Alternative Education Center Becomes Gateway Learning
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
By moving the Alternative Learning Center from Lakeview Middle School to the former Madison Elementary School building, old programs will expand or change and new programs can be accommodated.
A new name for the ALC, The Gateway Education Center, also has been adopted.
Earlier this year, the Warsaw School Board unanimously approved to relocate the center to the old Madison School on Union Street in Warsaw. The center officially will open with the 2011-12 school year.
Amy Sivley, Warsaw Community School Corp. director of alternative services, said, “The exciting thing is, by moving we’ll be able to expand services.” One of the new programs will be the Middle School Alternative Learning Program.
Sivley said the MSALP gives students, who struggled in the middle school, a different and smaller learning environment where they may be more successful. The student-to-teacher ratio is lower.
The program will accommodate no more than 20 students. There will be two teachers for the program, one teacher in the morning, the other in the afternoon. There also will be a classroom assistant.
Students in the middle school program will have the same curriculum as the classrooms at the middle schools. Students will participate in state standards testing, but also will get mental health services.
A vocational coach will help the middle schoolers think about their futures and what they need to do to be successful.
Students in the MSALP are recommended for the program. Two are in the program now, Sivley said, with seven others being considered. For more information, a student or their parent/guardian can contact Sivley to see if they would be a good candidate for the program.
Transportation will be provided, and hours will be the same as the middle schools.
At the center, the Alternative to Suspension and Expulsion program will be divided into two programs instead of just one, Sivley said. In the past, the program housed 20 students in seventh grade through 16 years old. With the move to the new location, 40 students will be able to access the program. Now, ASE Low will be for students in seventh through ninth grade, while ASE High will be for sophomores through seniors.
Seventh- and eighth-graders will attend school for a full day. Freshmen will attend ASE Low for only a half day.
ASE High is only a half-day program. However, Sivley said, if a student works hard and diligently, they can still earn a decent number of credits and stay on track to graduate.
Previously, Sivley said, if a student over the age of 16 was expelled or suspended, and didn’t have at least 26 credits, they had no place to go and lost out on their education. A student has to have at least 26 credits to attend Alternative Instructional Methods. AIMS is the high school program for students over 16 years old with 26 or more credits.
With ASE divided into two programs, a student over 16 with less than 26 credits now can continue their education until they can go back to the high school.
ASE uses the Novel Stars program, which is aligned with the state standards. Novel Stars is the same program used in AIMS and is how students earn school credits.
Also new this upcoming school year will be the Rebound program. Rebound is designed for students who withdrew from school but want to return, regardless of the number of credits a student has.
Rebound will meet for a half day, Monday through Friday. There will be morning and evening sessions.
Students in Rebound will have weekly sessions with a mental health therapist and a vocational coach. The coach will work with the students on how to get and keep a job.
Sivley said three students are signed up for Rebound right now.
She said, in the process of gathering student data she found 120 students in the last two years withdrew from school expecting to earn their GEDs instead. But those students found earning their GEDs was more difficult than they expected. Rebound will offer more support to students to earn their high school diploma.
Through Novel Stars, Sivley said, students have earned six credits in a semester. If a student volunteers at a non-profit or works, and logs at least 75 work hours, the student can turn in that work log and earn vocational credits.
Along with the new programs, the center will continue to house three day treatment programs, the Elementary Reaching Actual Potential, Middle School Reaching Actual Potential and High School Day Treatment, and AIMS. The center will continue its Adult Education Services, GED program and English as a Second Language courses.
The Credit Recovery program for high school students also will be offered Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. A student must go through their high school guidance counselor to get in that program.
Kosciusko Literacy Services also will be housed at the center, as will the school corporation’s occupational and physical therapists.
A new Functional Skills Class for 18 to 22 year-olds will be at the center, with a focus on job skill training.
The center partners with the Bowen Center, which will provide about nine rehabilitation service providers and 1-1/2 mental health therapists.
“I feel if a student is struggling, we as a community and district need to do whatever we can to help that student,” said Sivley.
For more information about the center or any of its programs, call 574-371-5019.
