New Eau Claire special ed 'transition center' opens to students
Nov. 17—EAU CLAIRE — A special education transition program for 18- to 21-year-olds in the Eau Claire school district has found a new home.
The transition program — which teaches older special education students about life after high school — is now permanently operating out of leased space at 2132 EastRidge Center near Hastings Way.
After undergoing renovation this summer, the facility opened to students on Nov. 1. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, the new facility got a glowing review from students Antonio Courtney and Josie Meyer, both of Eau Claire.
Courtney, a self-professed basketball fan, spoke excitedly about the program's collaboration with Highland Fitness, where students get to use and work at the gym.
As for Meyer, she's most excited to "get involved with adventures."
In 2020, the school district was searching for a space to house the transition program, which it calls Grow, Achieve, Transition, Empower, Working At Your Success, or GATEWAYS. They needed a space large enough to house a kitchen, teaching space, an ADA-compliant bathroom and shower, a therapy or meeting space, a recreational area and storage, said Mandy Van Vleet, executive director of special education, in February.
The district hoped for a space centrally located between North and Memorial high schools, since the transition program serves students from both schools. It also needed a safe entrance and location accessible by school bus.
Mike Johnson, Eau Claire schools superintendent, thanked the community, GATEWAYS and school district staffers, parents and the school board at the Tuesday ceremony.
"It's great to have seven votes, seven board members saying, this is very necessary for our students," Johnson said, referring to the school board's approval of the project.
Right now, if a special education student in the Eau Claire school district isn't ready to graduate at 18, the student can continue attending high school until age 21, Van Vleet said in February. But those students have different needs than other, younger special education students, she noted, which are difficult to meet in a high school setting.
The Eau Claire school district currently has two other offsite community-based transition options: Project SEARCH, a partnership with Mayo Clinic Health System, and Life Without Limits, an existing offsite 18- to 21-year-old program.
Those two programs don't encompass all students who need help transitioning into life after high school, Van Vleet said in February; some have more significant disabilities and need more support. (The Life Without Limits program is also now hosted at the new EastRidge Center facility.)
The 2021-22 school year is the first year of GATEWAYS, said the program's administrator Kelsey Tichey. Before moving into its new space, the program met at Memorial High School.
About 30 students currently use the new facility, Tichey said. Two full-time teachers serve the GATEWAYS program, and another works with Life Without Limits.
In May the school board approved a contract with Rhom Construction to renovate the space; work there began in June.
Also in May, the Eau Claire Public Schools Foundation launched a fund to raise money to outfit the suite with furniture, appliances and other items.
As of Tuesday morning, the foundation had met its $100,000 goal for the fund, said Sarah French, the foundation's executive director. Royal Credit Union donated $50,000 to the fund, and the Eau Claire Community Foundation donated $10,000, French said.
The foundation will continue to raise money for GATEWAYS, focusing on student programming and community engagement.