Meeting students’ needs is a trademark of our SCSOS Adult Transition Classrooms. LaVonne Jensen’s classroom services eleven students who are part of our most vulnerable population of students. The students attend class in cohorts: Five students attend Cohort A: Mondays and Tuesdays. Four students attend Cohort B on Thursdays and Fridays. Two students attend Cohort C which is distance learning.
Teacher LaVonne Jensen, Para-educators Roberta Langley, Debbie McCarthy-1:1, Marilee Perez and Josephine Tabios use the county adopted “Unique” curriculum. Unique Transition Curriculum has monthly themes that focus on functional living skills, social skills, grooming, and hygiene. The component they use the most is the “Core Tasks,” these are Life Skills tasks in Task Analysis form. It is a visual step-by-step, repetitive approach to helping their students develop practical life skills. There are fifteen different tasks that students are taught from sweeping floors to wiping down tables to washing windows. Mrs. Jensen’s ATP class is working on prerequisite skills and practice in the classroom with hands-on-tasks. The goal is to have students master skills in independent living, social skills, training or education and pre-vocation. This is to help students become as independent as possible in their adult lives. Para Roberta is working with all three classrooms at ATP in the newly started Culinary Program, and the local Chamber of Commerce fully embraces the efforts these students are making towards independence.
Each morning when the students come in, they follow a visual schedule as most cannot read and most are not verbal. Each student works on hygiene goals as well as soft skills in the area of pre-vocation. The goal is to assist the students to become independent and contributing citizens.
The staff in this classroom has a combined total of 110 years of collective experience in special education; they are truly a dream team. The environment created by the staff in this classroom is one of inclusion and support. Students are learning to become productive citizens within their community due to the diligent efforts of the teacher and para-educators.
