District 99 has recently made multiple renovations to their educational spaces. As evident through emails, newspaper articles, and the raise in tax prices, the high school’s adaption of a more modern look was the talk of the town. Another facility less talked about, but equally as important, was also recently remodeled: the Transition 99 building.
“Transition 99 has been its own building for 10 years. We teach functional academics such as budgeting in the building as well as teach activities of daily living like cooking, and hygiene. We also have them go out into the community to do daily life skills. We have partnerships with places like Fresh Thyme, Goodwill, and The Patio Grill which all employ our students,” Transition Coordinator Carolina Schoenbeck said.
The renovation started, spring break of 2023, reason being that they were growing in student enrollment and the original building was becoming too crowded. Because they were expanding in numbers, they were hiring more paraprofessionals, teachers who help assist the students. However, there was not enough parking for them.
Due to the selected amount of students’ with auditory and sensory issues, there was some concern about renovations during the school year.
“The construction workers were very respectful of the students and were patient with us. Sometimes the floor would shake because of the jack hammer, but that was the most disturbance we had,” Schoenbeck said.
T99 added a second kitchen that has more supplies. And, because of the enrollment sky rocking, an active sensory rooms and just regular classrooms were added. An issue that came up with the increase of student population is they did not have a dedicated space for their MircoBusiness. So, one priority was to make space for the students to work and spend their leisure time in. This included more seating outside and basketball hoops.
As for the employees, they were able to get a new teachers lounge and add a bigger parking lot.
“The program keeps getting bigger which is awesome, so this new space really helps us adapt. Plus, we have new equipment which will help further the students’ education here,” paraprofessional Eric Baugh said.
The goal of Transition 99 is to have all of the students be as independent as possible. With the new renovations, the program is able to continually enroll more students who can benefit from the extra support that they can now host. Students can finally get the help they need with the space and activities to succeed.
