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PrintThe Dropout Report: Thinking small
To encourage students who may feel lost in the increasingly large high schools, three area districts offer alternative approaches to education.
Jenks Alternative Center
It’s obvious Cameron Mason has school pride for Jenks Alternative Center. Not only did he make the senior class video, but he also created a school brochure for prospective parents and students.
“Whenever I came (to Jenks), I was impressed with the people at the high school and the way they actually cared about you, but then when you come over (to the Alternative Center), it’s a hundred times better,” Cameron says. “You’re like, ‘Whoa. Have I really been missing all of this all this time?’… It’s incredible.”
Mason is one of 120 high school students enrolled at Jenks Alternative, which opened in 1991, and Principal Amie Hardy says she hears stories like Cameron’s all the time.
“Jenks Alternative offers students the nonjudgmental, individual support they need in a smaller, more personal setting different from your traditional high school setting,” she says.
At-risk students and potential dropouts who apply to Jenks Alternative Center tend to face challenges including emotional problems, family challenges and transitioning from other districts to Jenks Public Schools, Hardy says. The number of students at Jenks’ Freshman Academy and at Jenks High School can be overwhelming, which, in many cases, can lead to disinterest in school and sometimes dropping out.
With a 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio at Jenks Alternative Center, students follow a nine-week block schedule with 70-minute classes for more opportunities to earn credit hours. Graduations take place four times a year with each block session, helping Jenks to maintain a 1.8 percent dropout rate.
Hardy attributes the school’s success to small class sizes for one-on-one relationship-building between students and teachers; eight licensed counselors for drug, grief, anger management, relationship and other counseling; “connections” classes that require team building and that students encourage one another to attend school; and mandatory life skills classes that teach cooking, cleaning and healthy eating — all taught in the school’s full-sized kitchen.
“We focus on the whole student and not just the academics,” Hardy says. “For a student to be academically successful, there must be a connection. Students connecting and being supported by the principal, counselors, teachers and peers within this program increases self-esteem and the feeling of belonging, which then leads to success in academics and life.”
Although the Alternative Center students attend classes in a separate school building from Jenks High School, they follow the same curriculum, and continue to participate in athletics, foreign language classes, prom and graduation services with the main high school, despite the myth that kids who attend alternative schools require reform.
“This is not a discipline program,” Hardy says. “It’s a credit recovery program. Here, we focus on academics and life skills.”
Ram Academy
Caricatures of high school students decorate the halls of Ram Academy in Owasso, and Principal Johanna Woodard can provide a name for every picture. Here, the 75 students, five teachers, one counselor and Woodard know one another personally. In comparison, Owasso High School has 1,100 students enrolled and Owasso Mid-High School has 1,400 students.
Woodard says alternative schools such as Ram Academy provide a choice for students who have difficulty at larger schools.
“They don’t feel connected to their school,” she says. “They feel anonymous and disengaged. We want to make them feel valuable and part of their school.”
Owasso’s rapid growth over the past 10 years has resulted in a growing school system. More people are moving to the Tulsa suburb for its exemplary school system, which brings more businesses and shopping centers and, therefore, more students, Woodard says.
To prevent dropouts, Ram Academy is the most significant step. The school accepts at-risk students who perform poorly in school because of family crisis, anxiety or depression from trauma, drug or alcohol abuse, credit deficiencies, excessive absences or lack of motivation that stems from one or more of these issues.
“People have misconceptions and think that these kids aren’t intelligent,” Woodard says. “It’s really just a matter of getting them engaged and motivated.”
Once students are accepted into the program, they take classes in core subjects such as English and math, as well as electives in speech, creative writing and computer applications. Students are required to participate in programs such as a life skills rotation, through which they learn study and financial life skills, explore careers and participate in other teambuilding and character development, as well as male- and female-specific groups that focus on teen issues and hot topics. Outside organizations including the Oklahoma School of Etiquette, Youth Services, Family & Children’s Services and Operation Aware also reach out to Ram Academy with lessons and programs in formal manners, art, drama, relationship skills and more.
The school maintains a close relationship with Owasso High School, but Ram Academy also has its own school dances, environmental club, yearbook and student council. This fall, Ram Academy will have its own National Honor Society.
As the new school year approaches, Woodard says Ram Academy will continue to be an effective tool in lowering the 4.9 percent dropout rate among Owasso students.
“They aren’t bad kids,” she says. “Maybe they had bad things happen to them. If people knew their stories, people wouldn’t be so quick to judge.”
Union Alternative School
Walking through the halls at Union Alternative’s high school during a morning classroom break is noticeably different from a typical high school. What makes this school’s 10-minute break time exceptional is that students play pool, foosball and ping-pong at tables in the middle of the hallways, while teachers interact with their students. School isn’t just for academics; it’s a place for community.
“By developing an atmosphere based on kindness and mutual respect, we can re-engage students who have lost focus on their educations,” says Richard Storm, principal of Union Alternative School. “Once they are re-engaged, their efforts are rewarded and reinforced by their once again having the academic achievement of which they are capable.”
The 112 high school students and 75 junior high school students, along with the seven teachers in the high school and six teachers in the junior high school, are reasons why students prefer Union’s alternative school, Storm says. With about 1,000 students in Union High School’s senior class, many students have a hard time connecting with their school.
“Students having problems getting through the traditional schools apply to the Alternative School if these issues are so significant that they cause the student to be at risk of failing to graduate from high school,” Storm says. “All of our students are unique, but we serve many students with significant emotional issues, attention deficit disorder, drug or alcohol abuse, poor attendance, low academic skills, juvenile justice backgrounds, family or social problems, pregnancy, poverty or poor motivation to learn.”
Students in the high school follow a block schedule and rotate classes every four weeks. Storm says this system simplifies their course studies and allows them to focus on one solid subject. Graduation checks occur every four weeks as students graduate every four weeks during the school year. When one young person graduates, another student enters the program.
Although Union Public Schools’ dropout rate has reached 5.1 percent, Union Alternative School offers more than just textbook academics. High school classes take a hands-on approach in subjects such as science, where students tend to their own greenhouse, and a life skills class, where they learn how to use the kitchen, washer, dryer and other home appliances.
Storm says the schools also emphasize the arts because many of his students are creative and they find these subjects fun and therapeutic.
“Basically, everything that we do is intended to prevent students from dropping out of school or to reclaim students who have already dropped out,” Storm says. “We feel that the best way to get students to come to school is to make school a place that they want to be.”
