'You're an amazing class': Rosedale School, serving AISD's high-needs students, graduates 12

Teachers and parents teared up in the cafeteria of Rosedale School on Wednesday as 12 students graduated.

Many of the students had been with the school, which serves Austin district students with significant disabilities, for years or worked with the same staff members since they were small children.

As the students exited the cafeteria in a cloud of bubbles, families wiped tears from their eyes. The students’ graduation is a culmination of their work to overcome significant barriers, but it also means great change for the students and their families.

Maureen Benschoter’s 22-year-old son, George, had attended Rosedale since he was 13, and he graduated Wednesday. George beamed as he took a photo with Rosedale staff members and wore a necklace with light-up graduation caps.

The school's staff members had helped him achieve goals that doctors had predicted would never be possible, his mother said.

“He cannot move any part of his body except for his head, and he has a job,” Benschoter said. “Because of what’s happened here at this school, he’s working at the YMCA.”

Rosedale School, at 7505 Silvercrest Drive in north central Austin, serves students who have significant special needs and houses the district’s programs to help students 18 to 22 years old prepare for adult living skills and work or volunteer in the community.

The district’s goal is always to serve students with special needs at their home campus, to allow them to learn in the most inclusive environment possible, Rosedale Principal Matthew Nelson said.

Rosedale serves students who have significant medical or behavioral needs and students who are transitioning into semi-independent adult living. Students in the 18- to 22-year-old programs go off campus to volunteer or work for part of their day and, in some cases, learn to use Austin’s public transportation.

Rosedale is different because the campus creates a welcoming environment where students’ different learning challenges are the focus, Nelson said.

“It exudes into the students,” Nelson said. “Kids come here Day 1 and they’re accepted.”

The environment at the school's 2-year-old campus is set up with students’ unique needs in mind including medical equipment and a mock apartment for students to practice independent living skills, like cooking or cleaning.

The campus provides concerts, sports and other activities for the students.

During the graduation, Nelson told the audience a little about each graduate, such as Dean Osterweil's love for bowling or that Benschoter enjoys cracking knock-knock jokes. Family members stood up and clapped when their students crossed the stage.

“You’re an amazing class, a class of resilient learners who refuse to let anything stop you,” Superintendent Matias Segura told the graduates.

It’s a strong community, said Diane Kearns, whose son, Dean Osterweil, graduated Wednesday.

“What comes after this is frankly a little scary,” Kearns said. “He doesn’t have a place to go every day. He’s not going to get to see his friends every day.”

Still, Kearns and her family are determined to give Osterweil a full day and the Rosedale community is supportive, she said.

Four of the students who Rosedale teacher Chloe Pellizzaro works with graduated Wednesday. It’s an emotional moment because she spends so much time with her students.

“I’m with them every day, all day,” Pellizzaro said. “I’m caring for them. I’m feeding them. I’m doing all the things, so it’s just a deeper connection.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Rosedale, serving high needs students, celebrates 12 graduates