Business Innovators Radio - The Inspired Impact Podcast with Judy Carlson-Interview w/Judy Jordan, Bridge Transition Program Principal, Douglas County School District

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Judy Jordan has dedicated over 40 years to transforming the field of education, with a focus on empowering students with disabilities and guiding educators to become their best selves. A proud graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education, Judy continued her studies at the University of Houston – Victoria, earning a Diagnostician Certification, followed by a Master of Education from the University of Houston. She later obtained a Principal Certification from the University of Northern Colorado.With 17 years spent teaching special education across all K-12 levels, 10 years as an educational diagnostician, 8 years as a special education coordinator, and 7 years as a Principal, Judy has a wealth of experience that spans all aspects of education. Driven by the belief that every individual has the ability to learn and be heard, she is passionate about creating inclusive, supportive environments where both students and educators can thrive.As a Principal, Judy enjoys coaching and mentoring staff, fostering collaborative teams, and nurturing leadership in others. With expertise in team building, personnel management, staff development, dispute resolution, and motivating others to take action, she brings a unique blend of vision, trust-building, and a commitment to growth—helping people at every level to unlock their potential.Whether in the classroom, as an advocate for special education, or as a leader guiding school communities, Judy is dedicated to making a lasting impact and inspiring those around them.Website: https://sites.google.com/dcsdk12.org/dcsdbridgetransition18-21/homeFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcsdbridgeprogram/*************************************************************Judy is the CEO & Founder of the Judy Carlson Financial Group. She helps her clients design, build, and implement fully integrated and coordinated financial plans from today through life expectancy and legacy.She is an Independent Fiduciary and Comprehensive Financial Planner who specializes in Wealth Decumulation Strategies. Judy is a CPA, Investment Advisor Representative, Life and Health Insurance Licensed, and Long-Term Care Certified.Judy’s mission is to educate and empower her clients with an all-inclusive financial plan that encourages and motivates them to pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams.Learn More: https://judycarlson.com/Investment Adviser Representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management, LLC, an SEC Registered Adviser.The Inspired Impact Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast-with-judy-carlson-interview-w-judy-jordan-bridge-transition-program-principal-douglas-county-school-district

Welcome to the Inspired Impact Podcast, where dedicated female professionals share how they inspire impact every day. Authentic stories, passionate commitment, lives transformed. I'm your host, Judy Carlson. Welcome to today's episode of the Inspired Impact Podcast. Today's guest is the principal of the Douglas County School District, Bridge Programme. I am really looking forward to her sharing her story with you all. Judy Jordan, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. So let's start at the beginning. Yeah, I'd love to know how your journey landed you to the position you're in now and the impact you're having. Awesome. So I'm in my 42nd year

of education. So retirement is around the corner, but I'm just, I'm not ready. I love what I do. So I am, I'm just not ready to pull that plug yet because I love the students I work with. I love my staff. I love everything about it. But I did start teaching back in a small town in Oklahoma when I graduated for the University of Oklahoma with a degree in special education. When I was in college, I had to work at the Cereil Pauze Center in Norman, and I met this young lady, Jamie, when I would go there every week to do my volunteer. And I loved her. And I just knew she loved me because she always smiled and was happy to see me. I worked with her for three months. And I didn't even know that she was blind. Oh, my God. So,

anyhow, but she, like, changed my life. And the fact that I then decided special ed was definitely the career I want rather than going into like PE or teaching elementary ed. And so that kind of sent me on the path of special education, which I've said, I've been on for 42 years. So in those 42 years, I've taught elementary school, I've taught middle school, I've taught high school. Now I work in transition, which is for students 18 to 21 with disabilities. So I've kind of done the whole gamut of special ed also.

I've taught students who are in mild moderate that might just have a mild disability, all the ways to students who have very significant disabilities are nonverbal, non-ambulatory, need full support throughout the day. So I've kind of been through all of it. at some someplace or another in my life. My first job in Oklahoma, I worked at elementary school. Then I went on and taught in Texas for a while. So I have had 17 years of teaching.

And then I was also a diagnostician. I went back to school and became an educational diagnostician. And in that role, I would do educational testing. I would, kids would come up having difficulty in school. and so they would be referred for special education. And so my job as a diagnostician was to do different intelligence tests, academic tests, social emotional, and kind of figure out where the issues were lying for those students. So I love doing that.

I still kind of walk into a group when we're going out or at a party or something. I'm like, oh, I just kind of diagnose people around the room from that job. So that was, I'd love doing that. And so when we moved from Texas to Colorado, I had 20 years of education experience. And in Colorado, they did have educational diagnosticians. And so I went back into the classroom. And I taught at a high school here in Douglas County, I taught life skills at that time. And during that, I went back to school again for my, for the third time,

my principal licensure. And so from there, that allowed me to become a special education coordinator, which was awesome. It was a tough job. I oversaw all of the middle school and high school special ed programs. And then I also was the lead for all of the SSN programs in our district from elementary, middle and high school. And so that was a big job. And luckily, they slowly took away the middle schools and I just had the high schools. But I also oversaw a transition at that time. And so after eight years, the transition program grew from 40 students and it kept growing. We saw 50. Then we saw

like 65, 70. Then we were getting to 80, 90, 100. Last year we had 150 students in the program. So it really grew. And so as it grew, the staff grew in, I worked with my special ed director saying, you know, I can't, I can't juggle being a coordinator and doing transition. And so they just moved me over to be a full-time principal of the program. And so that's kind of where I ended up today. It's really interesting because back in 1983, when I graduated from college, I never, I don't think a principal was really, that really wasn't my end goal at the time. But it's amazing how life just takes you on a journey.

And you just, you just travel that journey and you do different things in your life. And I think God just opens doors for you and helps you get to where he wants you to be also. And I love everything about special education. love the students. I see potential in every single student I meet every day. And I just, I want the best program. I want to prepare them for what is coming after they leave the school district. And I feel like in my job now that that I'm able to do that. And that's kind of the power I think of my work right now. So that's kind of my, my last 40 years. Wow, that's amazing. So kids in the transitions program are between the ages of 18 and 21.

So that must mean that they come into it post high school? Correct. Correct. So the students have met their high school graduation requirements within the high school, and they still have a need in the area of education, employment, or adult living skills. So we look at those three areas. And if they still have a need in those areas, they qualify for the program. And so the students come to us, some are here for one year, two years, three years.

It's very student dependent. And then they age out because their special education ends this semester when they turn 21. And so they're here through their 21st birthday. So you said they still have needs in education. adult living, did you say life skills? And life skills, mm-hmm, and also employment, and also employment. So when we're looking at the students in our program, it's very, it's very wide, very, very wide. We have a group of students that are going to always need to live with an adult and be fully dependent on an adult for all of their daily living needs. Okay.

And then all the way to students who can take care of their daily living needs, they just might need to be checked on. They might be able to hold down a job. They might go to a day program. And then they might be able to live semi-independently. I know some parents will have like a room in their house. I have some parents who have land and they've made a little house for their child to be able to live in. So they can check on them throughout. And then we have students who are going to be able to hold down a job.

job and they're also going to be able to live independently on their own. So those are the students. We really work on employment skills and problem solving and those critical thinking skills, what to do in an emergency because sometimes it's just not quite intuitive for them as it is for somebody without a disability on what to do. So we really prepare them on that. So yeah, So let's just take one of those students who can live semi or independently can hold a job. So if they come in at 18, what would be their curriculum or their process or what would you take them through, say, if they were there for the next three years? Right. So one area we really work on with the students is financial literacy.

And it's really around budgeting. Okay. Like if you're working, how much are you making, paying your bills? What does it cost to live on your own? To furnish a house. And we also, what we go into, even just with students, like if you're going to a restaurant and you know that you only have a $20 bill, what can you buy for lunch? And to remember that you have to have tax on there.

And then if it's a sit-down restaurant, you have to have a tip on there. So we work a lot on going out to restaurants, different ones, and we'll really walk students through it. Sometimes we'll have to walk them through all three years. But really work on that the first year. And then the second and third year becoming even more independent on their own in that area. We do household skills too, just being able to keep your house clean, doing your own laundry, folding your own laundry, making your own bed. cooking your own meals, things that you can do. Even if you're living with your parents,

you can still make dinner for everybody that night. That's great. You can make your own breakfast and your own lunch. And so really working on those household skills in that aspect. And then on employment, we start with the students. We might do some jobs in-house. We might bring some things in-house for the students to do. like some of our students

will be doing, you know how when you go out and they have menus for the children with the crayons tucked in. So we'll get, you know, 100 of those done when we can take it back to the restaurant for them and then pick up. So there was a cupcake shop here and we get all the stickers on their cupcake lids

and things for them. So different things like that. And then the students will go out to a job site where we volunteer for those job sites. And that might be just 30 minutes for some students and it might be three hours for some students. So that kind of grows depending upon the students and what their ability is. Then we also, in the school district, they just opened the legacy campus, which is the CTE building. So they have a marketplace there.

And our students run the marketplace pretty much. There's a group of pro-start students that prepare a lot of the meals ahead of time. but our students, they work the cash register, they do all the smoothies, they're the baristas, they have the hot sandwiches, they have a hot breakfast sandwich and a hot lunch sandwich, so they'll make those for the students. The muffins and stuff are pre-done,

but they make sure that everything's stocked, they make sure it's clean, and so it's awesome and so fun to see the students when they're first like, oh my gosh, I have to take this on the cash register to where they have a line, of eight, nine people, and they're just running through nice and smooth on their own. And so really be able to take those skills now and really go out and have a true job somewhere,

a paid job in the community. So when they, do they come to school every day with some type of transportation and then they're in school during the school day? And if you're going to go out, you go out as a team with your staff. And then do they go home then at the end of? of the day? Is that how the program runs five days a week? So the way we do it here in Douglas County is just, we have, we have, we have three main buildings where the students go. And they, because they are on an IEP, they get, they get special education transportation. So they're brought to school. It's

curb to curb. So they're dropped up at school. When we do things around our community, they might walk somewhere. They might write RTD somewhere to learn how to do this. that or we have activity buses. And so we might drive the small groups in the activity buses. So also in our program, two of the things I want to highlight is one of them is our project search program that we do a partnership with UC Health. And so the students there, they do four-hour internships four days a week within the hospital. So they do one in the fall semester, one in the spring semester. And then our goal for them is for them to have a job by the time when they leave or to be able to get one over the summer. And so we just started that last year. And all six of

the students are fully employed now. Wow. That's exciting. Yeah. What an accomplishment. It sounds like you just create and build and design and move forward and try new things. And yeah, you're, not done yet. I don't think, Judy. No. And I think I think the important thing is we also go on community outings that we're just out in the community for one full day because the students have to learn how to navigate their communities and they need to know what's out there in their communities and not just rely on their parents all the time. We want them to do that. And something I've seen in our program as we've grown that I love is the students are really making friendships and they're really making more social connections because we have all nine high schools. And so we have students

from all over coming in the program. And they're truly finding their peers and they're doing things with their peers outside of school, which is really nice. So they're meeting each other in the transitions program, in the bridge program. And then parents are able to connect as well, probably when they may have thought they were just on an island unto themselves because of this student or child that they have. So are you seeing connections with parents or how do parents get involved in your bridge programs? Right. I think it kind of depends on the parent. Some of them have groups from high school and they're very connected with that group of parents from high school. But what's nice about this is now they're meeting students. Maybe they might live in

Highlands Ranch and they're meeting students from Parker and those parents are able to connect. And when we do some programs for families, they can really share their information with each other. Okay. And I think in our program, we've grown, you know, we're getting bigger and bigger. And I think as an as an administrator, I have to make sure that we are moving forward and really keeping up with what the students' needs are and changing how we do things. Like with adding the internships over at Project Search and at Amendment Legacy. And we just keep thinking of new ways that we can get the students out in the community and really get that connection with people out in the community. So as an administrator, you know, I have to be connected with other

transition programs around the state. And I really want to know what their doing and people will come and visit and to see what we're doing in our program. And I can really get a lot of information from them what they're doing in their program. So I can maybe bring that back to us. And so I think that as the leader in my program, that that's really important not to get stagnant. Sure. And you know, after doing it, and I've overseen it for, you know, 14 years now, but it's changed. And I think that as long as I can keep that up and going, then I think we're just going to continue to move forward. So you have nine high schools in the Douglas County School District that could potentially feed students into the transitions program. Is that correct? Correct. And we'll also,

if there's students from charter schools, we do have a few students that have come from charter schools. Okay. So then Douglas County is only one of the many counties here in South Denver and beyond. So then does Jefferson County also have like a program like this that you have a colleague in a position similar to yours and the other counties? Yeah. So all the, because of federal law, we have to offer some sort of education experience for students up until the age that they age out. In Colorado, it's 21.

It's different depending upon the state. Some states where it's 22, 21 is 24. So it kind of depends on the state. So you have to have some sort of program. Some people just keep them in the high schools the whole entire time where others have more specific transition programs. So it definitely varies. It varies from district to district here in Colorado and then across the state,

across the nation, you know, everyone does a little bit different. So are there conferences for leaders like yourself across the state and the nation to, I mean, I love your thought about we share ideas and they learn from us and I learn from them. Are there those types of opportunities for you? Yeah. So the state of Colorado, CDE holds a transition conference every summer. And so I've been going to those for years and years. And then there are some different nationwide ones, but some of those are just, I also think, go into just special ed ones to find out. I think what's important for me also, because I've been in education for so long,

things change. Like when I was a diagnostician, the way we would really diagnose a learning disability, that's changed over the years. And so I have to, you know, I think it's important to stay up on all of that. Of course. And stay up on all the language changes. you know, and then the language is different, believe it or not, from state to state. Wow.

Just like the meetings we have in Texas, they call it an ARD meeting here. We call it an IEP meeting. And it's interesting. And just with social media, there's a lot of platforms out there for transition, for special education. And so just reading those and listening to what people say there, I think, is important, too. It's funny. When you talk about the terminology back when you were talking about, the special ed coordinator role that you had for all of the middle school and the high school

and you were the lead for the SSN programs. To me, SSN only means social security number. I know that is so true. I'm so sorry. Yeah. It's so funny. It's really that the severe support needs students. And that's kind of a Colorado term. Oh, really? When I was in Texas, they called it, I had one district and they called the developmental classes. I had another district. They called it the life skills classes. And so even on those social platforms, when you look at that, people will, we always use acronyms and special ed. And people don't ever know what we're talking about. I forget sometimes. My husband's always like, what does that mean? What does that mean? Use real language.

So you mentioned that you love your students, you love your students, you love your students. staff, and you said your staff continues to grow because you've gone from 40 to 150 students. Is that because there's more awareness of a program that's available, or are there just more students? I think it's a couple of different reasons. When I was a coordinator, I could see the group of SSN students at the elementary school. schools grow bigger. And then at the middle schools, we needed two teachers because of the numbers of students coming in. So I think some of it was, there was an influx of students that coming into the district and then just more students. But I also think awareness, really having that awareness

out to elementary, middle and high schools. I've had parents that have elementary students that come and visit the program because instead, because they always want to hold them back. And they're like, you really want to go see the transition program so your child doesn't miss out on three years of transition. Oh, because it's age-based. So I think that awareness of it. And then also there's a large population that I think I've added to our program of students that are on the autism spectrum that are kind of in what we call moderate needs students at the high school. So they struggle in a lot of ways. they might have the academics or they might have the cognition,

but they really struggle in processing. They really struggle in those social emotional skills that they need in order to either access some sort of college environment or even to access their community and employment. So I think that it's kind of been all of that. And I think that some of my bigger growth has been with that group of students. but it's it's been good it's been good for them i mean it's what they need oh yeah i i'm not getting calls like i used to um when i was a coordinator i would get calls like my child's been out of high school for a year can he come back and go to your program but once they take their

diploma from the school district they can't come back for services wow that's so critical of services in the school. And so I felt like we were really missing out on, on, on a, it's a small group of students, but I don't want, I don't want one, one kid to fall through the crowd. No, no, you don't.

We want to be able to be there for, for everybody so that they can have that support and we can help them to become aware. And something else, I think that we've really grown in as our program is agency involvement and for parents, so that parents know what is available once they leave the school district. Yeah.

Very key and important. Yeah. That's awesome. So you have advocates in all the schools in Douglas County who are potentially identifying a student that could benefit from your program, even though they may be three years, five years, six years out. And so all of the schools are aware of all of the things that can be provided should a student choose their continuum of services into the bridge program. Yeah.

And more continue that. All the students and our SSN programs I talked about, those teachers are very well versed on the programs. Okay. We have changed a lot. So I have to really be aware that if new staff come in or if we're making some sort of change in our program that, all the schools are aware of it because even though we might have done it some way five years ago or even four or three years ago, we might have changed that. And so really making sure that they're aware of what that changes and maybe in how we run our program a little bit. Yeah.

And so back in, I think it was 2013, we started leveling the programs because we used to just have one program in Highlands Ranch, one program in Parker and one program in Casarach. But when I I did like a 10-year projection of students. And I told the district, we're going to get big. And they're like, oh, yeah, okay. We got big. But looking at that and then listening to feedback from staff and also from parents, the parent feedback is really important on what they're seeing and feeling and what they have is then we've leveled our program a little bit more so that that instead.

of just going to the one in your community, we did it more, we leveled it more so that students were in class with more students at their ability level. Oh, I see what you're saying. And I think that's also where when I talked earlier about the students really making those connections and friendships, I think that really impacted that area. Yeah. And what they were doing. So I've been to the coffee shop at the legacy campus and I've seen your students. So in a situation like that where maybe they've graduated from your program and they're working there, are those what those students are? Are they still in your program and going there to work every day?

Those students are still in our program. So they go there and work. And so with those students, we have a morning shift and an afternoon shift. And then when they're not in the marketplace working, they're working on their functional life skills and they're budgeting and they're social emotional. So they're still looking at some of that curriculum that we're doing. So they kind of do both of those. Okay. And there's a person at the legacy campus in the coffee shop while they're there.

Yeah. One of your staff? I have a teacher. And then I have two educational assistants at that class. Okay. And that's when I talked about my staff has also really grown because we have, because we've grown big. and I try to keep dependent upon this,

I try to keep our class sizes at certain levels and then dependent upon the support the students need, I'll have either two, three, four, five educational assistance within the classroom, depending upon what the students need, you know, be able to get them out into the community. With my lower level kids, we do a lot of self-care for students. And so we have to do feedings and we have to do changings and things like that. And sometimes the students, you know, in their wheelchairs, it takes two people to lift.

And so they have more staff in those classrooms. Okay. Yep. I gotcha. And then so a student that is working at the coffee shop at the legacy campus when they age out of the program, perhaps they could work in a job in the community. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we work with.

it's called the School to Work Alliance program. We call it swap, another acronym, Swap. Yeah. And then we also, and they're, they're part of the division of vocational rehabilitation, which is DVR. And so they're part of that program. And so we make sure our students are, have applied to those programs.

They can assist them when they leave, even now, some of them are working with them now and looking at jobs that they, that they can do. and applying for jobs there. And we do have a handful of students that are working, you know, in the evenings while they come to school. Okay. Wow.

The extent of the feelers out there from getting into your program and moving through your program and moving out of your program are vast. That's what I'm learning. It's a lot. It's a lot. And part of with, you know, because I've done this for so long, I'm really making sure that I have staff that know all those ins and outs. Because for so long, it was just me.

I did all the agency outreach. I did all the parent outreach. I was doing all of it. But as we got bigger and bigger, it's just more and more. And so it's been nice to be able to bring on a counselor and by dean of students. So I can, you know, let them really look at it. And then so it's not all the knowledge is in my head. I really, because, you know, this program is here to stay and it's going to be here for years and years and years.

And I just want them to have all the knowledge of everything so that if I do step down the next, you know, a couple years, they're able to just carry on. You know, they can make their changes, but they have the background. Right. And that kind of that backbone of it. Right. So it can still go on because it's, I think when I spoke to the Rotary Club, I'm like, this is my baby. Yeah. It's going to be like sending my baby off the college.

You'll have to stay connected somehow just because of your knowledge and wisdom of the program. And that might be okay too as something, you know, to move alongside transition. I think I'll continue this even after I leave the program. I will definitely continue in a new career, if you will, and something else along in the area of special education. Sure. Yeah. I'll do this. Do you have volunteers?

We have off and on. We've had student volunteers and we've had just volunteers from the public. And a lot of times they come and just work. They're like, oh, I work there. Oh, that's nice. Even I had this young lady and she, her last semester, she, she had, had free time and she knew she wanted to be a special ed teacher and she asked me if you could come and volunteer. She came here for an entire semester for two to three hours every afternoon and volunteered

at my program. And then when she graduated, she wanted to take like a gap year to make sure she was ready for college. And so I hired her. And I usually, they usually had to be 21 for me to hire. I just hire her, even though she was 18. She was so mature. And she was like one of my best. my best staff members because it was her passion. And I know she's going to go really far and do a lot of great stuff in special education because of that experience that she had. I love your flexibility. But with the students that come through, flexibility is probably a number one word in your career there.

It is. It is. It's interesting because in the school district we do emergenetics. And one of the things that they look at, it does look. look at flexibility and stuff. And it's funny because there's certain things I have to be super flexible on from day to day with schedules and this person's out. I have to grab this person to go over there. But then there's certain areas I'm not flexible at all because I know it's what we really need for the program. And so I'm not willing to like bend too much on it.

Well, that comes with a strong leader who, you know, knows what needs to happen. And I was going to say too, maybe I did say this, but strong leaders develop their people to be those leaders. And so you're doing that. And that's very admirable. We don't always see that everywhere. I think it's important. I think it's important to be able to lead and coach and bring along the younger teachers or anybody who really wants to go into something, especially past leadership.

Because I have, you know, there's some people who are in, and do you want to be, you know, that wants to stay in the classroom and that's where their passion is. And then I have other teachers who are like, can tell me more about your job. You know, I really like the coaching aspect of coaching teachers or I really like the aspect of being able to, to grow a program, you know, different things and learning more about it. So that's, that's another part of my job that I really enjoy is to be able to do that. And I have, you know, I've had some time like, you really, I said, you really need to go back to school. because you have so much to offer. You know, it's great in the classroom,

but I want you to be able to offer it and share it with the other staff members and then other people outside of our program to be able to help them grow also. Right. Yeah, and having gone back to school three times, you're very aware of that need. Yeah.

You have to have people, you know, push you and help you with that too. You know, I've had other leaders, that I was under that, you know, really helped groom me and, you know, like, this is what you should do. This, you know, these are areas to grow on, you know, and helping that way. You know, you have to grow from others. But then when I would sit in meetings and think, I can do that job, I can do that job. I'm going back to school so I can do that job.

Good for you. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, I think every time I bring something up, you tell me about another program that you've pursued that's in your program that people can pursue. And we could just keep on talking, but we should probably wrap it up. So what's the best way for people to learn more about you, your program, the bridge program? I think just looking at our website that they can get through through the school district and reach out to me.

As you can tell, I can talk about the program all day long. You can. It's wonderful. I love it. And come visit, especially for the people who live in the Douglas County area, and they want to hear more about that because I think just getting that community awareness and also getting businesses that we can partnership with to really help our students get out there and have practice of those skills on site because you can learn stuff in the classroom. But we have students, we need to get them out more in those job sites. So just contact me.

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, this has just been a super blessing to spend this time with you, Judy. Thank you so much for your time and enthusiasm and passion and everything that you inspire me today. And I'm sure all of our listeners as well. So thank you so much. Well, thank you, Judy. I really appreciate you having me today. You're welcome.

Bye-bye. Thanks so much for joining us for the Inspired Impact Podcast. To listen to past episodes, please visit theinspiredimpactpodcast.com.