The curriculum has several key components, each of which have “general” lessons, hands on practice across different environments, performance of those jobs, and evaluation on job performance:

• Nine job descriptions, with lessons built around learning and evaluating interest in each job;

• Interviewing and applying, where students will explore jobs best suited for them, and actually apply for and get hired for a job;

• Pre-production lessons, where skills are practiced with mock challenges and in different environments;

• Production time, when products are actually created and students actually work; and

• Evaluation time, where students are evaluated on both technical and soft skills related to their job.

Students will rotate through the Enrich Program Class each day, where they will participate in a curriculum written specifically for KDS.

The program will culminate in an “Enrich Crate Box” each semester, which is full of themed and locally-curated goods from partner organizations.

Unfortunately, at this time, we are limited to serving only current KDS students. We hope to expand into the community in the future.

Yes! There is no additional tuition owed to participate. Please note, non-participation does not result in a decreased tuition rate.

Sustainability needs three things, and we believe we have those with the Enrich Program!

1. Student buy-in. Our students love hands-on activities with tangible results. The Enrich Program provides that. Our students want to feel good about a job well done, and to know that someone has relied on them because they provided a valuable skill. The creation of the Enrich Program crate boxes provides that. Finally, our students love a creative teacher who is willing to make learning fun, but also push them to do their best. The Enrich Program classroom coordinators are just the right people to do that! As a result, we think our students will enjoy not only the classroom activities, but also the sense of purpose and the very real fruits of their labor!

2. Community buy-in. KDS has carefully selected community partners known for community pride and quality products, which are truly unique to Maury County. Each semester’s Enrich Program crate box will have a different theme, full of these high-quality, Maury County-specific goodies, available only in limited quantities. We have met with partners individually, and they are excited about partnering to create jobs for students with disabilities! We think that the combination of brand recognition, pride in buying local, fairly short-term and limited-scope commitment, and restricted quantities—wrapped up in a phenomenal mission of creating jobs for students with special needs—makes this a program that Maury County will love for years to come!

3. Staff buy-in. Staff at KDS want to change the lives of students. However, every day brings with it new opportunities and challenges! Staff members are clamoring for a program that can “keep running” even if some students are engaging in behavioral challenges, become overwhelmed by social or sensory input, have medical needs, or if a fellow staff member has to be gone. Too often, KDS staff have seen the best of intentions fail to produce results because one of these things happened, and everything fell apart! The Enrich Program is an “all-in” initiative, where all staff members are committed to its success, and that will take place on campus, so that the impact of challenges is limited.

The Enrich Program community partners were hand-selected from Maury County and local vendors/businesses as those who are interested in being part of the mission of KDS, have an excellent reputation, have the ability to deliver larger quantities of their merchandise, and can contribute to the “theme” of the holiday gift box.

Our goal is to invite new or different partners each semester. Some may remain the same, and others may opt to forego a semester or two, depending upon their inventory and the theme of each season’s crate box. The possibilities are open and are incredibly exciting!

The easiest way to support Enrich is to order a box! Our students proudly showcase their contribution to the box with their own custom trading card inside the box.

If you are interested in becoming a community partner for a future box, please reach out!

Donations toward the Enrich Program can also be made through our Support Us page via a one-time gift.

Right here on our website! Check out our online shop* that will feature the seasonal box for purchase. We have a limited quantity available each semester, so buy early!

*Shop is active only during periods where a box is for sale. Keep checking back!