Vocational and Transitional Training

Data from the New York State Department of Education show that 70% of students with learning disabilities remain unemployed after completing school. But on a positive note, department figures also show that learning-disabled students who take part in a VESID training program have a 90% employment rate after leaving school. (VESID, short for Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities, is a program funded by the DoE).

To give our students every advantage in making a successful transition from school to community and in finding employment, the GNC School District provides a VESID job transition program for our students in grades 10-12.

The transition program provides the following opportunities for GNC students:

• Enrollment in the College Success course at Westchester Community College. Students that successfully complete the course will earn 3 college credits and learn essential skills that lead to success in the post secondary environment.
• Participation in the 12-session Enhance Your Chance seminars. Our students learn the essential skills and fundamental knowledge needed to successfully approach and pursue the work world.
• All students participate in the transition information fairs held at both Greenburgh Academy and The Kenneth Clark Academy.
• Job shadow opportunities are offered to seniors in collaboration with Junior Achievement.
• Our community-based work program regularly recruits students and employers to match interested students to career paths based on the student’s interests, abilities and skills.

As evidence of the quality of programming in the GNC School District, GNC is one of only 60 school districts – out of 700 in New York State – awarded multi-year funding for a VESID program. And it is also the only district in Westchester County serving special needs teens to receive a VESID grant.