Schools for ADHD That Accept Texas ESA: 10 Verified Options for 2026–27

Yes — there are schools for ADHD that accept Texas ESA money, and we've named the verified options below. We found 10 school options that pass both checks: the exact school or campus appears in the state's participating-school records, and the school says on its own website that it serves students with ADHD. Fusion Academy is counted once below but has eight named Texas campuses that currently say they accept TEFA. The standard award for the 2026–27 school year is $10,474.

And that's where things get confusing for most families. Because almost everyone who lands on this page was expecting a bigger number.

Here's the short version, and then we'll show our work.

The answer changes based on three things:

1. Which document you hold. ADHD by itself doesn't unlock the higher award. Texas pays more only when your child has a current qualifying IEP on file with the Texas Education Agency. A 504 plan by itself does not create TEFA disability priority and does not increase the award. A completed Comptroller Disability Certification Form can establish disability priority, but it still does not increase the award.
2. Where you live. As of the state's July 29, 2026 snapshot, the Houston, Dallas-area, and Fort Worth regions held 43,716 of 85,344 funded accounts — 51.2% of the state total. If you're in West Texas or the Panhandle, your realistic options look very different.
3. Whether the school will take your child. Accepting the money and accepting your kid are two separate decisions, made by two different parties.

Quick decision card

That last line is the real reason you couldn't find this list yourself. We'll prove it in a minute.

For a lot of families that's a footnote. For an ADHD family it's the whole thing, because accommodations are often the support. That's what a 504 plan is. That's much of what your child may get in public school right now.

So here's the honest trade.

If you need the new private school to implement your child's public-school IEP as written, Texas ESA is the wrong tool, and we'd rather tell you that than take your click. Staying in public school keeps IDEA rights tied to the public-school program. A district-funded private placement is a different route and can carry different legal protections because the district, not the parent alone, made the placement.

(Counted in the live finder on August 5, 2026. Because the finder can change, the count should be rerun whenever this page is refreshed.)

So if you spent an evening on that site getting frustrated, you weren't doing it wrong. The school filter you were looking for was never built.

Gate 3: the school admits your child

Participating in a state program doesn't obligate a school to enroll anyone. Most of the specialized schools on our list run a real admissions process: a current evaluation, records from the current school, a parent interview and often a shadow day.

Several have academic or profile limits, too. Great Lakes Academy, for example, says it serves students of average-to-above-average intelligence. Winston says students with moderate-to-severe autism, intellectual disabilities and several emotional or behavioral diagnoses fall outside its mission. Briarwood requires a current full psychoeducational evaluation before it invites a family to apply. Those are not insults. They are schools telling you honestly what their classrooms are built to do. Read those lines carefully. They can save you an application fee.

Gate 4: you can actually pay the rest

Your award is one number. The school's real first-year cost is a different, bigger number. We do that math in a section below, and it's the section most families tell us they wish they'd read first.

Executive function, by the way, is the term you'll hear constantly here. It just means the brain's management system — starting tasks, staying with them, remembering steps, keeping track of stuff, managing time and managing feelings. It's what many kids with ADHD struggle with more than attention itself.

Find your child below.

“My kid is smart and on grade level. He just can't stay organized.”

This is a common profile, and it's one that may find a good fit in an academic learning-differences school.

What you're looking for isn't broad remediation. It's structure — small classes, explicit teaching of planning and organization, and a homework system that doesn't collapse when your kid forgets one thing.

Start with: Great Lakes Academy, The Winston School San Antonio, Fairhill School, Shelton School and Fusion Academy, depending on grade, location and the rest of the child's profile.

Ask these three questions:

• Who teaches organization and planning — is it a real part of the day, or is it assumed?
• How are assignments tracked, and what happens when one goes missing?
• How much independent homework management do you expect at my child's grade?

If the answer to the first one is vague, keep looking. “We have small classes” is not an executive-function program.

“My kid has ADHD and dyslexia.”

This combination changes the search. You need a school that does structured reading instruction properly, not one that treats every reading problem as an attention problem.

Start with: Shelton School, The Briarwood School, The Winston School San Antonio and Fairhill School. Briarwood may be especially relevant when the language-based learning disability is primary and ADHD is co-existing.

One important note: do not assume that a dyslexia diagnosis, 504 plan or private evaluation is the same as a current Texas IEP. Check the title and date of the document you actually hold. For 2026–27 enhanced TEFA funding, the official family page says TEA matched IEPs from the 2023–24, 2024–25 or 2025–26 school years.

Ask: Is genuinely advanced work available, or does “individualized” mean slowed down? What happens when ability is high and work completion is low? That second question separates the schools that understand 2e from the ones that just say the word.

“My kid's biggest issue is behavior, not academics.”

Read this part slowly, because families get hurt here.

A small class is not the same as therapeutic support. Many of the schools on this page are academic programs that happen to be small and kind. They are not equipped for aggression, elopement, school refusal, self-harm risk or frequent crisis behavior — and if you enroll and it goes badly, the private-school contract and applicable law do not give you the same IDEA removal process that a public school uses.

Be direct in the first phone call. Name the actual behavior. Ask what staff have done when it happened before. A good school will tell you honestly if it's out of range, and that honesty is worth more than a yes.

If behavior is the core need, a therapeutic program is the right category, and it may sit outside what a $10,474 award can reach without significant aid.

“My kid has ADHD but no formal diagnosis or plan yet.”

You can still ask schools about admission. Many specialized schools will want a current psychoeducational evaluation, which is a formal testing report — usually done by a psychologist — that measures learning, attention and thinking.

But know the difference between documents that sound alike:

• A medical or psychological ADHD diagnosis may help a school understand the child and may support a qualified professional completing the Comptroller's disability form.
• A completed Comptroller Disability Certification Form can establish TEFA disability priority when it meets the official instructions. It does not increase the award.
• A current Texas IEP on file with TEA is what can increase the state's award for an awarded private-school student.
• A 504 plan by itself is not one of the four proof documents listed in the current TEFA disability-form instructions.

They are not the same document, and one does not automatically produce the other. More on that below.

And a plain word: please don't chase a diagnosis just to get funding. Get an evaluation because you want to understand your kid. The money question is downstream of that.

Here's what the gap actually looks like at school-published prices.

Prices checked on school-owned pages on August 5, 2026. Financial aid is not subtracted. Winston, Inspire, Bridge Builder and a complete annual Fusion plan could not be priced from a current public annual total.

Look at Gateway. It's a legitimate school serving a real population. And a family with a standard award still needs roughly $48,000 before any aid. That's not a criticism of the school — it's the arithmetic nobody puts in front of you before you fall in love with a campus tour.

The costs families forget

Ask about every one of these before you sign anything:

• Application fee
• Admissions testing or evaluation
• Enrollment or registration fee
• Deposit — and whether it's refundable
• Tuition refund insurance, if required
• Technology or device fee
• Uniforms
• Transportation
• Lunch
• Extended day or aftercare
• Any one-to-one aide or extra therapy billed separately
• Summer program, if expected
• What you owe if you withdraw mid-year

That last one is the one that bites. Great Lakes publishes a strict no-refund policy, and Vanguard says 100% of tuition remains due if an enrolled student does not attend for the contracted school year. Other schools may use similar full-year contracts. Read the exact contract before you sign it.

This is the single most misunderstood part of the program, so let's take it piece by piece.

What each document actually does

Two things to underline.

The Disability Certification Form is priority-only. The state's own instructions say the form helps determine priority for admission and will not be used to establish the amount of funds available. If you filled that out expecting $30,000, that's why the number came back different.

A 504 plan is not the same as the Comptroller's proof form. A school 504 plan may contain useful evidence, but the current instructions list four accepted routes: a Texas IEP, a Texas district FIIE, an out-of-state IEP for a child moving to Texas, or the completed Comptroller form. A 504 plan is not listed as a stand-alone route.

For the current enhanced amount, the official TEFA family page says the program tried to match IEPs from 2023–24, 2024–25 or 2025–26. Check the current official year list before relying on this rule for 2027–28.

What Other Health Impairment actually requires

Texas defines Other Health Impairment as limited strength, vitality or alertness caused by a chronic or acute health problem that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The official TEFA form instructions name attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder directly.

But disability eligibility is not just “the child has ADHD.” The form's general criteria require that the disability adversely affect educational performance and that, because of the disability, the child needs special education or related services to receive educational benefit.

That third part is where many families hit the line.

A child can have real ADHD, struggle hard and still have a 504 plan rather than an IEP because the school determined that accommodations — not specially designed instruction — were enough. That may be the correct educational decision for the child. Under the current TEFA funding rule, it also means the child does not have the IEP needed for the larger award.

That's not a judgment about your child, and it's not something you failed to do. It's a line the program uses.

Who can confirm ADHD under the Other Health Impairment box?

If you're getting the Disability Certification Form completed, this paragraph might save you an appointment and a copay.

The form says a qualified professional completes the disability category, but some categories name the required professional. Other Health Impairment is one of them. The child's chronic or acute health problem must be confirmed by a licensed physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse with delegated authority.

Read that list again. A psychologist alone isn't on the OHI confirmation list.

That does not mean a psychologist's evaluation is useless. It can be important evidence for diagnosis, school admission and the broader evaluation record. It means the OHI section of this particular state form has a specific medical-confirmation rule.

So before you book anything: ask whether the professional completing the OHI confirmation fits the list in the current Comptroller instructions.

Primary source: TEFA Disability Certification Form Instructions, Publication 98-1606.

Why did my award say $10,474 when the program advertises up to $30,000?

Because “up to” is carrying a lot of weight. The official TEFA page says most qualifying students receive less than the $30,000 cap. The extra amount is based on what the child's local district would receive under the IEP, using the district of residence and the instructional arrangement or setting code.

The state published a demographic report using data through July 29, 2026. We did the arithmetic.

The disability-priority funnel

Do the subtraction: 12,814 eligible applicants with a documented disability were not funded in those disability rows as of the July 29 snapshot. That's 38.2% of the 33,514 eligible applicants shown in the disability table.

And look at the bottom two rows. 4,100 eligible applicants with a documented disability in households above 500% of the federal poverty level had no funded participants shown in those rows at that snapshot. That is a dated program snapshot, not a promise that no later movement can occur.

Zoom out and the picture holds. The report said approximately 274,000 applications were received, more than 248,000 students were eligible, more than 122,000 awards had been made, 85,344 accounts had been funded, and more than 121,000 students remained on the year-one waiting list. The report also said almost 25% of participating students had a qualifying disability and 80% were in households below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Where the extra money comes from, in one sentence: the add-on is tied to the district and the instructional arrangement or setting code on the child's IEP, not to a menu of ADHD needs. Two children with the same diagnosis can have different awards because the IEP funding inputs differ.

Do not estimate your budget from the $30,000 headline. Use the award shown in your TEFA portal.

What if there's no ADHD school near me?

A full-time specialist school isn't the only path, and for a lot of Texas families it isn't the realistic one. A good general private school paired with executive-function coaching may work better than a two-hour daily commute — and TEFA may help pay for both pieces when the school, provider and expense meet the current rules.

Four alternatives worth real consideration:

1. A regular participating private school plus ADHD support on the side. Small school, reasonable tuition, plus a tutor or educational therapist. The official finder includes an “ADHD/Executive Function” tag under Therapy. That means the directory has a category you can search; it does not guarantee an approved provider is close to you or right for your child. Verify the provider's approval and the exact service before spending funds.

One caution: the official approved-expense list treats private tutoring and educational therapy as different categories. Educational therapies are approved only when they are not covered by federal, state or local government benefits such as Medicaid. Check the current rule and the provider's marketplace status before you commit money.

2. Public school with a stronger plan. Genuinely on the table. If your child has never been evaluated, or the 504 plan is thin, a written evaluation request and a better plan can change the year — and public-school IDEA and Section 504 rights remain available.

3. Charter or magnet schools. Worth exploring. But be clear on what they are: charter schools are public schools. They're tuition-free, they don't charge private-school tuition for Texas ESA to pay, and they are not a private-school TEFA option. Enrolling in a Texas public or charter school ends TEFA participation.

4. Homeschool with tutoring and curriculum. Different funding category, and much smaller: $2,000 for 2026–27, versus $10,474 for an awarded private-school student. For some kids with ADHD — especially older children who've had a rough run in classrooms — the flexibility beats the money. For others it's a hard road for a working parent.

1. Do you admit students whose only diagnosis is ADHD?
2. Do you require a second learning diagnosis?
3. What evaluation do you require, and how recent does it have to be?
4. Which ADHD profiles are outside what your school can do?
5. What's the class size in my child's specific grade — not the school average?
6. Who teaches organization and planning, and when does it happen?
7. How much homework is expected, and how is it tracked?
8. What do teachers do when a student shuts down or refuses to work?
9. Can staff give medication during the school day, and who does it?
10. What behavioral support exists, and where's the line?
11. Which services cost extra?
12. What's the complete first-year price, all fees included?
13. What's nonrefundable, and what do we owe if we withdraw in November?
14. Is there an open seat in my child's exact grade right now?
15. Without naming a student, can you give me a recent example of how staff handled a child who could not stay seated or finish work?

That last question is the whole ballgame. A school that's genuinely built for this will have a real answer and probably a clear example. A school that isn't will get vague. Listen for the vagueness.

Take this with you: We turned all 15 questions into a one-page printable with room for notes on each school, plus an email version you can send before you pay an application fee. → Print this 15-question section before you call.

What can disqualify an otherwise great school?

A school can be respected, kind and successful and still be wrong for your child. The common dealbreakers are grade, distance, cost, academic profile, behavior limits, missing evaluations, co-occurring needs and no open seat.

The point is not to find a school with no downside. It is to find the downside your family can live with and reject the one you can't.

I'm on the waitlist. What's my deadline?

September 15, 2026 is the full-award confirmation deadline for students awarded after July 15. The official timeline says a student confirmed after September 15 can receive 75% of the award, and a student confirmed after January 15 can receive 50%.

As of the state's July 29 snapshot, Tier 3 had 72,644 eligible applicants and fewer than 30 funded participants shown in that row. That is a dated snapshot, not a live waitlist counter.

If proration is a live possibility for you, it changes your school list — a smaller award makes lower-cost options more important. Build your shortlist with the award shown in your portal, and don't sign a contract based on money you don't have yet.

Get your specific deadline and award in writing through the official portal or program support. A statewide article cannot see the date on your individual notice.

Primary source: TEFA funding timelines and installments.

Missed this year? Here's what to do now.

Do not wait until the 2027–28 application opens to start school research or a needed public-school evaluation. The next application date had not been announced as of August 5, 2026, so nobody can honestly give you a precise “start by” date yet.

Texas's general initial-evaluation timeline gives you a real planning frame:

1. After a parent submits a written request for an initial special-education evaluation to the right district official, the district generally must respond within 15 school days by seeking consent or giving written refusal.
2. After written consent, the full individual and initial evaluation is generally due within 45 school days, with special rules around absences and the end of the school year.
3. The initial ARD committee meeting is generally due within 30 calendar days after the evaluation report is completed, with summer exceptions.

Those clocks can cross holidays, school breaks and summer rules. Once Texas announces the 2027–28 TEFA deadline, work backward from the official date and your district's calendar. Applying to TEFA does not speed up the public-school evaluation process.

You can request an evaluation from the responsible public school district even if your child attends private school or is homeschooled. Put the request in writing, date it and keep a copy. An evaluation request does not guarantee that the child will qualify for an IEP, and an IEP does not guarantee a TEFA award.

At the same time:

• Join the official 2027–28 TEFA interest list.
• Tour schools before seats become urgent.
• Get complete cost and contract terms in writing.
• Keep the child's current evaluation, report cards and records together.
• Check the new cycle's accepted IEP years and proof rules when they are published.
• Do not rely on a 2026 checklist after the state changes a rule.

What we actually verified

We don't want you taking anything here on faith, so here's exactly what we did and where we stopped.

• How many Texas students on 504 plans have ADHD. TEA publishes Section 504 totals but not the condition breakdown in the report we checked.
• Open seats at any school. Availability can change daily. Ask the school and get the answer in writing.
• A complete public annual price for Winston, Inspire, Bridge Builder or Fusion's customized full-time plan. We publish “not publicly posted” or “customized,” not zero.
• Direct ADHD wording for every Group B school. Those schools remain research leads, not verified ADHD schools.
• Whether any school is right for your child. No website, diagnosis or state file can make that child-specific decision.

What we deliberately left out:

• Tuition figures from general school directories.
• Any ranking of “best” ADHD schools.
• Any school we could not match by exact name and address.
• Testimonials used as proof that a school will work for your child.
• Open-seat claims and acceptance promises.

How we handled disagreements between sources. Where a school's website and a directory disagreed, we used the school. Where a school summary and the Comptroller disagreed about TEFA rules, we used the Comptroller. Where a state file listed a broader grade span than the school's public program page, we used the school page for the grades a family can currently investigate.

No school paid to appear here. We don't rank by payment, and there are no affiliate links on this page. Inclusion means we found current evidence that met our method — not that a school is right for your child.

Found something wrong? Send the correction with a current primary source. Material corrections will be added to the visible change log below.

Change log

• August 5, 2026 — Dataset version 1.0: Initial publication. Cross-checked the official participating-school workbook against school-owned ADHD language, rebuilt first-year cost gaps from school-published prices, and verified TEFA funding, documentation, deadline, rights and demographic claims against current primary sources.

Frequently asked questions

Does ADHD qualify for Texas ESA?

Yes for general program eligibility when the child and parent meet the normal Texas residency, lawful-presence and school-eligibility rules. ADHD can also fit the Other Health Impairment disability category. But ADHD by itself does not create disability priority or the larger award. Priority needs one of the official proof routes, and enhanced funding needs a current qualifying IEP on file with TEA.

How much money will a child with ADHD get?

An awarded student attending a participating private school receives the standard $10,474 for 2026–27 unless the student qualifies for IEP-based additional funding or receives a prorated late award. The enhanced amount is capped at $30,000, and the official site says most qualifying students receive less than the cap.

Does a 504 plan qualify for the $30,000?

No. A 504 plan by itself neither increases the award nor appears as a stand-alone disability-priority document in the current Comptroller instructions. A completed Disability Certification Form can establish priority, but it still does not increase the award. The enhanced amount requires a current qualifying IEP on file with TEA.

Does a private ADHD evaluation qualify me for extra funding?

No. A private evaluation can help a school understand the child and may help a qualified professional complete the Disability Certification Form. The evaluation alone is not one of the listed proof documents and does not create the enhanced award.

Can a school accept Texas ESA and still reject my child?

Yes. Participation means the state allows funds to be paid to the exact participating school. Admissions decisions remain with the school. Several schools on this page require current evaluations, interviews, records and student visits, and several publish profiles they do not serve.

Do private schools have to follow my child's IEP?

A parent-chosen private school does not have to implement the public-school IEP as written under IDEA. Other laws may apply to the exact school, including the ADA for many nonreligious private schools or Section 504 when federal funding is involved. Ask the school to describe its actual support in writing and get legal advice for a specific dispute.

Will Texas ESA cover the whole tuition?

It can cover the whole listed cost at a lower-priced school or after financial aid, but it does not cover the full published first-year price at most specialized schools we could calculate. The standard-award gaps in our verified cost table range from $6,526 to $48,426 before school aid.

Can Texas ESA pay for ADHD tutoring or executive-function coaching?

Private tutoring is an approved expense category, and “ADHD/Executive Function” appears as a Therapy specialty in the official provider finder. The exact provider and service still must be approved, and educational therapy has its own rule: it cannot be covered by federal, state or local government benefits such as Medicaid. Verify the current marketplace listing before paying.

Are charter schools part of Texas ESA?

No. Charter schools are public schools. They're tuition-free and are not private-school TEFA placements. A child stops participating in TEFA upon enrollment in a Texas public school or open-enrollment charter school.

Can homeschool families get Texas ESA money?

Yes, if awarded, but the 2026–27 homeschool/other amount is $2,000, not the $10,474 private-school amount.

Are there online schools that accept Texas ESA?

The program can approve online programs, and the official finder includes format filters. Verify the exact online provider's current participation before enrolling. Fusion says TEFA for its fully online Fusion Global Academy was only anticipated for fall 2026 on the page checked, so we did not treat that online program as already verified in this article.

What's the best ADHD school in Dallas?

There isn't one best. Dallas-area verified options include Shelton, Fairhill, Great Lakes in Plano, Inspire in Colleyville, The St. Anthony School in Carrollton and several Fusion campuses. They serve different grades, academic profiles, support levels and budgets. Start with your child's profile, not a ranking.

Can my child keep getting public-school special-education services?

Your ability to request a public-school evaluation generally continues, but a parentally placed private-school child does not have an individual right to every service the child would receive in public school. Ask the responsible district about Child Find, evaluation and the limited services plan for private-school students.

When do 2027–28 applications open?

The official date had not been announced as of August 5, 2026. The Comptroller currently offers a 2027–28 interest list and family-update signup. Use the new official dates when they are published rather than assuming the 2026 window will repeat.

One last thing

If you've been searching for weeks and coming up empty, we want you to hear this clearly:

You weren't missing something obvious. The list you were looking for was never built.

The state built a finder that separates schools from education-service providers. It gives schools location, grade and format filters. It gives providers detailed specialty tags, including equestrian activities, cooking, martial arts and ADHD/Executive Function therapy. It does not let a parent filter the participating private-school list for ADHD.

That's not your search skills. That's a gap in the tool.

Now you have the verified schools, the questions and the math. Go make two phone calls.