Alternative education: Lincoln restarts program on school campus
Posted on Sunday, September 28, 2008
Editor's note: This is the first of a two part-series looking at some of the alternative learning programs in Washington County. Monday's article will focus on Fayetteville High School's program.
LINCOLN - Students in the school district's alternative learning program are back on the campus this year, and they are giving back to the community.
Twenty students in the alternative learning environment at Lincoln High School spent Friday morning helping Grace Place, a local food pantry and clothing ministry, organize and sort clothing and other wares.
Program director Clay Hendrix said he has been trying to impress upon the students the importance of community service, along with the other subjects they are required to teach.
"I love it," said student Cindy Brock, as she was helping sort clothes. "I think it's a great cause, and it's great to get out of class."
Lincoln implemented an on-campus integrated alternative learning environment at the high school this year after three years of using the Boston Mountain Cooperative's alternative education center in Fayetteville with six other districts. Superintendent Frank Holman, who began his second stint as superintendent last year, cited the long bus rides as one of the main reasons for discontinuing the arrangement.
Under the new approach, students enrolled in the alternative program are housed in a four-classroom building behind the main high school facility and take some classes in the regular classroom with their peers. This is different from the Boston Mountain Education Center, where students spent the full school day.
"Every student has to take at least one regular high school class," Hendrix said.
Lincoln's approach is similar to Fayetteville High School's on-campus alternative program. At Fayetteville, the students are housed in the campus' Bates Annex building and take most of their courses there, but they may venture out to the main academic building for certain elective classes.
Students in the program can also participate in extracurricular activities at Lincoln, which they could not do at the Boston Mountain Education Center. Four of the 20 students in the program play on the Lincoln High School football team.
"I like it," student Eric Rush said. "I can play football."
Student James Gregory said Holman did not personally visit with students to see if they wanted to move back to campus, but he has preferred being at the school to taking the long bus rides to Fayetteville. Another student, though, said he preferred the Boston Mountain Center.
Gregory said with the small number of students in the program, there are not many discipline problems or "drama."
"Everyone thought we were bad kids, but I think we proved them wrong," Brock said. "We're not bad kids. If we were bad kids, we'd be in JDC getting our GED or something."
Although the alternative learning environment is a program within Lincoln High School, it also uses its own handbook and policies. While Lincoln High School utilizes a ninth through 12 th grade format, the program will also take in eighth grade students from Lincoln Middle School.
Hendrix and one other teacher are the main instructors for the program. Four regular high school teachers also teach one class a day for the alternative program.
By having the program on campus, Hendrix said, it helps fulfill one of the intents of the state's alternative education law, which is that the programs should help transition students back to the regular classroom.
Most of the alternative classes are designed to allow students to work at their own pace on the material under a teacher's supervision. They also take some classes on the computer.
The state law has a list of criteria under which students may qualify for the program if they meet at least two of the characteristics. Hendrix said all students go through an interview process before entering the program.
Some of the characteristics a student might have to qualify include • Disruptive behavior • Drop-out • Personal / family problems • Recurring absenteeism • Transition from residential program • Victim of abuse • Frequent changes in residency • Homelessness • Inadequate emotional support • Mental / physical health problems • Pregnancy • Student is a single parent "I had lost a lot of credits and decided to come back so I could graduate on time," Brock said. "There's a lot of different reasons why we're here."
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