September 20, 2000

116 students enrolled in alternative high school education program

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       A bright young man, Brandon was not flourishing in high school. Worse than that, he was close to flunking out, racking up bad grades when repeated absences, tardiness and smoking offenses cancelled out his academic work. As his failing grades pushed his potential graduation date farther and farther into the future, he lost any hope of staying with his classmates.
      Brandon, 18, strongly considered dropping out altogether.
      Instead of giving up, this year he enrolled in the Alternative Programs for Success, a new alternative high school started this year by the Traverse Area Public School System. The Alternative Programs for Success is geared to students like Brandon who fall through the cracks of traditional high school programs and would otherwise not complete their high school education.
      "If I wasn't here, I wouldn't even be in school; this is my opportunity to finish," he said. "It is a good opportunity for anyone who can't function or cooperate with regular high school and its laws and restrictions."
      Brandon is one of 116 students in grades 9-12 who enrolled this year in the Alternative Programs for Success. These students attend classes daily at the Boys and Girls Club and cover the core subjects of math, social studies, science and language arts.
      The school is set up so that each student studies independently. Teachers facilitate their progress and help with questions, but the student sets the pace in each subject, working toward a set of goals for each subject and grade level.
      This self-paced approach works very well for Brandon, who, two weeks into the school year, feels like he has found his place.
      "Independent study doesn't leave anyone lost in the dust or stuck waiting for the rest of the class to catch up with them," Brandon said. "I like learning, I like school and assignments. I like everything about it except the structure of it, which caused me to fail and took away those things."
      Students in the Alternative Programs for Success meet five days a week for the same hours as students in the traditional high school settings. Their day, however, covers only three subjects, each for a two-hour block, instead of the usual six subjects for less than an hour each.
      Students appreciate this in-depth approach.
      "Two-hour chunks are a lot better way to learn than regular classroom hours," said Jade, a ninth grader in the program. "I like it here a lot better, there are not so many people and you can work at your own pace."
      The semesters are also structured differently, nine-weeks long instead of 18. Each student works to master three subjects in each nine-week semester, following the guidelines for their grade level.
      The second nine weeks, they switch to three other subjects. This means that cumulatively during 18 weeks, each student completes six classes just as traditional high school students do.
      "In 18 weeks, they will still complete the same amount of work, just in different bites," said teacher/principal Ron Hoth. "This program is set up to be self-motivated, self-paced and geared to different learning styles of students. The students are really responding."
      Hoth has a staff of three other teachers and a teacher's aid, all of whom are excited about the new program and what it will offer to students. Besides traditional classroom studies, teachers are setting up field trips to give the students real-life experiences that can be used as the basis for learning academic subjects.
      A recent sailing project on the Boardman Lake gave 30 students the opportunity to learn the basics of sailing, physics, math and the weather.
      "We have a lot of kids here who have not been successful in traditional schools because of constraints," Hoth said. "We know that one size does not fit all."
      Beginning in 1967 with the Lockman Outdoor Program, Traverse City Area Public Schools has offered an alternative setting for high school students. Lockman ended in 1993; other programs over the years were Rainbow High and Community High.
      For the past four years the district has not offered any alternatives. The Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District picked up the slack with their SAVE program for a while, but that closed down two years ago.
      TCAPS administrators discussed a program like Alternative Programs for Success for a few years, said Lee Welch, ninth- grade principal at East Junior High and planning administrator for the Success program. In fact, both Central and West High Schools have offered after-school classes and summer programs for three years, but they were part-time programs.
      This year, administrators decided to start a full-time alternative high school with the goal of graduating each of its students. The idea is catching on. The school was originally geared for 80 students, but enrollment quickly zoomed to 116. This number includes between 20-30 students from nearby districts, who were welcomed into the program.
      Flexibility is the key in this Alternative Programs for Success. Students are allowed to co-enroll in classes at their home high school or in Career Tech programs if they want and they may also apply for life experience or work-study credits.
      "I think the biggest difference between our previous efforts and this one is that we are offering an individualized, alternative approach to the courses that are required for graduation," Welch said. "We are then working in a very flexible manner with sending schools to obtain necessary elective credits for graduation."