Transitioning to High School

8^th Grade Transition Process

1. The student selects the high school that they wish to attend.

a. Remember: Students have school choice! They have the option to apply to Lyndon Institute, St. Johnsbury Academy, Lake Region, Danville School, The Arlington

School, White Mountains Regional, and more.

b. Transportation is not provided so parents should plan accordingly to manage travel.

c. A high school fair is taking place tomorrow, 10/9 at NVU-Lyndon 8:30am – noon for all 8^th grade students.

2. The student fills out and submits the application to the high school of choice.

a. Applying can happen at any time, however the family is encouraged to apply early to ensure their child can have their first choices for electives.

b. Please remember the special educator needs to submit the student’s IEP and Evaluation Plan & Report documents, as well as any other required documents the high school requests.

i. Some of the acceptance delays last year resulted in missing required documents or not a clear profile of the student in the IEP (i.e., history of behavior

or alternative school settings).

3. The student and family receives an acceptance letter.

4. Once the student receives an acceptance letter or the special educator/LEA hears back from the high school of choice, an IEP transition meeting should be scheduled.

a. The Director of Student Services or Special Education Department Chair from the high school of choice should be in attendance to the transition meeting.

b. St. Johnsbury Academy administers a placement test prior to mailing an acceptance letter so please check-in with families about this process.

c. To save time you may include the 8^th grade transition meeting as part of the student’s annual IEP meeting.

d. Remember: The Director of Student Services or Special Education Department Chair at the high school level will not attend IEP transition meetings unless the student has been accepted to the high school.

5. Revise IEP services after the 8th grade transition meeting and provide a new copy of the student’s IEP to the high school.

a. If a student is up for a 3-year re-evaluation in Fall of the upcoming school year (Aug. – Dec.), please do your best to have the re-evaluation completed before the student transitions to 9^th grade.

6. Student hard files should follow the student to the high school they will be attending. The only exceptions are for St. Johnsbury Academy and the Arlington School. The special education files for those two high schools should go to Jen Taplin at KESD.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at jtaplin@kingdomeast.org