Special Education Transition Department

Program Information:

The word TRANSITION means passage from one state, place, or stage to another.  When a person has a disability, either mental, physical, or emotional, there often exists a barrier to being completely self-sufficient.  When the public schools recognize such a barrier, they are mandated by public law to assist the student to become as self-sufficient as possible.  To accomplish this task, not only the classroom teacher, psychologists, social workers and counselors are involved, but there is an entire department dedicated to augmenting their efforts.  It is called the Transition Department.  It consists of a coordinator, Job Coaches, a Transition Teacher, & paraprofessionals.  This staff begins working with students during the year when the student will become 16.

Getting to know the student and his/her parents and what their goals and dreams are is an important part of what TRANSITION does.  Students can be assigned through the Transition Department to the Transition Apartment for life skills training or to Cardinal House Vocational Training Center for pre-vocational training.  Students can be job coached at paid or unpaid work experiences in the community.

College visits or other post-secondary educational venues are explored as goals dictate.