High School Graduation and Transition

TRANSITION SERVICES AT THE RENAISSANCE CHARTER SCHOOL


What is Transition?

Transition describes the change in a young person's status from K-12 student to independent adult, and all of the adjustments that that change entails. Transition services, required by law to be provided to students with disabilities aged 15 and older, help support them in thinking about and working toward their immediate and long-range plans after high school. Each student's transition plan, which is designed by teachers, the student, and his or her family for inclusion in the IEP (Individualized Education Plan), is designed to meet that student's needs. The transition plan usually includes goals for functioning independently within the greater community and goals regarding employment and/or higher education.

2015-2016 ACCES-VR (formerly VESID) update:


VERY IMPORTANT: All seniors eligible for ACCES-VR (New York State's Adult Continuing Career and Educational Services-Vocational Rehabilitation) will be given an information packet early in the spring semester. Please be on the lookout for these ACCES-VR packets, including information and forms to fill out that will be coming home. If your family is interested in obtaining these state services, you must return the packet to school by June 1, 2016. You may make an appointment with the ACCES-VR Queens office independently, but we will not be able to provide copies of the official school documents helpful to your ACCES-VR application (transcripts, IEPs, etc.) after the last day of school in June.

Contact information for the ACCES-VR Queens office
11-15 47th Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: 347-510-3100
Fax: 718-784-3702

Please contact the above office to schedule an orientation meeting after you have all of your documentation in order. Meetings last approximately one hour and constitute an excused absence from school for that portion of the day (please show your orientation materials to Barbara De Marco in the TRCS main office). You must make a reservation at (347) 510-3100 to pre-register for a meeting.


From the New York State Vocational Rehabilitation Q and A web page:

How can a Vocational Rehabilitation counselor help me?

A VR counselor can:

•
Give you information about careers and job opportunities to help you decide on a job goal.
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Suggest ways to find out about your abilities, interests and needs for help.
•
Help you choose a work goal that fits your choices, needs and abilities.
•
Make recommendations on how your school program can help you develop job skills.
•
Help you find the training to prepare for your goal, whether it is college, trade school or on-the-job.
•
Help you find a job and follow up to make sure it is the right job for you.
•
Tell you who to talk to when you have questions about transportation, financial aid, work benefits and other concerns.




GOING TO COLLEGE


We are a college preparatory high school, and the TRCS Instructional Support department works closely with the College Bound department in helping our students with disabilities work toward higher education. They have a wealth of resources on their site that are college-related. Please visit their wiki page at http://trcscollegeoffice.blogspot.com/

Some college basics for students with disabilities:

1. It's important to note that different federal laws apply to K-12 schools and colleges for students with IEPs. While in high school, students with Individualized Education Plans are covered by the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), which provides for the IEP and all special education services. The laws that colleges must follow regarding disabled students are found in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. A couple of highlights of the differences are as follows:

  • In K-12, the school must seek out individuals with disabilities, but this is not true of colleges. You must contact the school and provide documentation of your disability to the college that you ultimately choose to attend.
  • K-12 schools are required to provide special education services to students who need them. Colleges are required only to provide accommodations for disabled students; you are not entitled to special programs (although some do offer more than that either for free or an additional cost; see #2 below).
  • If you have an IEP, it is a K-12 document only, and usually does not by itself constitute sufficient evidence of a disability to a college. Colleges must look at documentation of your diagnosis--usually a professional evaluation--and determine for themselves which accommodations to provide for equal access.

2. It is important for students with learning disabilities to look for schools with programs that will support them. While every school is required to provide access to students with disabilities, some programs are much more comprehensive than others. There are many resources online and college websites will have information about their own program. Look in the Resources section at the bottom of this page for more information.

3. You are not required to disclose information about your disability during the application process, although there are times when it is advisable to do so (such as applying for a special program for learning disabled students). However, as soon as you are accepted, if you want to receive testing accommodations or any services the college offers, you MUST be in touch with the office for students with disabilities (this office may have different names at different colleges) to let them know what you need. Do this earlier rather than later, because if you need accommodations on an summer assessment test, for example, it's a good idea to allow you and your family as much time as possible to make sure the required documents are in order, and also to give your college plenty of time to review them.


Accommodations for PSATs, SATs, and ACTs

Students with disabilities planning to take College Board exams (required by most colleges, including CUNY and SUNY schools) must register via a special process with the College Board for accommodations on the PSATs and SATs or subject area tests. You should do this no later than the spring semester of 9th grade, because you will take your PSATs in October of 10th grade and the College Board needs time to review your materials. Please see Liz Perez for College Board accommodation application guidance in Room 206. For more information about the process, see the Services for Students with Disabilities page of the College Board website.

For the ACT exam, there is a separate application for documentation. The application process varies depending on the accommodation(s) requested.


CAREERS


  • Seniors and graduates seeking employment should visit the Queens Workforce 1 center on Jamaica Avenue for an orientation. You will need to dress professionally and bring a copy of your resume and acceptable proof of date of birth. See the Queens Workforce 1 website for times and other information: http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/wf1/html/about/transportation.shtml



  • Links for job seekers:



If you are looking to work while you are in high school, you should be rounding up the following documents:




ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES


http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/transition Resources for persons with learning disabilities seeking information about transition, including articles, links, books, etc.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html US Department of Education guide for students with disabilities preparing for secondary education

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/transition/sandf.htm New York State Education Department website on transition with many, many links for students and their families

http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/Transition/ParentGuide/default.htm This is a parent guide provided by the New York City Department of Education (Note: We are not a Department of Education school, so some of the resources mentioned may be different, but there is some good information here.)

http://www.ahead.org/students-parents/transitions Another excellent resource with many articles and links

http://www.napcse.org/transitionservices/ This is the transition page of the National Association of Parents with Children in Special Education.

http://www.addvance.com/help/young_adults/index.html Information for young adults with ADD/ADHD and their parents



We also have a number of books available in Room 206 that are designed to help students apply to and have success in college, including the following:


K & W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities, 9th Edition (College Admissions Guides) by Princeton Review, Marybeth Kravets, and Imy Wax (Paperback- Sep 4, 2007)



Survival Guide for College Students with ADHD or LD by Kathleen G. Nadeau (Paperback)

(I've included the Amazon.com links in case you'd like to find out more information about these books and/or purchase them for yourselves.)


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