Vista Education Campus principal and students outline transition program for 18–22-year-olds
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Summary
Principal Nisha Kilpak and student presenters described Vista Education Campus’s programs for students ages 18–22 on IEPs, emphasizing hands-on life-skills training (kitchen, staged apartment, campus store), on-site job placements and graduation milestones.
Nisha Kilpak, principal of Vista Education Campus, said the district-operated campus serves students ages 18 to 22 who did not graduate high school and who are on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Kilpak, who said she has worked for the Davis County School District for more than 20 years and is in her second year as Vista principal, described a program focused on preparing students for employment and independent living.
Kilpak said Vista’s instruction centers on five areas: employment, independent living, postsecondary education, social skills and communication. "We have a kitchen," she said, describing hands-on instruction where students practice following recipes and food-safety routines. Staff also showed a staged apartment used to practice laundry and household tasks and described on-site jobs intended for students who cannot yet work in the community.
Student presenters described the campus’s daily life. "It's just incredible here," one student said, praising job sites and the campus store used for practice shopping and registration tasks. Presenters described outings and classroom activities—cooking, visits to stores and restaurants, and recreational activities such as bowling—as opportunities to generalize skills learned in class to community settings.
A teacher who leads the EE (employment and education) class said instruction emphasizes functional reading—how to read a recipe or a simple article—and connecting classroom learning to real-life employment skills. Staff and students highlighted campus features such as a physical education area, a campus store where students practice buying groceries and making purchases, and job-coaching supports for community placements.
Graduations at Vista, presenters said, are an important part of the program: students often stay with the campus for multiple years, and staff celebrate small and large milestones. One presenter noted a recent graduate who received the Nona Miller award for accomplishments at independent job sites and who successfully advocated to ride the bus to after-school activities on his own.
Kilpak closed the session by speaking directly to parents: drawing on her experience both as a principal and as a parent of a child with special needs, she said, "I want parents to know that they aren't alone and that we are a resource that we can help them and help their child to be happy and to be successful."