Our School

  • Brooklyn Transition Center Fundraising Booth
  • Student band at P.S. 373
  • Students pose for a group photo at the school dance
  • Students volunteer at the Animal Care Centers of NYC
  • Student uses paint and construction paper for his art piece
  • Students builds a tower using candy and toothpicks
  • Student goes snowboarding

    Example - I don't know how to caption this one :) 

  • Students run snack booth
  • "Welcome to Los Bodegatos"

School Overview

The Brooklyn Transition Center is a New York City high school serving students between the ages of 14-21 who benefit from highly specialized instruction . Our student population represents a range of abilities and includes students with autism spectrum disorders, significant cognitive delays, emotional disabilities, sensory impairments and multiple disabilities. Students are alternately assessed and placed in 6:1:1, 8:1:1, 12:1:1, and inclusion classes. All programs provide rigorous instruction based on New York State Standards in conjunction with students’ individualized education goals.

The Brooklyn Transition Center’s main goal is to provide all students with learning experiences that will help them acquire the skills they need to become independent adults. We provide students with  authentic learning opportunities that support by social-emotional growth, communicative development, and academic progress.  Additionally, we support our students and their families with vocational programming and transition service coordination to promote personal independence, community readiness and post-secondary success.

Staff at the Brooklyn Transition Center work in collaborative teams with students, families and community support providers in supporting the whole student. We provide  speech , hearing and vision services, physical therapy and occupational therapy, travel training and parent counseling . For English Language Learners, we offer dual language programs and English as a New Language services.   

Mission Statement

The Brooklyn Transition Center prepares students with varying abilities for adulthood through innovative programming, simulated work-based learning labs, authentic community experiences, and hands-on, functional academics. Through person-centered life planning with families and partner organizations, we empower students to become active, independent and well-rounded members of the community.

  • Student working on a desktop computer

School Priorities

Experiential Learning

Project based learning and student designed projects are a few of the strategies used to support the specially designed instruction our students receive. Students engage with lessons through discussion and problem solving and presentation. In addition to our traditional classrooms, students learn in labs modeled after community-based work sites.

Social - Emotional Learning

BTC's student centered approach to education ensures students receive instruction in social emotional learning and are supported throughout the day as they develop the skills necessary to sustain successful relationships and become responsible decision makers. Social emotional supports are individualized to meet the needs of each students.

Communication

Students are active participants and leaders of small group and class discussions. English Language Learners are supported in the classroom and by the language department. Assistive Technology allows students to communicate using their preferred mode of communication. Students apply the communication skills they learn at school with co-workers and community members in real life situations.

Cohorts/Instructional Programs

Structured Teaching

The Structured Teaching Cohort works diligently, each and every day, to serve individuals on the Autism Spectrum and their families. Through the use of TEACCH methodology, a scientifically based program developed by the University of North Carolina,  we focus on maximizing independence, self-advocacy, increasing flexibility, generalizing skills, and providing strategies to cope with day to day stressors. Students in the Structured Teaching cohort follow the New York State Learning Standards at a modified depth, breadth, and level of complexity.

Service Learning

The Service Learning Cohort is a community of classes focused on providing students ages 14-16 with rigorous academic instruction in conjunction with social and emotional development. Each class develops a student-led service learning project which allows students to make a positive hands-on impact on their local community. Our goal is to develop our students by building their trust and empathy, while promoting personal independence and responsibility.

Pre Transition

"Working to learn. Learning to work." The P373K Pre-transition program focuses on students age 17-21.  We focus on students developing their personal independence and learning the skills necessary for career and community success. Our learning lab classrooms are modeled after various industries in the community. With sites such as CVS, Bike Shop, Paper Clips, Hot Spoons Café and Bodegatos Café, students have the opportunity to learn essential work skills and apply their knowledge in realistic settings.

Transition

P373K Transition comprises eight community-based sites, serving students aged 18-21. Students volunteer in various capacities at local colleges, hospitals, nursing homes and daycare centers. With a goal of increasing independence, staff supervision is faded as students become more familiar with daily work. Teachers, known as transition specialists, act as case managers for their students. They coordinate with families to ensure adherence to the OPWDD eligibility process, including attendance at meetings, follow up phone calls, evaluative appointments and agency visits. The goal when students graduate at age 21 is to secure OPWDD eligibility, a care coordinator, and agency/job placement.

Inclusion

Students participate in traditional classes at one of our off-sites. With the support of a BTC teachers, paraprofessionals and related service providers, students follow the same schedule and attend class in community high schools and colleges with their non-district 75 peers.

TASC

 TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) provides a unique instructional program that offers students the opportunity to gain a GED diploma. This program was developed in conjunction with District 79.