Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 will continue to host its Community Integration Transition Education programming at the River Forest Community Center following a lease approval during the school’s August board meeting.
The school board unanimously approved a lease agreement with RFCC to continue to host the school’s CITE program in the space. The cost for the one-year lease is $83,150.
CITE is an outcome-based program for OPRF students who are 18 to 22 years of age with developmental learning disabilities. It focuses on facilitating students’ independence skills to provide a transition from high school into adulthood.
Fawn Joyce, special education program chair who oversees TEAM and the CITE program at OPRF, said the program is for district students who need other graduation requirements and transition services, which are determined by the IEP team.
“Some students stay for one year, some stay for four years,” Joyce said. “Transition is basically for anyone who needs that extra help.”
The “outcome-based program,” which falls under OPRF’s Special Education department, prepares students for the workforce, college, or other independent living options.
Students go on field trips, take classes at various local colleges and through online courses — such as Life Skills classes at Triton College. They might also work at various businesses in the community, including the Oak Park Public Library and Jewel-Osco.
Students also work to learn life skills such as using public transit, cooking and gaining more independence in their lives.
According to Joyce, the program was initially held off-campus in a nearby apartment but it only served seven students. Due to the growth of the program, another space was needed.
Having the program off-campus is “best practice,” Joyce said.
Holding CITE at the community center in River Forest also helps students develop in the program.
“It’s been a great experience because it is natural and offers real-life community connections,” said Joyce, adding some students work in the RFCC daycare or do maintenance work in the building.
Being able to keep the CITE program at RFCC and having a “good space” is very important for the program’s success, Joyce said.
“It’s completely separate from high school,” Joyce said. “It is the right of passage that these students have finished high school and are moving on.”
There are 55 students enrolled in the program, along with four teachers, 13 paraprofessionals, one speech-language pathologist, a social worker, a DHS coordinator, and a vocational coordinator who work for the program.
Physical and occupational therapists are also working with students in CITE.
Joyce said there are four classes in the program, divided by level of need, set up in a way far different than typical classrooms.
In CITE classrooms, students can find a living room, a kitchen, a grooming station and sensory stations.
RFCC and OPRF first entered into a space sharing agreement in 2008, allowing RFCC to host daycare at the high school with D200 being able to host CITE programming at RFCC.
According to agenda documents, the district was in need of an off-site location in compliance with the American Disabilities Act with access for wheelchair bound students.
In return, RFCC stepped in to operate the high school’s child-care program, which increased during the mid-2000’s and required more resources from the school than previously anticipated.
According to Joyce, the daycare program has been fully operated by RFCC for the past few years.
This year, RFCC moved its daycare program back to their own building following the completion of renovations, changing the agreement with OPRF from a space sharing agreement to one of a traditional lease which would allow OPRF to keep CITE at RFCC.
