By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Schoolwork gets done in the Milford Success Academy's Alternate School for students who have been suspended or expelled. They work silently and must bring lunch to eat at their desks. (Gary Landers photo)

Greater Cincinnati school districts are trying a variety of approaches to helping children learn to deal with conflict and succeed in life. Among them:

• North College Hill City Schools last year offered 19 of the 33 students it expelled the opportunity to receive home instruction or other classwork through Ombudsman Educational Services, a for-profit company based in Libertyville, Ill. Students attend school at an alternative center and do most of their coursework on the computer. The district, which ranked in the Top 10 for expulsion rates in Ohio last year, has yet to expel a student this year.

• Sycamore High School this year began tracking and analyzing student infractions and discipline using a system designed by a former student. Teachers enter disciplinary actions into the computer, and the information is sent via e-mail and cell phone text message to the assistant principal overseeing that student. The information also is sent to a guidance counselor and a secretary, who begins communication with the student's parents. Besides keeping track of troubled students, the technology tracks the most frequent types of violations.

• Batavia Local School administrators can assign students to a Modified School Day Program in lieu of expulsion or in combination with expulsion. The program operates 5-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Batavia Middle School. The district also pays for four seats in the Alternative School run through the Clermont County Educational Service Center in Batavia. Students can be placed there in lieu of expulsion.

• Beechwood Independent School District and 10 other districts in Northern Kentucky offer an alternative school program through the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services. The program, called the Northern Kentucky Learning Academy, serves students in grades 4-12 who are having trouble academically and are at risk of dropping out. Locations are in Newport and Erlanger in two former school buildings. Some students are assigned to the school instead of suspension and expulsion or as part of the disciplinary action.

• Oak Hills Local School District has an alternative school, the Highlander Project, which began in 1999. The program serves up to 250 middle- and high-school students at risk for dropping out each year. Students learn the same material as students in traditional schools, but they take classes on computers and work at their own pace. In some cases, students who are suspended or expelled can go to the Highlander Project to reduce their out-of-school punishment. In fall 2002, the district opened the Oaks Program at the high school to help expelled or suspended middle- and high-school students improve their behavior.

• Lakota Local School District four years ago opened the Alternative Placement Program at Lakota West High School for grades 7-12. The school is an alternative to suspension. Students come in from 1:45-5 p.m. to work on their schoolwork. They also develop a behavior contract to keep themselves out of trouble.

• Southwest Local School District, like many districts, uses in-school suspension and Saturday school in place of out-of-school punishment. The district began offering virtual classes last school year for make-up credit as a part of the night school program and expanded the program this year to the school day. Two students have been assigned to the virtual school, where they do coursework on the computer, instead of expulsion.

• Mount Healthy City School District launched PAVE (People Against Violent Environments) Peer Mediation Program eight years ago. It has since spread to eight of the district's nine schools. It's designed to reduce suspensions by having students talk through problems in the presence of a peer mediator. The program won a BEST Practice Award and a Special Achievement Award in 2000 for promoting a safe and orderly learning environment.

• Milford School District students can be assigned on a case-by-case basis to the Alternate School in the district's Success Academy in lieu of out-of-school suspensions or expulsions. The school opened in August 2000. Suspended students stay seated at their desks, where they work on classroom assignments. Some students assigned there in lieu of expulsion do schoolwork through a virtual curriculum. They eat lunch at their desks and miss social activities. Officials say the school's strict rules encourage students to stay out of trouble because they don't want to return.

• Cincinnati Public Schools this month launched alternative learning centers so students who have been expelled in grades 9-12 can continue their education during that period.