9th Grade Transition Program

During our 45-year existence, SFS has continued to evolve by adding new programming in response to the changing needs of our students. In 2017 we developed a 9th Grade Transition program to provide additional support for some of our middle school students who would benefit from a transition year. 

The goals of the 9th Grade Transition program are to:

• continue to provide strong, multisensory, small group instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics for students.
• use direct instruction to teach academic skills that include note taking, test taking, study strategies, research strategies, as well as reading and writing.
• provide strong transition programming to help students navigate the areas of peer relationships, self-advocacy, and executive function skills.
• provide rigorous content area coursework in Science and Social Studies to prepare students with the knowledge base and learning strategies required for high school.
• use diagnostic assessment to help families identify secondary school placement.
• provide speech, language, occupational therapy, and social-emotional instruction, where needed to help students master high school readiness skills and become strong independent learners.
• engage students in physical, art, and music education as a holistic approach to educating our students.
• foster leadership through participation in mentoring opportunities, service learning, clubs, sports, and career-readiness projects.

The transition to high school should be an exciting and promising time for all of our students. Our goal is to provide students in our 9th Grade Transition program with an additional year to strengthen their academic skills and knowledge, develop their executive function skills, learn how to self-advocate, build social/emotional intelligence, and become leaders in the school community.