Transition Services
18+ Programming
Students who have earned the required high school credits but still need to meet graduation criteria are provided transition services emphasizing preparation for adult life following graduation. Services are individualized to meet the needs of each student.
The goal: Provide students with age-appropriate post-high school educational experience that promotes independence and life-long learning through community-based vocational, independent and social integration activities. Students focus on the development of vocational, daily living, community-based, social and leisure/recreation.
If students fulfill graduation requirements before age 22, services cease.
Aspire Program
Frisco ISD’s Aspire program emphasizes community-based instruction and work-based learning for students 18+. Aspire aims to enhance independence, self-advocacy, pre-vocational and vocational skills, and social integration to support postsecondary goals. Participants engage in community internships or training for competitive employment and focus on pre-vocational and independent living skills through various community experiences. Aspire currently has 116 students and a growing enrollment. The Aspire program is supported by 11 teachers, 18 job coaches, a diagnostician and a speech therapist. Additional services, based on individual IEPs, include occupational therapy, physical therapy, music therapy, and school psychologists.
Program Structure and Community Integration
Aspire intern groups are located at Memorial and Emerson high schools, Sam Carter Center and integrated into community settings for training and collaboration with business partners. Students participate in different settings based on their needs. Some interns work on pre-vocational skills in a classroom setting and then apply these skills in the community, while others work in a fully integrated community setting.
Aspire interns manage two student-run enterprises:
Aspire Market, a coffee shop located on the 2nd floor of the FISD administration building, partnering with 107 Coffee Roasters for training and product supply.
An e-recycling program, operated at the Sam Carter Warehouse, in collaboration with VHTechworks for recycling training and resources.
Aspire Focus and Commitments
Aspire’s programming is grounded in evidence-based practices to support employment and community participation, including:
Person-centered planning to address participant preferences and needs.
Collaboration with community agencies for support.
Instruction in daily living, social and vocational skills for employment.
Balancing vocational training with meaningful community engagement and transportation.
Understanding community resources through job market analysis.
Aspire is committed to:
Enhancing participants' self-advocacy and independence.
Aligning career expectations with participants' desires and skill levels.
Providing individualized community worksite experiences and connections with outside agencies.
Supporting informed decisions regarding adult service providers.
Community Partnerships
Aspire is thankful to local businesses for their partnership in student training and employment opportunities:
Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco
The Home Depot
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center
Hotel Indigo
VH Techworks
Frisco Rough Riders
FC Dallas
Big Lots
Collin County Meals on Wheels
Love Pacs
5 Below
Krispy Kreme Donuts
Omni at the Star
Pizza Hut
Credit Union of Texas
Project SEARCH Program
Project SEARCH is a one-year internship for students with disabilities in their last year of public schooling. The program targets students whose goal is competitive employment.
Project SEARCH partners with Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel, Convention Center, and Spa, where total immersion in the workplace facilitates the teaching and learning process and the acquisition of employability and marketable work skills.
Students attend eight hours daily, five days weekly, while they participate in three internships to explore a variety of career paths.
The students work with a team that includes their family support, a special education teacher and rehabilitation services administration to create an employment goal and support the student during this important transition from school to work.