Successful High School Transitions

Transitions are one of the biggest struggles in special education. For parents, for teachers, and most of all for our students. This is one of the main reasons we started and grew the peer mentor program at WMS. To create a support system of friends around our students so when they transition to the high school it becomes far less traumatic.

The reports from my past students parents are a resounding "It's Working!"

My students parents were extremely nervous those weeks before school started. They had to send their special education student to the orientation at the local high school ...500 freshmen in a gym..all day. For a student on the autism spectrum who doesn't have much language, needs to move constantly, and makes all sorts of wonderful noises, this day would be challenging in the least.

This huge gathering could have been a horrible way to start the year off. But it wasn't. In a large part their parents say because of the peer mentors from over the years who had worked with them and knew them well.

All three of the boys were met with open arms, had people to sit with, and friends to spend the day with... immediately. They had a class of freshman that already knew and accepted them. This is what special education integration should look like. This is why we provide an opportunity for students to come into our classroom and have the chance to get to know our students.

Our past peer mentors are making sure my students have a place to eat in the crazy high school cafeteria, are helping them find their way to classes, are giving them high fives in the hallways, and joining Unified Sports to play along side them on the field and court.

The support network that was started in middle school has continued naturally into high school. My hope in the years to come is that we will see this trend not only continue but to flourish and grow.

Everyone deserves to feel accepted.