School Divisions and VCU Form Partnership to Train Teachers of Students with Autism

By Mike Frontiero and Dale Theakston

Virginia Commonwealth University will host a ceremony to announce a new partnership with 15 school divisions in Central Virginia that will provide training and professional development for teachers of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The Region 1 Autism Education Consortium will be announced Friday, April 25, at 3 p.m. in the VCU Scott House, 909 W. Franklin St.

The consortium will combine the resources of Virginia's Region 1 school divisions and VCU to benefit nearly 1,000 children with ASD or developmental delays and characteristics of ASD currently served in more than 200 classrooms.

VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Region 1 school superintendents, and School of Education Dean Beverly J. Warren will participate in the ceremony.

Region 1 consists of school divisions in the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Surry, and Sussex, and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond.