Community College Experiences Starting the second semester in the OPTIONS Program, many students are identified to participate in a community college curriculum.  Those students who take classes at John A. Logan Community College will receive support through the OPTIONS Program and will likely participate in other classes and/or Speech and Language Therapy at OPTIONS.  If students participate at JALC, they typically take two to three classes, based upon their skills and maturity levels.

Certificates of Completion The Certificates of Completion are specifically designed for those students who would like to prepare for selected vocational areas by demonstrating success in the academic instruction and work based learning experiences necessary to gain entry level employment. Students who are interested and/or identified as appropriate to work towards a Certificate of Completion in one of the seven vocational areas will be taking classes primarily at OPTIONS.

Moving Through OPTIONS

The goal of the OPTIONS Team is to move each student forward towards his or her personal level of optimal independence.  To facilitate this, there are three levels of programming available to students. 

New students participate in the Standard Program.  This program provides extensive assistance, guidance and structure.  Typically, a student participates in the Standard Program for at least a year.  Then, as students begin to make transitions to more self-controlled, self-managed environments, they will be recommended to move to different levels of programming, based on their levels of independence and competency.

That option, for those students demonstrating individual readiness in the Standard Program, is to move into the Modified Program. Students in the Modified Program become more involved in either the community college or the internship/employment site. Students may also participate in classes at OPTIONS designed to assist in transition to more independent living. Students also become more independently accountable for their academic and social progress. In conjunction with the increased responsibilities, students can also expect more privileges.

In order to facilitate the eventual transition from the OPTIONS Program, students have the potential of moving into a third phase called the Extension Program. When a student demonstrates at least two semesters of success within the Modified Program, he/she may move into the Extension Program. This phase expects students to operate at a highly independent level within their own apartments, the community, and in the college and/or internship/employment settings. Students at this level must be able to manage their own medical care. Students at this level receive approximately 10 to 15 hours of weekly support.  This support is tailored to meet individual student needs, whether they are daily living, social, vocational, academic or organizational.

Entrance into the Modified and Extension Programs is dependent upon successful participation in earlier program stages.