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Benefits of
The Northwest
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Alternative Schools: Approaches for Students at RiskThe Northwest Sampler - Idaho
Location Contact Emmett is a rural, farming community which is becoming less rural and more suburban as the city of Boise grows. Black Canyon Alternative School is a program of Emmett High School. The alternative school is located separately from the high school, but both serve all of Gem County, with some students coming from 40 miles away. The school also accepts students from outside the district. Founded in the mid 1980s, Black Canyon serves 75 students in grades nine through 12 in a day program and 25 in an evening program. In the 1996-97 school year, the program added 12 eighth-grade students to its program. In the 1997-98 school year, it will enroll 30 to 35 eighth-graders and possibly some seventh-graders identified as potentially at risk.
Students at Black Canyon may be behind in school, have behavioral problems, have learning disabilities, or have been previously home schooled. Only a small percent live with both biological parents. Most students do not want to return to the mainstream high school where they feel anonymous or unaccepted. However, some do: In the 1997-98 school year, 12 to 15 students will return to the regular school.
Black Canyon has four teachers, a counselor, and a half-time, state-funded person teaching careers and parenting. Students study one subject at a time for 70 class hours. Teachers act primarily as tutors. Students are given materials and work at their own pace. Class sizes are smaller than at the regular high school, seldom more than 15 to 18; this is one of the things the students like about the school. Students have more open book tests and more chances to redo work than at the regular school. They sign in and out of school, but scheduling is somewhat flexible. For example, a student living independently and holding a job might come to school for half a day on a predetermined schedule. Students with less than 90 percent attendance during the time they are supposed to be at school lose credits.
Black Canyon students have a student government and opportunities to give input into school policies. For instance, students requested and the administration approved changing from three 10-minute breaks during the day to shorter breaks and a longer lunch period.
The junior high students at Black Canyon do not mix with the older students. At the request of parents, they are not allowed to go off campus at the lunch hour. They attend five out of seven periods at Black Canyon and take elective classes two blocks away at the junior high. The school involves parents or other family members in some of its disciplinary strategies. For example, as an alternative to suspending a student for behavior problems, the school will call in a family member who will sit with the student in all classes and ensure that the student stays on task. School officials report that the strategy seems to have a positive effect on the behavior of other students as well.
During the junior high program's first year the majority of students were referred for disciplinary reasons. Some had been expelled from numerous schools; most were at Black Canyon because it was their only alternative to expulsion from the local mainstream school. Next year a committee with representation from both Black Canyon and the mainstream school will select a more balanced student population, focusing also on students with educational weaknesses.
In 1996-97, the one junior high teacher taught English, mathematics, social studies, and science. In 1997-98 the program will have two teachers and will be structured differently. Students will take a two-period block of math, a two-period block of language arts, and one period of behavioral studies focused on helping them find constructive ways to deal with peers, feelings, and other issues. They will also take two electives at the other junior high. It is felt that strengthening students' reading, writing, and mathematics skills will be the key to academic improvement in other subject areas. The intent of the junior high program is to send all students back to the mainstream high school once they have experienced some success at the alternative school.
Observed Outcome
Keys to Success
Location Contact Project CDA includes a high school program established in 1979, with both a day and night session, and a separately housed middle school program established in 1991 as eighth grade only and expanded to include seventh grade in 1996. The administration hopes to add sixth grade to the program sometime in the future. Both programs are linked with conventional schools in the district but are located off-campus.
Students are referred to CDA by the mainstream schools for reasons such as high absenteeism, failing a grade, low grade point average, pregnant or parenting, or behavior problems. They go through an interview process that includes their parent(s) and counselor. High school students often self-refer. For both programs, CDA attempts to select a spectrum of students who will work well together, not including too many who are emotionally disturbed. At the high school level, CDA gives admission preference to those who are closest to graduation.
Upon entry to CDA, students review the expectations of the school and sign a contract that they will meet those expectations. Students are allowed three absences per quarter. If they exceed that number they must have a doctor's note or a paper showing they were required to appear in court that day. Parent notes are not accepted. Lateness counts as an absence for the day. If the allowed number of absences is exceeded, students are dismissed from the program. Students are allowed to bankroll the absences from quarter to quarter.
CDA stresses the three Rs of respect, responsibility, and resiliency. School banners proclaim "Attitude is everything." The staff models the behavior they expect from students. For instance, the school does not use substitute teachers. Students see that a teacher's absence creates extra work for the others. There are no closed doors and no faculty lunch room or restroom at CDA; the staff is always with the students. Both students and staff go by first names. Students and the staff, including the custodian and the food service workers, all have votes in how the school is run. Students who have been with the program for two years are represented on the hiring committee along with staff. The director does not vote on hiring, wanting the staff and students to be as invested as possible in the new person's success.
Most CDA students feel they did not get enough attention at their previous school. At CDA each student has a mentor who follows that student's progress. After their first year, students attend CDA by invitation. They must have three staff recommendations to be invited back to the school.
The CDA curriculum is much more applied than that of the mainstream schools, with a heavy school-to-work emphasis. Students can earn credit for 150 hours of successful paid or volunteer work. The staff contacts employers once a month and visits the job site once a quarter. As noted above, the entire school attempts to model skills such as punctuality, attendance, and the positive attitude needed at a job.
To graduate, CDA high school students must earn the same number of credits in the same core areas as students at the mainstream high school. Some substitutions are made; for example, a parenting class for parenting teens serves as a science credit. Teen parents work one hour a day in the high school's licensed day care center. In addition they study child development by writing case histories of children other than their own, choosing a child of a different age each quarter.
Because it is felt that the best chance for dramatic change is with the middle school population, staffing levels for them are highest: four full-time instructors and four instructional assistants for 48 students. The staff has found that at the middle school, because of differing developmental issues, homogeneous grouping of students at grade level is most effective. Students are heavily counseled and helped to build self-regard and experience success. They undergo training in team and trust building. At least every other month their parents must attend the school's monthly parent night for instruction in parenting skills.
Eighty percent of CDA middle school students resume their education at a mainstream high school.
Observed Outcomes
Keys to Success
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