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CBTA

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The Community-Based Transition Academy (CBTA) of Windsor Public Schools has been designed to provide identified students (ages 18-22) with the opportunity to participate in a variety of vocational, social and independent living skill activities within the community of Windsor and   surrounding greater Hartford area communities.  The program assists students in acquiring the necessary skills to transition from high school to pursue employment, educational opportunities, and community activities in the Windsor area.  

This handbook is a supplement to the Windsor High School Student Handbook specifically for students taking part in the CBTA Program. 

• To provide instruction and training in functional academics, vocational skills, self-advocacy skills, social skills and daily living skills in the classroom, the community and on vocational internship sites. 

• To assess student interests, abilities, and skill level at a variety of community-based internship sites.

• To enable students to access local community resources (banking, recreational/leisure activities, shopping, transportation).

• To provide collaboration and networking opportunities for students and parents with adult service providers in order to facilitate the transition from school to adult life. 

The CBTA program is located at the L.P. Wilson Community Center, 601 Matianuck Avenue, rooms  24 and 26.  The program location has both classroom space for functional academic instruction and a kitchen/living room/laundry for life skill instruction.  

The program is staffed by two certified special education teachers, a part-time certified special education teacher/transition specialist,  paraprofessionals and job coaches.  The WPS nursing staff provides any needed medical services.  A school counselor is available to students on an individualized basis based upon students’  IEPs and needs.  There is a Speech and Language Pathologist who works on a consultative basis with students if stipulated in their IEP.   The Director of Pupil and Special Education Services oversees the program and the Secondary Special Education Supervisor is the CBTA  administrator.  There is also a  Dean of Students for all students attending LP Wilson.  The staff meets regularly for program review and revision.

School begins at 9:00 a.m. with dismissal at 2:00, Monday through Friday.  Specific student schedules in terms of internship, community access and life skill instruction are based on individual student IEPs and may vary.

Students participate in voluntary work internships in the community based on abilities and level of independence.   A job coach will provide support at the job site. The level of support will depend on student need and their level of independence.  Students will receive on-going verbal and written feedback (rubrics) from the job coach.  Many internship sites have a specific dress code for employees, most often specific color pants and/or shirts with a collar.  Students will be expected to dress accordingly on their scheduled internship days in order to attend the internship site.  

Students will have the opportunity to open bank accounts at Windsor Federal Savings and Loan as part of the CBTA program. Some students will be maintaining cash accounts at CBTA and not maintaining a bank account.  It is up to the families.  Stipends will be paid to all students participating in the CBTA program by Windsor Public Schools.  The stipends will be issued in check form and are not tied to a students’ internship participation in any way.  The student bank accounts will provide opportunities for students to learn how to do personal banking transactions and budgeting for community access and activities.  It is the expectation that the funds from the stipend are used exclusively for programmatic related expenses.