parents the essential flexibility to choose a program that best meets their child’s needs. Any parent of a student with a disability who has an Individual Education Plan and who is dissatisfied with the student’s progress may receive a scholarship if the following requirements are met:

n Student must be at least 5 years old, spent the prior school year in attendance at a Florida public school and had an active IEP.

n Parent has notified the school district in a manner that creates a written or electronic record of the notification – this is done by filing intent on the School Choice Web site – at least 60 days prior to the date of the first scholarship payment.

The deadline for parents to file intent to participate in the McKay program is July 3.

Parents may file intent to participate at the Web site: www.floridaschoolchoice.org by clicking on the McKay Scholarships link. The application takes about 2 minutes to complete.

If assistance is needed, parents may contact the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice at (800) 447-1636.

Parents may file intent by July 3 even if they are unsure of the placement of their child for the 2009-10 school year. Applying does not force a parent to commit to any placement, it simply provides them the option to use the scholarship at a private school. If parents do not apply, they no longer have the option.

The amount of the scholarship is equal to the amount the student would have received in the public school to which the student is assigned or the amount of the private school’s tuition and fees, whichever is less.

Not all private schools are eligible to receive scholarship payments from the McKay Scholarship program. Private schools must meet the eligibility requirements as set forth by law.

Peace By Piece Learning Center is a McKay Scholarship authorized private school by the Florida Department of Education.

The mission of Peace by Piece is to provide researched based behavior analytic and educational services to children with autism and other developmental disabilities in an environment that is surrounded with unconditional love, patience, support and respect, the space and opportunity to bloom, the freedom to be themselves and the ability to grow into happy, loved, confident and contributing members of our society.

For more information on the McKay Scholarship program or to find out more about Peace By Piece Learning Center, call 653-4323 or e-mail info@peacebypieceinc.com.