About CIRCLES

CIRCLES is a formalized model of transition planning designed to help schools in building collaborative partnerships across three teams, including Community-Level Team (CLT), School-Level Team (SLT), and the IEP team.  

 

CIRCLES, while facilitated by school personnel, involves collaboration and input from school and community partners. A CIRCLES facilitator could be a lead special education teacher, a transition coordinator, local education agency representative, or other school personnel such as a school counselor or general education teacher. 

 

CIRCLES helps improve transition outcomes for students with disabilities by strengthening collaboration between schools and community partners. The goal is to help students  

  • build self-determination skills,  
  • better understand the transition planning process, and  
  • increase engagement in school, work, and postsecondary opportunities. 
Circles Funnel Graphic

CIRCLES has been implemented in multiple schools and districts and started in Cleveland County Schools in North Carolina in the 1990’s. The video below shares the history of CIRCLES.