Our Transitions program is led by Ms. Brown and Ms. Field. Through our transitions program we help students discover their passions and find their own inner motivators, we reinforce life skills and practical math, we help them to develop the social skills they’ll need in college, or the workplace and empower them to understand and take the lead in their individual transitions plan. Comprehensive college advising is also included.
Each grade level has a particular set of transitions goals. For 9th grade, the focus is on understanding how they learn, learning about self advocacy, and what their graduation requirements are. In 10th, they focus on understanding accommodations, and becoming a better self advocate. In 11th grade, it’s post-secondary options, gaining workplace experience, and becoming an even better self advocate and as seniors the focus is applying to college, finalizing plans, and understanding their rights under the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA).
We recently caught up with Ms. Rebecca Field from the Transitions Team to discuss how they’re currently working with students at Bayhill to help them maximize their full potential after high school. This is what she had to say:
Q: How’s the Transitions Team working with students and parents currently?
A: Starting freshman year we begin with a soft and gentle introduction. Ms. Brown does classroom push in. Sophomore year we host a coffee for parents during which we introduce our individual approach to post high school planning. We also provide lots of handouts with information about LD students and the college application process, our general timeline, basic information about college applications, etc.
Our focus is on working with each student and family on their post high school path. We understand that there is no right way to plan for life after high school and instead focus on helping students understand their academic, social and emotional needs so that they can put together options that make sense for them. Continued push in happens during sophomore year.
During the fall of junior year, we administer the Strong Interest Inventory (a career assessment tool that I am certified to administer and analyze). This assessment helps students gain a greater understanding of their interests and how those can relate to people doing various jobs and/or pursuing various majors. We also host the annual College & Transition Fair in October in the gym.
In the winter, we begin formal meetings with students and parents, where we review Strong Interest Inventory results (this can be very fun by the way), and start to establish a plan for post high school life. We do a complete transcript review during that meeting so that students and parents have a clear understanding of Bayhill High School graduation requirements and also understand what college eligibility requirements are.
We plan out senior year classes and discuss everything from extracurricular activities to letters of recommendation to personal statements. We create accounts for each student using College Planner Pro, link their cell phones to it, and show them how they can explore colleges, financial aid, etc.
We host an alumni panel where graduated Bayhill students return to speak with juniors and seniors about their experiences and to provide tips and advice.
During the summer students can access me for support on their personal statements. We suggest that students complete the writing over the summer so that when they come back in the fall, their applications are largely complete.
Once students return in the fall, we have another formal meeting with the students and parents to continue to support the post high school plans.
Throughout the process students and parents can check in with us on any of their concerns.
Q: What happens in Transitions towards the end of a student’s time at Bayhill?
A: We make sure that students are on track to graduate and begin to prepare them for life after high school. Many students are taking Life Skills and/or Consumer Math so they have some of the life skills they need.
Q: Any exciting news from that class we can share?
A: Sure! We’ve had students accepted at many colleges, universities, and gap years programs. Here are some of the places they’ve been accepted..
American University, Elon, Bentley, Agnes Scott, USF, University of Puget Sound, Willamette, Beacon College, Landmark College, Curry College, and Dean College.
We also have students who’ve been accepted to UCSC, CSU Humboldt, Sonoma State, Sacramento State, Chico State, CSU Channel Islands, SFSU, CSU East Bay, and more!
Every year we also have students looking at Gap Year options and/or independent living skills programs such as Northwest College Support, and College Internship Program (CIP).
For more information about how we help students with learning differences succeed in high school, college and beyond, please contact our Director of Admissions, Artice Jackson at artice@bayhillhs.org