Riverwood Community Based Instruction Supports Students

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — Sandy Springs students who once had to travel miles outside their local school zone to receive special education and peer support services are now the beneficiary of a thriving program at Riverwood International Charter School.

The Community Based Instruction program at Riverwood, founded when the new school opened in 2017 with oversight from Fulton County Schools, provides students with disabilities the opportunity to learn academic, community, daily-living, and career skills within the communities where they currently live, work, and shop.

The goal of the Community Based Instruction program is to provide a variety of hands-on learning opportunities for high school-aged students with special needs to acquire the skills needed to live in the world today. Riverwood’s Community Based Instruction facilities were built in 2017 to ensure campus accessibility and provide appropriate classrooms, home-living centers, sensory/therapy rooms, and restroom facilities for these students that live in the Riverwood attendance zone.

All 14 Community Based Instruction students have a full day at Riverwood which includes music, art, speech, current events, cooking, exercise and electives that encompass adapted P.E., mail delivery and recycling. The students take weekly community trips that include visits to the post office, Walmart, Target, Perimeter Mall, and local restaurants to learn life and work-related skills. A recent trip to Microsoft provided an opportunity to learn how to program robots and hear about a day in the life of a Microsoft employee.

Local organizations have welcomed the students and their quest for independence through valuable skills that foster confidence and offer potential work opportunities upon graduation from the Community Based Instruction program. Most notably the Community Based Instruction program students gained experience at a transition work-site at the North Fulton Learning Center and Old Navy located in Sandy Springs.

A number of programs within Riverwood further help Community Based Instruction students integrate with the broader school community of approximately 1,800 students. These programs include The Daily Grind, Cheer Pals and Best Buddies Program. The Daily Grind is operated by Community Based Instruction students and provides students the unique opportunity to gain work experience in a school-based enterprise where students manage the business operations. Cheer Pals collaborate with the cheer program to cheer at pep rallies and games throughout the football and basketball season. Best Buddies is a student-lead club that pairs a Riverwood student with a Community Based Instruction student to create a friendship outside the school setting.

The benefit of the Community Based Instruction program also extends beyond the Community Based Instruction program students. Fellow Riverwood students gain valuable special education experience serving as Peer Facilitators. Each week Peer Facilitators work with the Community Based Instruction students and assist in daily living, social, academic and vocational tasks, engage in social interactions, and educate others about people with disabilities. Facilitators also assist their fellow Community Based Instruction students in the annual Special Olympics where they compete with other students in Fulton County.

When asked about her experience working with the Community Based Instruction students, Peer Facilitator Tea Barton said, “I love it!” Fellow Peer Facilitator Emily Woody added, “I think it’s an amazing way for people with disabilities to interact with people without disabilities. We have become so close with all of the students. They can learn from us and we can learn from them. Before I could say hi in the hallway, but now I have developed actual friendships.”