Swedish Edmonds Project SEARCH is a competency based program that helps prepare students with learning differences for paid community employment after they exit Edmonds School District services.

The goal of the Swedish Edmonds Project SEARCH program is for  100% of our graduates to earn integrated, competitive, year round paid employment.   

We have one school year to prepare these young adults for life after school, so every minute of instruction and internship experience counts.  

We work to attain our competitive employment goal through fidelity to the Project SEARCH model, a data driven model that currently boasts over a 70% employment rate.

Here is what that looks like. 

Students learn complex, systematic skill sets that lend to inclusive community employment.  

We take a person-centered approach to this by pinpointing student interests and assessing their current skill sets.  

They are placed in internships to help build upon current skill sets to gain knowledge that benefits the outcome of competitive, rewarding employment that compliments their interests.

Within their time on site, students have over an hour per day of class time where they receive direct instruction to help them attain competitive employment.  Student learning focuses on:

• Health & wellness

• Budgeting & banking

• Technology

• Employability skills (how to get & keep a job)

• Self-advocacy

• Soft, social, & team building skills

• Communication

• Grooming & Hygiene

Students are held to the same standards that the hospital expects from every employee and volunteer.  

Students are expected to adhere to the hospital code of conduct, traditional office-appropriate social standards, and hygiene standards necessary to keep themselves and patients safe.

Everything is earned here, helping students learn to be accountable to themselves as well as learn to be internally motivated to do what is right over what is easy.  

Keeping high expectations for student achievement helps prepare the interns for the leap to adult community life and creates ongoing, rewarding experiences for life-long learners.

The majority of the student interns day is spent on the job site.  This rigor is intended to prepare the student for competitive, integrated employment after graduation.  The typical day looks like this:

• 8:00-8:45 - Classroom work.  Students arrive independently via public transportation.  There is no yellow bus.

• 8:45-9:00 - Clock-in and transition to internship

• 9:00 - 11:00 - Internship 

• 11:00 - 11:30 - Lunch (time is approximate.  Intern lunches vary based on department need and day-to-day supervisor direction)

• 11:30-1:45pm - Internship

• 1:45-2:00pm - Clean area, clock out, transition to classroom

• 2:00-2:30pm - Reflection time.  Students do a reflection activity to communicate successes and opportunities throughout their day.

• 2:30pm - The day is over, students transport independently home from the hospital.