Accommodations Program

The Accommodations staff is made up of Mrs. Elizabeth Twyman, Helias Catholic’s Director of Accommodations, Mr. Kelly Fick, Special Education teacher and also teaching Algebra I and American History, Ms. Rachel Lutz, Special Education teacher, Mrs. Audrey Mengwasser, Academic Coach and also teaching English I, English II and English III, and Mr. Garrett Wiggans, Academic Coach.

At Helias Catholic we value the whole student — mind, body and soul.  The Accommodations Department provides academic support to those students who have a diagnosed physical, medical, and/or learning disability.  Along with the staff, parents and the students, we work as a team to provide academic support to students who have academic struggles.  We promote self-advocacy within our program and tools the students need to feel confident and seeking out they help they need.  Accommodations are specific to each individual student. They will be provided and implemented by our school personnel to the best of our ability.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us via phone or email.

Process for requesting accommodations:

• Parent provides copies of all psycho-educational evaluations and other documentation outlining a diagnosis of disability that affects a student’s progress in the educational setting.  All documentation must be submitted with the application to enroll.
• Based on the documentation received, Helias Catholic will determine how best we can support the student.

Documentation required:

• Documentation that states learning disability:  Service Plan (SP)/Individualized Education Plan (IEP), an accommodation plan, 504 plan with appropriate medical documentation, medical diagnosis with evaluation showing impact of learning such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Auditory Processing, etc.
• Diagnosed or reconfirmed within the last three years.
• Information that should be included on the documentation:
  • Date of evaluation and results used to determine diagnosis.
  • Information on how learning is impacted.
  • Recommended accommodations.
  • Professional credentials and signature of the evaluator.

The Diocese of Jefferson City does not recognize 504 plans. If your student is currently on a 504 plan, please set up a meeting with the accommodations coordinator to review what supports and accommodations can be put in place to support your student.

ACT: http://www.actstudent.org/regist/disab/

If you are requesting accommodations on the ACT, please reach out to Mrs. Twyman or Mrs. Ralston (ACT coordinator at Helias Catholic).  Documentation must be submitted by the school. Please understand that it will be up to ACT to determine if the requested accommodations are accepted or denied.