Dallas ISD's Multiple Careers Magnet Center prepares students with special needs for work

Inside Dallas ISD's Multiple Careers Magnet Center, a working dry-cleaning classroom is giving students with disabilities a head start on adult life. Instructor Timothy Brisco teaches the basics of customer service at a counter that looks like one you would find at a neighborhood cleaner, including how to make eye contact and talk with a customer. The program has been around for decades, and its staff aims to push students past the low expectations they sometimes face.

One 17-year-old student in the program says the work feels like a real job. He said his favorite task is pressing clothes, and he hopes to come back to the campus to work after he graduates. He is one of roughly 17,000 Dallas ISD students with special needs, and the district's transition team is focused on what happens after those students leave high school.

Kimberly Wheeler, manager of Dallas ISD's Transition Services and the magnet center, described the goal as independence and everyday skills. The campus includes a simulated apartment where students practice living tasks. Beyond campus, high school students work at more than 60 community sites to build job experience. Some students take classes at Eastfield College, while others complete internships at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas with the hope of landing full-time jobs.

The dry-cleaning shop already cleans uniforms for several district high school bands, and members of the public can use it too, with most items cleaned and pressed for less than $2. Wheeler said the staff's job is to help students do the same daily work so they can "live and be happy."

Original reporting by Robbie Owens of CBS News Texas.