College Fair for Students with Disabilities

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett-schools-helps-metro-224823.html

The state’s largest school system is paving the way to help more metro Atlanta students with physical, emotional and learning needs continue their education in college.

Gwinnett County Public Schools will host a college fair Saturday to help inform disabled students about opportunities and support available. Representatives from 30 colleges and universities will talk about making the transition to post-secondary education. Students will learn how to access services they may need to participate in lectures, complete assignments and survive on a college campus.

The fair is free and open to families across metro Atlanta.

“We want to make sure our students know all of the options ahead of them when they are looking at life beyond the K-12 experience,” said Jennifer Fornek, Gwinnett School's director of Instructional Services. “We want the students to be successful when they leave us."

Students can visit booths to speak with university liaisons or attend seminars on everything from finding financial aid to qualifying for special accommodations on campus. Military recruiters also will set up shop to discuss other pathways open to students.

About 11 percent of Georgia's 1.6 million public school children have disabilities.

Lawrenceville mom Chris Owens said the relationships she cultivated at Gwinnett's special needs college fair through the years helped her son A.J., 18, make the transition to a four-year institution. They attended the fair during his eighth-, 10th- and 11th-grade years looking for the perfect fit. A.J., who suffered brain cancer in fifth grade, continued to reach for his academic goals. He graduated from Brookwood High in 2009 with a 3.6 grade point average and a 1660 on the SAT.

Owens said she wanted A.J. to land at a college that would challenge and support him when he needed it.

"With a technical diploma, it got a little sticky," she said. "Most colleges want them to have a college prep degree to get in. But Georgia Gwinnett College accepted him because of his grades and his SAT scores. He did extremely well. All that he had to do was to take a couple of remedial classes to get him on track for the college level."

Jennifer Arrocena, director of GGC's Office of Disability Services, even came to Gwinnett Schools to attend A.J. Owens' final special education program evaluation. "She was due with a baby that week and just wanted to be there to meet his teachers in case he needed any accommodations [for college]," Owens said. "They have always been available for us."

Mirroring the statewide figure, about 11 percent of students in Gwinnett have disabilities. But graduation rates for them are higher in Gwinnett than the state as a whole. Graduation rates for special needs students in Gwinnett rose from 45 percent in 2008 to 48.2 percent in 2009. Statewide, the rates were 37.7 in 2008 and 41.4 percent in 2009.

GGC, one of several University System of Georgia institutions to be represented at the college fair, is expanding its services for students with disabilities. It is building 1,029 dorm rooms and nearly 100 of them will have wheelchair accessible showers and wide doors. About 3.5 percent of the college's 3,000 students are registered with GGC's disability services office.

“We provide extended testing time for students who need it, priority registration, use of a tape recorder, note-takers, readers or scribes,” said Merri Brantley, GGC's director of external affairs. "We encourage all students to reach their full potential, both academically and personally."

College Fair for Students with Disabilities
Noon-3 p.m., Saturday, 437 Old Peachtree Road, Suwanee