North DuPage Special Education Cooperative

Vision Statement

To develop, nurture, and establish students as young adult learners in a collaborative, community- based program that supports and enhances students' independence and promotes adulthood success in the areas of: employment, post-secondary education and training, independent living, and community.

To meet the needs of our young adults, the Transition Learning Center staff works as a team to provide a continuum of programs and training to support young adult learners at all levels of functioning to maximize student success.

About TLC

The Transitional Learning Center Program serves students ages 18 – 21 years old who are eligible for special education and require an educational environment with intensive programming. The program provides individualized services to support students as they pursue post-secondary education, vocation, and independent living skills opportunities. Students are engaged in an educational learning environment with opportunities to participate in college, vocational, community and wellness activities, as appropriate. Our focus is on nurturing the growth of the whole child by fostering independence throughout the learning process.

Characteristics of students typically referred to the Transition Learning Center:

• Students who function significantly below grade level across cognitive, academic, and daily living skills domains.
• Students who require a functional academic curriculum as a means to reinforce and generalize academic and vocational skills.
• Students who benefit from instruction to support daily living skills, including community field trips to reinforce skills.
• Students in need of support to improve communication, including speech/language and assistive technologies, as appropriate.
• Students who benefit from support to develop fine motor and gross motor skills, as appropriate.

Program Model:

• Targeted instruction to develop functional academic and vocational skills.
• Focus on functional skills development are embedded into daily instruction and activities to foster independence across daily living skills domains, including community and wellness activities.
• Focus on language development and use that incorporates visual supports and communication systems, as appropriate.
• Attention to fine and gross motor development that incorporates sensory needs, as needed.
• Multidisciplinary team approach that includes a special education teacher, social worker, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, school psychologist, certified school nurse, and other related service personnel, as required.

Transition (Ages: 18 – 22)

Transition Learning Center
6 South Addison St.
Bensenville, IL 60106
630-980-3949
Classroom Teachers: Kim Molenda, Monique Nemes
Supervisor: Nicole Melquist  [email protected]