Guide to Services - Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District

Special Education
Cognitive Impairment Services
TBAISD operates 11 programs for students with
moderate to severe cognitive impairments. Students
learn at their own pace and, hopefully, become
fully independent, working members of our society.
Students participate in a wide spectrum of work
activities ranging from our Paperworks program
to Career Exploration, and work experience in a
community-work site placement. Job coaches are
an integral part of the success of our community
work sites.
Emotional Impairment Services
Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District’s New
Campus School is a seven classroom K-12 center
for students from our five counties who require a
more controlled, secure environment in which to
learn. The programs combine academics, behavior
management and intensive group and individual
counseling. Statistics from around the state show
that 12 percent of students in intensive programming
return to regular education classrooms. TBAISD’s
return rate is 30 percent and growing.
Physical or Other Health Impairment Services
Our elementary-aged program for students with
a variety of medical conditions is housed within
Traverse City Public Schools. These students need
intensive training in their early years to become as
independent as possible in taking care of their own
medical needs. All students are returned to their
home schools by Junior High or are enrolled in a
center-based program
Center Programs and Classrooms
Districts from throughout our five-county region
utilize TBAISD Center Programs, schools, and
classrooms for students with severe disabilities:
Adult Work Center (AWC) serves students ages
16-26 who are Mildly, Moderately, and Severely
Cognitively Impaired, Severely Multiply Impaired,
and students with Autism. Through community-based
instruction and vocational training, students learn
to live and function as a contributing member of
their community. One program option for students
is Paperworks Studio.
Paperworks Studio combines the manufacture of
premium art papers and products with a vocational
training program for young adults with special needs.
Located at the TBAISD Adult Work Center, it is run
as a business not only to teach a skill but to develop
work ethics, appropriate work behaviors and attitudes
necessary to prepare students for employment. Many
of the processes have been adapted to allow students
who are more physically impaired to perform the
work. Higher functioning students act as mentors
allowing learning on both ends of the spectrum.
Please feel free to explore the Paperworks
website: www.tcpaperworks.com
New Campus School offers K-12 instruction for
students with Severe Emotional Impairments.
Academics combined with unique opportunities
for personal and emotional growth contribute to
the school’s high rate of returning students to their
regular school.
Cherry Knoll Children’s Center offers programs for
students ages 6-14, with moderate cognitive and
disabilities and houses the program offices for the
Infant Toddler program.
Oak Park School houses self-contained classrooms
for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Severely
Cognitively Impaired (SCI) students in Traverse
City.
The Traverse Heights Program offers classroom
programs for students with Severe Cognitive
Impairments (SCI) and Severe Multiple Impairments
(SMI).
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