Explore your potential.
Pre-ETS (Pre Employment Transition Services) is a dynamic, five-week program featuring flexible, one-week sessions introducing students with disabilities, aged 14-22, to the employment world. Through a hands-on approach students build confidence, gain real-world experience, and develop essential job skills.
Help your child build lifelong skills.
Parents, we know how important it is to support your child on their path to independence. Pre-ET helps your young adult explore their future with guidance and encouragement. This is your time to shine.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Reach out to your local Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) office or email Monique Bell at monique.bell@bobbydodd.org to learn how Pre-ETS can support your child’s journey.
Upcoming Dates.
Cobb County School District:
- April 6-10, 2026
Douglas County Schools:
- October 13-17, 2025
- February 16-20, 2026
- April 6-10, 2026
Fulton County Schools:
- April 6-10, 2026
Gwinnett/Forsyth County Schools:
- April 6-10, 2026
DeKalb County Schools:
- April 6-10, 2026
“The staff goes above and beyond helping the kids, and it’s a great program!”
Parent
of a child in the G.R.O.W. program
Personalized Job Training
Work one-on-one with a coach who helps you explore your strengths and interests.
Self-Advocacy Workshops
Learn how to express your needs, set personal goals, and feel confident in any environment.
Workplace Tours
Visit local businesses to see different jobs in action and meet people who do the work every day.
Community Connections
Build relationships with local partners and employers who value your unique skills.
Begin transcript:
Jewel >> I’m doing the breakfast attendant, at um, Callaway Gardens. I really like this job very well, and I want to work here.
Ginger >> Jewel was, um, quite interesting. Jewel has tons of energy, and when I first met her in the class, um, she was in the whole group, and she absolutely was almost climbing the walls.
Dorthea >> Jewel is very outgoing. Um, she’s very lovable. Both her and her brother have intellectual disabilities, as well as their mom.
I got them in 2013, and uh, I’ve been raising them by myself the whole time as a single parent.
Jewel >> I was like, confused if I was going to go to college or not, so I decided to come to college so I can get…get my education better and get good progress in my journal.
Ginger >> Jewel, from day one to now, has made an outstanding turnaround. It’s amazing. She’s…I knew, and that’s what I told her from the beginning. I said, “I see potential you don’t see.”
Dorthea >> When they graduate from high school, a lot of them get lost in the shuffle because they end up in a room, on the phone, watching TV all day long because either the parents don’t know the programs, or they’re too afraid to fill out the paperwork.
Jewel >> Getting a house, a car, getting a lot of money, [laughing joyfully] and planning to get married. I’m like, yeah, planning to get married.
Ginger >> That’s my girl, Jewel. So she’s…Jewel will go very far.
Jewel >> My biggest thing that, like, I like at the GROW program is when they teach us…teaches me different things, and I get to know faster, and I get…I’m really smart, and I can just take things by fast and fast.
Dorthea >> So I think it was just a good experience for her to just be…’cause it’s just for a week, but it’s a good experience for her to just be with other people that were more of her peers, and to see how it would be, you know, traveling with different people and going out to see how it would be to work on a job.
Jewel >> The field trips are very fun at the GROW program, we went to the mall, and I got good experience with different things at the warehouse.
Ginger >> Just encourage businesses to give it a try. You’d be amazed. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go, you know? Um, and I can tell you that a lot of people with disabilities are some of the best employees that are out there.
