Transitions Plus
Greenville, Michigan
Contact:
Terry Hankis
Teacher Consultant
Montcalm Area Intermediate School District
Seiter Educational Center
1401 E. Van Deinse Avenue
Greenville, Michigan 48838
Phone: 616-754-9107
Fax: 616-754-3180
Mission
Transition Plus is focused on helping students achieve skills required for independent living and vocational success in the community. Transition Plus provides students with extended educational opportunities to achieve these skills and be better prepared to compete in employment and to make successful adjustment in the community.
Organization
Organization Type: Education Agency - Regional or Intermediate
Geographical Area: County
Primary Setting: Community-based training site, Independent living facility, Educational/Vocational Instructional Center
Funding: No special external funding source
Consumers
Target Population: Youth who have dropped out of school with disabilities, Postsecondary education students with disabilities, Secondary education students with disabilities, Other youth - At-risk of dropping out
Disability Areas: Mental retardation (mild, moderate), Severe emotional disturbance/emotional disability/ behavior disorder, Specific learning disability, Visual impairment
NTA Framework Categories
Description
Transition plus is a district approved educational service available to special education students who are 18 years or older. Transition Plus was developed to help students achieve their transition objectives through the use of real learning settings within the community.
Transition Plus serves any special education students who are enrolled in any of the following programs and whose Individual Educational Plan objectives are not completed by age 18 years old: Educable Mentally Impaired, Trainable Mentally Impaired, Learning Disabled, and Emotionally Impaired.
Transition Plus is housed at the Seiter Educational Center in Greenville, Michigan. Actual transition education and training will occur in a wide variety of community-based settings under the direction of licensed educational staff. The Transition staff work in partnership with key community agencies and resources that have mutual responsibilities for (youth and adult)
providing services.
Transition Plus is not designed to administer high school diplomas. Once a student receives a high school diploma from his/her respective school, he/she is no longer eligible to receive educational services at the secondary level. Those students who have completed all required high school course work, but have not achieved all the transition objectives, must have their high school diploma withheld until Transition Plus services are competed. These students may participate in graduation ceremonies with their class. Eligible students, i.e. Educable Mentally Impaired, Learning Disabled, Emotionally Impaired, will receive their diploma upon mastering the Transition Objectives and respective Competencies Programs. TMI students will receive a certificate when Transition goals are achieved.
Students participating in Transition Plus will continue to maintain an Individual Educational Plan with transition goals and measurable objectives. Progress in achieving goals and objectives will be based upon achievement and completion of measurable objectives. No grades will be given. Records will be maintained for each student.
The Transition Plus program is structured in a nine week marking period format. Students in Transition Plus are placed in one of three sites at the start of the traditional school year. The Life Skills program based at a house, purchased by the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District, is one of these sites. Community based training sites, competitive employment work sites, and supported employment work sites are other placement options. Classroom instruction is the third option of Transition Plus students. These students are deemed in need of social skills training, job skills training, testing and assessment, resume upgrading, and building custodial training.
Transition Plus became a reality in the fall of 1997 after nearly a year of study and information gathering. Since its inception, Transition Plus has become the program that everyone knew was needed in this mostly poor agricultural county. As word of this successful program has spread, the numbers have more than doubled for the 1998-99 school year. We, the staff of Transition Plus, consider our highly successful and respected program a model by which many educational facilities could benefit from.
Evidence of Success