Creating opportunities and building to a bright future. That’s the potential represented in a new facilities complex, which ceremonially broke ground on Friday, Dec. 6, and is slated to open in Fall 2025.
The new complex, which will include a building for Leander ISD’s Special Education 18+ Transition Services and another for the Science Materials Center (SMC), will serve each program individually and deepen a partnership between the two as students from 18+ help build science kits at the SMC. The complex site will be in a lot next to LISD’s Central Transportation and Support Services buildings and is made possible by the 2023 Bond.
Long before the land became the site of this future complex, it was home to a population of famously striking birds: Peacocks. The birds were introduced into the area to control the snake population, but carried with them a deeper symbolism: Peacock feathers represent rebirth, renewal, and vitality.
In many cultures, finding a peacock feather is believed to signal new beginnings and exciting adventures ahead.
“How fitting, then, that this very land now serves as a place of transformation and growth for students with special abilities and mobilities preparing to transition into the next chapter of their lives,” said Jeremy Trimble, Leander ISD’s chief operations officer, in opening remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony. “Just as the peacocks once thrived here, this facility will provide opportunities for students to develop independence, explore their potential, and embrace their own new beginnings.”
Transition Services provide young adults, 18 to 22 years old, with the knowledge and skills necessary for a successful transition into community and adult living. Currently, the program resides in portables on the Cedar Park HS campus, as well as rented space at the YMCA Twin Lakes facility. The project will put the program into a single facility, benefiting the students in more ways than one.
“With the carefully planned age-appropriate learning spaces and facility, our students and staff will be able to recreate reality and better prepare themselves to be powerful community contributors to the world that lies in front of them,” said Justin Pine, coordinator for 18+ Transition Services. “This facility will create the Force of the Future, and the students that graduate from 18+ will continue to impact our community in positive and powerful ways.”
Over the past 21 years, the program has helped more than 600 students, providing dignity, support and opportunities as they grow into adulthood. Denise Geiger, senior transition coordinator, said this is possible, in part, thanks to the work, dedication and tenacity of the many people who believed in the idea of the 18+ Transition Services program and brought it to life.
“I am so thankful that along the way, an enormous team of people worked together to present our ideas to the district,” Geiger said. “And then we got the ‘go ahead’ to actualize the hopes we had for 18-22-year-olds with disabilities.”
While the goal of 18+ Transition Services is to empower students to prepare themselves for what lies ahead in adulthood, Geiger said the program leaves a lasting impact, not only on the students but on her personally.
“It has been the honor of my career to have led this effort; to have been a part of the discussions; to have been one of the teachers; to have struggled with the team and the families; to have had a front-row seat to the extremely strong impact these services have had on our students,” Geiger said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, attendees heard from a former student who continues to be impacted by his time in the program some 20 years later. After exiting Leander ISD’s 18+ services, Jonathan Wright continued his education, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and now has two years under his belt toward his Ph.D. in History from Texas Tech University.
Wright is just one example of the many adults impacted by LISD’s 18+ Transition Services. With a proper building and the opportunity to gain real-world work experience at the new Science Materials Center next door – in addition to the many inclusive business partners and employers in our community – the sky is the limit for each and every student who will walk through its doors.
For more details on this and other projects funded by the 2023 Bond, visit the district’s Bond & Construction projects website.
