If your child in Alexandria has autism, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety, a speech delay, or complex needs — and Alexandria City Public Schools isn't giving them what they need — you don't have to figure it out alone. A New Story is a free resource built by a DMV parent who has lived it. Everything here is free to use.
ACPS is a small, diverse city division — a setting where the right advocacy can make a real, fast difference for your child. The good news: federal law (IDEA) gives your child the same powerful rights everywhere, and here's the path to using them in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).
Before you pay anyone — including us — know your free options. We'll always tell you honestly when free help is all you need.
In Alexandria itself. Grades 3-12 college-prep school for bright students with ADHD, executive-functioning challenges, and mild language-based learning differences. Small classes, differentiated instruction, certified staff. Accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools.
Just outside Alexandria in Annandale. Since 1971, serves students with specific learning disabilities including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and ADHD. Every classroom teacher is trained in the Orton-Gillingham method. Licensed by the Virginia Department of Education; accredited by VCPE and the Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities.
Minutes from Alexandria. Full-day special-education school, grades 3-12 / ages 8-22, for students with emotional disability, high-functioning autism, learning disability, multiple disabilities, or intellectual disability who need a more supportive setting. Long-established nonprofit (PHILLIPS Programs); accepts public-school IEP placements.
Therapeutic private day school operated by Inova, serving students whose IEP calls for a structured special-education and behavioral-health setting (emotional/behavioral needs, anxiety, ADHD, LD). Licensed by the Virginia Department of Education and accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities. Fairfax, near Alexandria.
Licensed Virginia special-education school serving children with autism, behavioral challenges, developmental delays, and learning disabilities. Takes IEP-placement students from Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and other Northern Virginia districts. Certified special-ed staff.
Northern Virginia school (since 2009) for bright children K-8 with learning differences and twice-exceptional profiles, including dyslexia, ADHD, and anxiety. Small classes with specialized, certified instruction. Serves Alexandria-area families.
Long-established Northern Virginia special-education day school for students with emotional disabilities, autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities who need a small, structured, therapeutic environment. Accepts IEP placements from Virginia and DC districts. Springfield, near Alexandria.
Alexandria campus of the Rivermont network. Standards-aligned curriculum with intensive academic and behavioral interventions for students with autism and emotional disabilities, integrating ABA, MTSS, counseling, trauma-informed practice, and social-emotional learning. Certified special-ed staff; accepts IEP placements.
Oakton campus of the region's leading dyslexia school. Grades serving bright, college-bound students with mild-to-moderate language-based learning differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia) via research-based multisensory instruction and a roughly 3:1 ratio. Within reach of Alexandria families.
Founded 1967, a nationally recognized independent school (grades 1-12) for students of average-to-superior intelligence with language-based learning disabilities, dyslexia, and ADHD. OSSE-approved nonpublic placement; draws families from across the DMV, including Alexandria.
DC school specializing in the oral education of young children with hearing loss alongside hearing peers, ages 18 months through grade 5. Classrooms co-taught by master's-level educators and speech-language pathologists. A regional leader in language and listening development.
Nonprofit special-education school serving children and adults ages 3-22 with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and multiple disabilities. Operates a DC public charter school plus nonpublic placement. Highly structured, individualized programming with certified staff and related services.
Day school (preschool through grade 12) for students who learn and think differently, including language and learning disabilities, autism, intellectual disabilities, and other health impairments. Part of the Treatment and Learning Centers (TLC); Maryland nonpublic-approved, with a roughly 5:1 ratio. Serves DMV families.
Nationally recognized nonprofit, nonpublic special-education school serving students with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, other health impairment, specific learning disability, and speech-language impairment. Roughly 5:1 ratio; certified staff and full related services. Accepts IEP placements from across the DMV.
Day school for intellectually engaged students with social, communication, pragmatic-language, and organizational challenges (including autism). Diploma-track, college-bound focus with small ratios and a teaching aide in every class. Maryland (Silver Spring/Baltimore) plus a Virginia campus in Chantilly serving Northern Virginia families.
Nonprofit, nonpublic special-education school serving students in grades 5-12 with language-based learning differences and dyslexia. Maryland-approved nonpublic placement with specialized, multisensory instruction and certified staff. Serves the broader DMV.
Therapeutic special-education day program (part of Sheppard Pratt) integrating mental-health treatment with special education for students with significant emotional, behavioral, and learning needs. Maryland nonpublic-approved; accepts IEP placements from across the region.
Special-education schools run by the Kennedy Krieger Institute (affiliated with Johns Hopkins) for students with autism, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and complex medical/neurological needs. Maryland nonpublic-approved with deep clinical and therapeutic integration. A regional gold standard serving the DMV, including a Montgomery County campus closer to Northern Virginia.
We track the region's most respected evaluators and specialized schools — ranked by quality, never by who pays. Families near Alexandria often look at Commonwealth Academy (Alexandria) and The Lab School of Washington (DC), among others. Start with your child's specific need:
Use our free, guided "What's going on with my child?" tool — it turns what you're noticing into a clear one-page summary you can hand your Alexandria school or doctor.
A board-certified clinical neuropsychologist (ABPP-CN) providing comprehensive neurocognitive and psychoeducational evaluation in Fairfax — the kind of rigorous report a strong IEP is built on.
A Fairfax practice offering neuropsychological and psychoeducational evaluations for children, with school-ready reports for IEP and 504 planning.
The American Board of Professional Psychology directory lists only board-certified neuropsychologists — the field's real credential. Filter to Virginia to find one near you.
Instructors certified in IMSE Orton-Gillingham and the Wilson Reading System, providing structured-literacy dyslexia therapy to students across Northern Virginia.
Find an Academy-credentialed Orton-Gillingham practitioner or a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) — the genuine dyslexia-instruction credentials — near you in Virginia.
The IDA's provider directory lists structured-literacy tutors and programs that meet its standards for evidence-based dyslexia instruction.
Pediatric occupational, speech and physical therapy with licensed clinicians, in Arlington.
Pediatric speech, occupational and physical therapy delivered in clinic, home, school or daycare, with a sensory gym at their Sterling office.
Licensed pediatric occupational therapists serving Northern Virginia since 2011, in Annandale.
Speech, occupational therapy and ABA with licensed therapists providing one-on-one care in Fairfax County.
Developmental screening and autism assessment using standardized tools, at offices in Fairfax, Herndon, Great Falls and Aldie.
Comprehensive, multi-step autism and developmental evaluations for children and teens, serving Loudoun and Northern Virginia.
Dr. Lowry Shropshire, developmental pediatrician, provides developmental evaluations and monitoring in Alexandria.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' HealthyChildren directory helps you find a board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatrician near you.
Serves Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria with IEP and 504 review, placement and least-restrictive-environment help, meeting preparation and representation, and due-process support.
A Northern Virginia special-education law firm representing families in IEP and 504 disputes, with an educational advocate (Kaitlynn Fraze, PhD) on staff.
Special-education advocacy and expert-witness services across Fairfax County and the wider DC/Maryland/Virginia area.
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates' searchable directory lists only active, vetted special-education advocates and attorneys — the field's real professional standard.
By law, your district must evaluate your child for special education at no cost once you request it in writing — always the first, free step. Use our free, ready-to-send request letter.
GMU's training clinic in Fairfax offers low-cost, sliding-scale psychological and psychoeducational assessment, supervised by faculty.
ACPS runs your child's IEP and specialized-instruction services across the city. Programs change year to year; confirm current offerings.
Virginia's free, federally funded Parent Training & Information Center: training and one-to-one help understanding your rights, evaluations, IEPs and meetings, birth to 26. A great first call.
Virginia's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and advocacy when your child's special-education rights are being denied.
Free developmental evaluation and early-intervention services (speech, OT, PT, developmental therapy) for any Virginia child birth to 3 with a delay — no diagnosis or income test needed.
Tell us what's happening with your child in Alexandria. No pressure, no cost — and we'll tell you honestly whether you even need us.
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