Center on Transition Innovations

📢 We’re bringing back our popular Transition Talks series! 🗓️ Join us for the first Q&A on Dec 2 - 3:30 PM Learn how to: ✔️build shared expectations ✔️strengthen communication ✔️support families guiding student toward life after HS Family Engagement: 🔗buff.ly/gsJJQzZ

How do we best support the career development of students with complex support needs? By starting early. This week's resource is a free guide for special educators supporting students with disabilities in middle school. Check out the PDF today: buff.ly/ohkqQZn

About this Program: This is a one-year, virtual program that includes support for high school students as they partner with mentors through individual & group sessions + work to develop a career development portfolio across 6 group sessions and 6 individual sessions.

● have reliable access to the internet, a computer with a camera and microphone, and a private physical space to participate in mentoring sessions. A loaner laptop will be provided upon request.

Spread the word to VA high school students who are Blind, Vision Impaired, or Deafblind! Mentorship opportunity: apply by 6/1. A FREE, virtual, one-year program led by VCU’s RRTC in partnership with DBVI. For more info, email William.Sutton@dbvi.virginia.gov

☑️ Flexible: Students can complete modules on their own time, making it a perfect addition to a classroom curriculum or home routine.

Why recommend this course? ☑️ Practical & Actionable: Covers everything from resume writing and workplace etiquette to mock interviews. ☑️ Empowering: Focuses heavily on self-determination, accommodation requests, and understanding disability rights in the workplace.

The transition from school to work doesn't have to feel like jumping off a cliff. Don't let your students navigate the future job market alone. Give them the tools they need today. Start with our free course: Get Ready for Your Career 👉 Enroll today: buff.ly/r8FCSzw

Join us for a (parents-only) Transition Talk on Independent Living on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, from 3:30-4:30 PM ET, featuring Kendel St. John, Transition Training Associate at CTI, and hosted by Dr.Staci Carr. Save your seat here: buff.ly/QXA55fW

If you haven't already, sign up for our next webcast on Independent Living and Housing Considerations when Transition Planning, presented by Kendel St. John, M.Ed., on June 10, 2026, at 2 PM! Register today to join us: buff.ly/Ra3mGl2

"I define disability as an opportunity for innovation." -Haben Girma We'll keep this perspective in mind this week and continue our work to support the successful transition of youth with disabilities. Wishing you all a good week!

🗓️ Our next webcast on Independent Living and Housing Considerations when Transition Planning, presented by Kendel St. John, M.Ed., is on June 10, 2026, at 2 PM! Register today to join us: buff.ly/Ra3mGl2

🔘 Collaborate with the Receiving Team: Don't work in a vacuum. Coordinate with high school transition coordinators or special education department chairs to ensure the skills you are teaching in middle school align with the transition skills required for high school.

🔘 Use Career-Cluster Examples: Connect standard lessons to broad career categories. This helps students start seeing themselves in the workforce long before they apply for their first position.

This week's #TransitionTip is to support middle school students with disabilities by shifting the focus from "passing the test" to "preparing for life." Here’s how educators can make the curriculum more future-focused:

Congratulations to our very own Jan Shea on receiving the Outstanding Community Engagement Award today at the @vcusoe Award Ceremony! Thank you for all that you do to serve the community and enrich the university, Jan. 💛

Tomorrow is the last day to apply for the Statewide Transition Leaders Academy Cohort 3! This is an expenses-paid professional training for transition leaders in Virginia. Learn more & apply today: buff.ly/uz7JP9w

Middle school is a time to let students explore real work & business ideas. This PDF on Student-Led Strategies to Design Middle School Enterprises offers practical, inclusive strategies to center students in every step of building school-based enterprises: buff.ly/OeLGn7U