Transition School Bridges High School, Work
By Lauren Roth
Drifthnery Gonzalez (right) was on the job as a social worker for clients with disabilities when she heard about a school-run program that teaches hands-on job skills to students with disabilities after they complete high school.
She was so intrigued that she went back to college for her master’s degree and certification to teach students with disabilities. “Best decision ever,” she said.
Today, she teaches in one of those programs - the OCPS Transition School, a partnership between the Exceptional Student Education department and local employers. This year, Gonzalez is based at Grande Lakes Orlando, which includes the J.W. Marriott Orlando and the Ritz-Carlton Orlando on a combined site.
Around Orange County, 12 employer partners host 14 classes serving 110 to 140 students over the 2022-23 school year. Federal law requires public schools to educate students with disabilities up to age 22. The Transition School is a work study opportunity for young adults with disabilities who have chosen to defer their diploma. The length of the work study is based on the student’s work-readiness and can last until the semester they turn 22. OCPS also offers transitional vocational training at some high schools and alternative schools.
The Transition School program at Grande Lakes Orlando and the other sites includes coursework focused on resume writing and interview skills as well as modeling workplace situations. Because the mission of the Transition School is to prepare students for employment, the school day also includes learning multiple hands-on roles at job sites.
At the hotels, the students blend in among staff as they gather towels at the pool, empty room service trays, and unload shipments on the loading dock. OCPS teachers and program assistants that have trained them step-by-step are close behind, monitoring their work and making gentle, verbal corrections as needed.
In a bustling hallway, unseen by the tourists above, Rashid Bryant, 20, (above left) tended recently to sets of room service tables parked in a row near the Ritz-Carlton kitchen.
“We clean all the tables,” explained Bryant, who completed his high school studies at Dr. Phillips High. “The knives and spoons go in here,” he said, pointing to one bag. “The napkins go in there,” he said, pointing to another.
The hotel staff and management have been very welcoming to the students and share pride in their accomplishments. Rupert Peters, an in-room dining server at the hotel, said he looks forward to the weekdays when the students are on-site. “It’s a pleasure to work with them,” he said. “They want to learn. It’s a big help for us – and a learning experience for them.”
The students wear uniform shirts and get their lunches at the employee cafeteria. Student Luis Bonilla, 19, (above right) fits in so seamlessly as he works at the Ritz-Carlton pool that customers ask him for directions and have offered him tips.
The students’ families also see concrete benefits to the program.
Rosa Ocasio Morales wrote to Gonzalez recently about her granddaughter. “Tatiana has surpassed many goals we thought she was not going to achieve,” Morales wrote in Spanish. “This year under the program of the Transition School she has achieved many more, where she has learned to improve in her work and is very satisfied with what she does.”
“I cannot tell you how proud I am of these kids,” Gonzalez said. “And when they get hired, that is the best thing ever.”