Through comprehensive child find efforts, the Bellevue School District seeks out all resident children (and non-residents attending private school within the Bellevue school district) with potentially disabling conditions.  The district special education program currently serves more than 1800 students.  A full continuum of special education services is available to resident students, ages three to twenty-one years.

The district also serves children from birth to two years through a contract with KinderingCenter.  Preschool students are served in a variety of ways utilizing many service delivery options, depending upon evaluation results, and IEP (Individual Education Program) committee recommendations.  These may include services at the district  center located at Phantom Lake Elementary, where the program is integrated with some regular preschool children.  Some students are placed, by parent choice, in regular preschool programs within the community. 

Service delivery options most frequently utilized by students ages five to twenty-one are resource services provided in general education classrooms and/or resource rooms, and to a much lesser extent, in integrated or self-contained classrooms.  Selection of the appropriate option for each student is based upon the student's IEP, the least restrictive environment requirements, and the methods that provide a reasonably high probability of assisting the student to achieve annual goals.  In addition, consideration is given to whether the student can be placed in his neighborhood school, and if not, if the school is as close as possible to the student's home.

Although the full continuum of services is available, not all options are available at every school site.  For students of all ages, OT, PT, SLP, and other related services are available as determined through the IEP process.  Opportunities for integrated extracurricular/non-academic activities are also considered.  Transition services, including goals and objectives, based on a functional vocational evaluation and anticipated post-school outcomes are part of the IEP beginning no later than age sixteen, and annually thereafter.  The need for extended school year (ESY) services is determined by the IEP team.