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Transition Plus

State of the School Meeting

October 14, 2025

Accountability,

Innovation, and

Research

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Agenda

Transition Plus: WHO WE ARE

  • Mission and vision
  • Strengths
  • Challenges

OUR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

  • Goals and strategies
  • Sharing student progress

TITLE I

  • Overview of Title I
  • How we’re using our Title I funds
  • Title I and Family Engagement

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Transition Plus: �Who We Are

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Who We Are

Mission

The mission of Transition Plus is to provide educational services for students ages 18-22 with differing abilities and assets. We focus on meeting transition needs in post-secondary education and training, employment, and independent living to promote a successful transition from high school to adult life.

Vision

All Students regardless of their ability will receive education and training that builds essential knowledge and skills to prepare them for future endeavors and success.

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School Stats

  • 100% of our students are receiving special education services, 66% of our students have meal assistance, 29% of our students English is not their first language.
  • T+ offers functional and vocational curriculum with a focus on experiential and person centered learning opportunities for students in the five areas of transition.
  • Community Partners: Project Search, The University of Minnesota, Community Education, Cow Tipping Press, Hennepin County Health Care, Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis Community College, Vocational Rehabilitation Services, as well as several business partners who offer vocational placements for our students.

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Our Current Reality

Strengths

  • T+ offers functional and vocational curriculum with a focus on experiential and person centered learning opportunities for students in the five areas of transition.
  • Students will work towards increased independence within:
    • Navigating their community
    • Disability awareness & Self advocacy skills
    • Activities of Daily Living
  • Strong connections with community partners and families
  • Community based instruction on Fridays

Challenges

  • We have 75 more students this year than our current 5 year average which has caused challenges with space for programming.

  • Increased need for pre-employment skills

  • Increased need for competitive employment opportunities.

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Our School Improvement Plan

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Our school improvement plan:

  • Sets the goals that our school community is working to achieve
  • Identifies the strategies or activities that will help us reach those goals together

Every Minneapolis Public School is required to develop, implement, and monitor a school improvement plan.

What’s a School Improvement Plan?

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Our School Improvement Plan

Goal:

Every student achieves their full potential through equal access to programming that is academically rigorous and connects learning with student experiences.

Strategy to achieve our goal:

Students who graduate from T+ will complete a Transition Portfolio or complete a Transition Checklist from our current level of 25% to a level of 80% by June, 2026.

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Our School Improvement Plan

Goal:

Every student’s physical and mental well being is addressed as an integral part of their education

Strategy to achieve our goal:

Students will increase their level of participation in IEP conferences by leading their IEP conferences at their individual level from 55% to 80% by the end of the school year.

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Our School Improvement Plan

Goal:

Staff approach all work, centered on students and equity.

Strategy to achieve our goal:

Given a lesson, evidence of culturally sustaining practices will be present in 90% of lessons and activities, as measured by peer observation and collaboration survey.

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How We Measure Student Progress

Assessments help us answer questions such as:

  • Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?
  • Are students learning what we intend for them to be learning?
  • Are all students improving and being appropriately challenged?

Some of the assessments our students will take this year are:

  • Curriculum based assessments,
  • Vocational assessments
  • Accuplacer
  • Access

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We want to make sure our students are learning as much as possible, so we use state and district assessments to determine their strengths and areas for growth. The results of these assessments help us figure out how we can better support our students in the classroom.

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Throughout the year, we’ll share information with you about how your student is doing in the classroom.

We’ll do it in the following ways:

  • Parent-Teacher conferences on October 14, 2025, February 12, 2026
  • Report cards will be sent home with students at the semester.
  • Monthly newsletter will be sent out electronically

How We’ll Share Student Progress with You

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Data Points for Co-interpretation

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Title I

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What is Title I?

Title I supports our School Improvement Plan, and the funding we receive helps us reach our goals.

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Title I is a federal program that provides money to schools and districts to help them ensure all children have an equal opportunity to get a high-quality education and achieve proficiency on our state’s academic standards and assessments.

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For this school year, we received $118,242in Title I funding, which makes up 1% of our school budget.

We are required to use Title I funding to improve the academic achievement of all students and engage YOU, our families, in that process!

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Transition Plus is a schoolwide Title I program, which means all our students are able to benefit from the services we provide with our Title I funding.

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How We’re Using our Title I Funding

Curriculum and Instruction Support

  • We have supported curriculum and instruction by using our Title I Funding to hire:
    • A Family Engagement Coordinator
    • School Counselor

Family Engagement

  • Parent-Teacher Conferences
    • October 14, 2025 from 4:30-7:30
    • February 12, 2025 from 4:30-7:30
  • International Potluck
    • October 14, 2025 from 4:30-7:30
  • Latino Heritage Celebration
    • October 10,2025 from 1-3pm
  • Native Celebration
    • November 21, 2025 from 1-3 pm
  • African American Celebration
    • February 6, 2026 from 1-3 pm
  • African Celebration
    • April 17, 2026 from 1-3 pm
  • Graduation June 10, 2026
    • 12:30 pm at Transition Plus

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  • Request information from the district about whether your student’s teacher meets State licensing approval for the grade and subject being taught, is teaching with a waiver, and/or has certification for the field being taught
  • Request information about the qualifications of any paraprofessional providing instruction
  • Know how your child’s school is rated on its state test scores
  • Expect regular communication with your school in a language that you can understand
  • Work with other families and staff to develop a compact between our school and our families
  • Help plan how money for family involvement should be spent
  • Work with teachers, other families, and the school principal to develop a family engagement plan
  • Ask for a meeting with your school principal or your child’s teacher at any time

As a family member in a Title I School, you have the right to…

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Opportunities for Families to be Involved!

We want your input on our:

  • School Improvement Plan goals and strategies
  • Family Engagement Plan
  • School-Family Compact

You can find all these documents on our school website!

We’d love to see you at the following school events:

  • Parent-Teacher Conferences
    • October 14, 2025 from 4:30-7:30
  • International Potluck
    • October 14, 2025 from 4:30-7:30
  • Latino Heritage Celebration
    • October 10,2025 from 1-3pm
  • Native Celebration
    • November 21, 2025 from 1-3 pm
  • African American Celebration
    • February 6, 2026 from 1-3 pm
  • African Celebration
    • April 17, 2026 from 1-3 pm
  • Graduation June 10, 2026
    • 12:30 pm at Transition Plus

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  • Participate in Site Council! Our site council is made up of students. They meet weekly on Fridays from 1-3.
  • Visit your student’s classroom or volunteer at our school!
  • Talk to your student’s teacher about events and issues that may affect your child’s work or behavior.

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School Staff Information

Principal

Erin Jensen

612-668-4101

Erin.Jensen@mpls.k12.mn.us

Admin TOSA

James Menke

612-668-4100

James.Menke@mpls.k12.mn.us

Family Liaison

Colleen Knuth

612-668-4103

Colleen.Knuth@mpls.k12.mn.us

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We appreciate you!

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