FES-UA
The Unique Abilities scholarship, explained.
Florida's Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities is the largest of the three awards, and for many families it covers the full cost of a smaller school. Here is what it is, who qualifies, and how to find out whether we are the right room for your child.
New Step Up applications close November 15, 2026.
After that, a family waits until the next school year. The average award covers our full tuition, so for most Florida families a year here costs nothing.
What FES-UA is
It is a state scholarship for Florida students with a qualifying diagnosis or an active IEP. Unlike the other two programs, there is no income test at all, and the award is typically larger, because it is meant to cover a setting that costs more to provide.
Funds are administered by Step Up For Students and the Florida Department of Education. They are paid to the school on a quarterly schedule, and nothing passes through your bank account.
Who qualifies
Around twenty diagnoses qualify. These are the most common. An active IEP from a Florida public school also qualifies a student on its own.
Eligibility is decided by Step Up For Students, not by us. If you are unsure whether your child qualifies, apply anyway. It costs nothing to find out.
What our room is like
We are a small Christ-centered Montessori school, and small is the whole point rather than a stage we are passing through.
Twelve children to a teacher
Mixed-age classrooms, so a child works at their own level rather than their grade's
An uninterrupted morning work cycle, without bells breaking concentration
Individual work plans, which is how Montessori runs normally rather than as an accommodation
A Head of School who knows every child here by name
Whether we are the right fit is a conversation
We are not going to publish a list of conditions we serve and let you work out the rest on your own. Some children thrive in a room like ours and some need therapies and specialist staffing that a school our size does not provide. You deserve a straight answer about which one your child is, from someone who has met them.
So call us and tell us about your child. If we are the right room, we will say so and help you with the scholarship application. If we are not, we will say that too, and point you somewhere better.
Eligibility, award amounts and funding decisions are made by Step Up For Students and the Florida Department of Education, not by the school. Listing a qualifying diagnosis above is a description of the scholarship criteria and is not a statement about services provided at Still We Rise Excellence Academy.